The Andalucía Costa del Sol Open de España, a women’s professional tournament, which will take place in Benahavís between November 24 and 27, has created the Celia Barquín Award in order to reward each year the best amateur player who participates in this prestigious competition , which on this occasion is held at Alferini Golf.
The Celia Barquín Award is a tribute to the Cantabrian golfer with strong sporting ties to the Golf Federation of the Principality of Asturias, who was viciously murdered by a heartless person in the United States in 2018, just a few weeks after having brilliantly proclaimed herself European champion Absolute.
The Spanish golfer, a regular member of the national teams, continued her sports career at Iowa State University – where she was studying civil engineering –, being chosen as Athlete of the Year at that academic center, they have indicated in a statement.
This Celia Barquín Award is reserved for the best amateur in the tournament. For this, three projection golfers are invited who do not take away a place from the professionals, who are awarded to the current champion of Spain and the two best in the Amateur World Ranking two months before the start of the tournament, with the requirement of having Spanish nationality and continue to be an amateur on the date of the Andalucía Costa del Sol Open de España in order to enjoy the place.
Based on this criterion –for any possible substitution, the Amateur World Ranking continues to be taken into account–, the players invited to the tournament in 2022 are Paula Martín, as the Spanish Amateur champion, Cayetana Fernández and Carla Tejedo, in these two cases as the best Spanish available in the World Amateur Ranking.