My name is Nuria Clau, I am 24 years old, and I am a prfessional golfer at Can Cuyàs Golf. I started playing golf at age 10 in Reus Aigüesverds Golf, and little by little, what started as a weekend family hobby became something more. As a junior, I started representing my club, my region, Catalunya, and my country, Spain. Thanks to the Catalan and Spanish Federations’ support, I had the opportunity to practice daily and compete nationally and internationally. Once I finished high school, I wanted to keep studying and competing at a high level, so I decided to go to the United States. I received a scholarship to study at Wake Forest University, in North Carolina, where I spent four years practicing and competing with the best international players of my age. In May 2003 I graduated Magna Cum Laude in Mathematical Business, and I decided to turn professional and make a living playing golf.
Titles I achieved as an amateur include the Spanish National championship in four different categories, a silver medal in the European Amateur championship in 2001, three gold medals, one silver medal, and one bronze medal in the European Team Championships representing Spain, and one bronze medal in the World Team Championship, as well as several international tournaments. In the United States, I received three times the Most Valuable Player award at Wake Forest, I was named player of the year of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) in 2003, and I was elected member of the All-ACC and All-America teams twice. In my last year, I was also named Scholar/Athlete of the year at Wake Forest University, had the school record with the lowest stroke average per season, and finished the year ranked 12th in the collegiate national US ranking. 2004 was my first season as a professional, in which I had three top-10 finishes in official Ladies European Tour (LET) tournaments and many cuts made that took me to finish 30th in the Order of Merit of the LET, 5th in the Ryder Cup Wales Rookie of the Year award, and 19th in the Solheim Cup ranking. Furthermore, Ifinished second in the Spanish Professional Championship. 2005 has been my second season as a professional golfer, and it has been an up-and-down year as far as scores are concerned. After losing my tour card, I played in Q-School and finished tied for 30th. With this, I will be able to enter several LET tournaments during 2006, which I will combine with Telia Tour events. My goal this year is to consolidate my game at all levels, working psychologically a lot, to regain a spot among the top tour players.
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