{"id":5314,"date":"2020-02-27T18:08:19","date_gmt":"2020-02-27T17:08:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.atalaya-golf.com\/?p=5314"},"modified":"2020-03-05T13:31:45","modified_gmt":"2020-03-05T12:31:45","slug":"news-from-the-norways-golfer-tina-mazarino","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.atalaya-golf.com\/news-from-the-norways-golfer-tina-mazarino\/","title":{"rendered":"A personal message to Atalaya from Tina Mazarino"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

You can’t make it without a little help from your friends<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now that I’m in the beginning of my second season\nas a professional golfer, I think about what a wise man said to me a while\nback:  “If you want to get good at\ngolf – it’s important to learn how to lose”. Although losing doesn’t\nalways mean playing bad golf. The path of success often has big bumps and\nrarely goes straight to heaven. At this moment my slightly older colleague from\nNorway just won the PGA Tour in the Puerto Rico Open at -18 this is the\ngreatest norwegian golf achievement ever and is an inspiration to us others.\nViktor Hovland is one who has really made it. Apparently he hasn’t met the big\nbumps yet, but I don`t know.  Me, on the\nother hand, have met some, through illness and injury. Yesterday there was a\nlady who asked me “you don’t give up then”. Think it was my caddy and\ndad who answered. No, as long as it’s fun we won\u2019t quit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After a couple of good tournaments on LET Access\nand the Swedish Golf Tour the 2019 season became suddenly shortened by\nillness.  Followed by  6 months of recovery training it felt like\nstarting all over. Now my health and body seems well and it is the time to get\nready for the 2020 season!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With a little\nhelp from my friends!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some people think I am totally crazy about\ninvesting in a professional golf career and there are probably many reasons not\nto choose this career. For me it has been a dream since the age of 10  when I got my first hole in one. I have never\nlost sight of my goal. This is what I am good at and my number one reason why I\nget up in the morning.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In Norway where I come from we have a summer\nseason that lasts from May to end of September\/October. Where I live there is\noften a meter of snow and minus degrees most of the winter. Being on grass\nduring the cold season is a challenge for us golfers. I’m too young to travel\nalone and are not allowed to even rent a car. My kind dad is the one who drops\neverything and follows me all over Europe. His work he mostly do at nights so\nthat he can be on course with me during the day.  It’s a good thing he has that kind of a job\nthat he can bring with him everywhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The partnership I have had with Atalaya Golf Club\nand Andr\u00e9s S\u00e1nchez is a huge deal for me! Having a place like this where people\nknow you, where you can play and practice \nas much as you want – is what matters most to a golfer struggling\nupwards. I feel privileged.  When I get\non the course at sunrise and I hear from the guys in the Proshop; \u201c Hola Tina\u201d\ngives me the best start of the day and when I leave they say: \u201cadios Tina\u201d –\nit\u2019s so nice!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first time I visited Atalaya was at a big amateur tournament  in 2017, I think I became #7. And I will never forget a terrible triple on hole 18. But I fell in love with the place. I played some practice rounds and met many nice people, and even though I am young I felt this nice atmosphere around the club.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Atalaya Old Course and New Course are two very different courses, but both have distinctive features that are worth experiencing. Old Course is a championship course and can be played quite long. There are no similar holes so you never get bored even if you play every day. New Course is more idyllic with views and is beautifully situated. It is shorter, goes up and down a bit, but I really enjoy it. My record in a friendly game there is -6. Maybe that\u2019s why I love it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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As a professional, being able to practice all\nkinds of strokes is important. I get to do that at Atalaya and the training\nareas are in very good condition. The greens here must be one of the very best.\nThey are fast, smooth and very good to play and practice on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I feel as much \nat home here at Atalaya as I do at my home club; Kjekstad. Luckily I\nhave many friends and people cheering on me there too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The future can be so bright that we have to wear sunglasses \ud83d\ude42<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It helps to be patient if you want to succeed in\ngolf. There is a lot of work with small details. Hour after hour, day in and\nday out,  you work hard to make small\nchanges. Improving putting with two strokes in one round can mean a thousand\nhours spent on practicing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On a regular weekday, we get up at 6am and are on\nthe course just before 8am to play 9 or 18 holes. After that we go directly to\nthe practice area for 2 – 3 hours. Then lunch is a good hour and a half. After\nlunch it is back to the practice area for an afternoon session. In the\nafternoon, there is usually either alternative practice such as physical or\nmental exercise or physical therapy, or something else to prepare for\ntournaments. I have one day off a week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In tournaments that go over 3 or 4 days you\nreally get tested for 3 strokes during these days can be the difference between\nsuccess and failure. This is one of the things that makes the sport one of the\nreally big with 60 million athletes. We strive for the perfect everyday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We do this because the success in this sport is\ngreat, the feeling and the upside is greater than in most other sports I think.\nSometimes we get the taste of it. Like I did when I won the Norwegian\nChampionship in match in 2016. I remember well my second place in the US KIDS\nGolf European Champions Chip as a 12 year old and my taste for victory was  probably born there and then. I have been\nselected by the Norwegian Golf Federation in many contexts since I was 13 years\nold and it\u2019s always a special feeling to play with the national colours on the\nt-shirt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, thank you to everyone who supports me\nand especially all the ladies at Atalaya who make me feel more than welcome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Love you all <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
Tina Mazarino<\/a><\/blockquote>