Carolina López-Chacarra is in no rush to turn professional. The Spanish player, ranked 21st in the world amateur rankings and one of the great promises of national golf, has chosen to continue competing as an amateur at least until next autumn as she herself revealed to TenGolf.
The reason, or at least one of them, is to remain eligible to represent Spain in major international team events, including the Women’s World Amateur Championship, which this year is held in Singapore.
Carolina finished her university stage in the United States just over a month ago. Everything pointed to the next step being her move to professional golf, but she has preferred to wait. By not making the leap now, she can play very important tournaments such as the individual European, the team European, the US Amateur… and, above all, the World Championship, which is very special and she would be thrilled to play with Spain.
Although the call-up for the World Championship is not yet official and is governed by various criteria, Carolina is one of the main candidates to be part of the Spanish team. She is currently the fourth Spanish player in the world amateur rankings after Andrea Revuelta, Paula Martín and Carla Bernat, but the imminent professionalisation of the latter in August would open up a spot for her. With three players per team, everything points to Carolina being in the lineup if she maintains her level.
Meanwhile, Carolina already has some professional tournaments marked on the calendar. Thanks to the prestigious Juli Inkster Award, which she received in recognition of her university career, she will play the LPGA of Portland. In addition, this award grants her direct access to the second stage of the LPGA Tour School, which paves her way for the future professional leap. If she does not secure the rights to the North American circuit, Carol intends to play the LET School in December.
In the European circuit, for now, she has not received invitations from the Ladies European Tour, although she acknowledges that she would be particularly excited to compete in the La Sella Open, which will be held this summer in Alicante. “It would be a very nice tournament to debut at home, but I have not yet received news about a possible invitation,” she notes.
Carolina is taking her time, with intelligence and patience. The step to professionalism will come, but first, she wants to close her brilliant amateur stage with a flourish.
