‘Escuela de Golf Víctor Andreu’ en La Finca Golf.
VICTOR ANDREU
“Golf is not a sport that only the rich can learn, I am an example of this”
He learnt to play golf at the hand of his uncle Pascual Jiménez, at a time in which little or hardly anything was known of golf in Spain, long before any of the first golf clubs were created for members, with surnames of high nobility. For Víctor Andreu Jiménez (1977) his golf bag was a revolutionary item. Born in the region of Murcia and raised in La Zenia (Orihuela), he spent most of his life in the tranquil surroundings of Algorfa (Alicante). From an Alicantine mother and a Majorcan father,
Víctor grew up amidst a working class family. His first contact with golf was when he was 8 years old.
From that moment on, his evenings after school were dedicated to the journey towards his first swings at the Villamartín golf course. He soon stood out. His height, his complexion, his hard working attitude, perseverance and effort made him stand out amongst the other students and, at only the age of 12 he was chosen to travel to Madrid to take part in the course of promising youth founded by the Real Federación Española de Golf (RFEG).
“I have learnt from the best”
“I know what it is like to win and also what it is
like to not meet the objective”
His learning capacity from then on was unstoppable in spite of his age. He took lessons with the best teachers in Spain. Jesús Arruti (swing techniques) and Manuel Piñero (short game). Internationally he was taught by the father of swing simplification John Jacobs (techniques of which a lot of the best players of all time use) and Tommy Horton (specialist in short game).
His career began initially as an amateur, participating in championships in Spain almost uninterrupted from 1989 to 1998, obtaining many Top Tens and first places like he achieved in 1992 in the Junior Championship on the Comunidad Valenciana which he remembers the dearest for being his first win. In 1995 he won first place again this time in teams in the Cpto. de la Comunidad Valenciana como en el de la Región de Murcia. – “those of the region know better”-. Winner of the Rolex Championship in 1996, third place in the Junior Championship of Spain (1996) or his participation as a member of the National Golf team (1997), are other of his great moments as a non-professional.
He took the leap to the professional world in 1999. His career as pro was focused on competing as much outside as inside the Valencian region. From this stage his participation in the Professional Championship of Spain in 2000 (20th place), the Peugeot (of Barcelona, Valencia and Burgos) the doubles Championship of Spain (7th) and various first, second and third places in the Championship de la Comunidad Valenciana.
“I have focused on teaching because
I enjoy sharing my knowledge”
Víctor Andreu combines his experience from his years of competing with his work; he was the professional of La Marquesa from 1999 to 2003. (In the year 2000 he achieved the title of Assistant Teacher). In 2003 he moved to La Finca Golf Resort (Algorfa – Alicante) one of the three golf courses of the Quara Group – where he works as the club professional, in 2005 after having obtained the category of Maestro de Golf, he focused all of his energy on teaching whilst still taking part in competitions. “Escuela de Golf Víctor Andreu” is born.
“I have learnt the difficulty of this passionate profession of being a golfer, but also how to savour the accomplishments of my students watching the sport grow in their hands. I wake up every day trying to believe that, like golf, everything is possible”
Víctor has a daughter who plays golf. Because just like Andreu she says: “Golf is not a sport that only the rich can learn, I am an example of this”. More than 1800 student have passed through his hands over these years.
