Blanca Fernández Garcia-Poggio is relaxed and smiling, having just secured her card for the Ladies European Tour, one of her major goals since turning professional just six months ago.
The Madrid native speaks to Ten Golf after twenty exhausting days. Two consecutive Schools without a break. First, the LPGA in Alabama and then the LET in Marrakech. Three weeks can be a long time, especially for a player just 23 years old. From the Blanca who arrived at Magnolia Grove to the one who boarded the plane to Madrid after securing the LET card, there has been a lot of learning and a backpack full of lessons.
The Spaniard has secured her rights in style, achieving a more than commendable sixth place. The task was not easy. She arrived practically without rest. She was three strokes away from securing the card on the American circuit, and the first thing was to manage her emotional state: “I was close to the LPGA card, I was very upset not to get it, at the end I wanted to cry because I was so excited, but I knew I had to stop myself and say it wasn’t the time to cry, that there would be time after Marrakech,” Blanca says. A first exercise in maturity. “Also, if I was three strokes away from the last card, maybe I’m not ready to make that leap yet,” she adds with great composure.
From her experience at the School on the European circuit, she is particularly pleased with the focus she has played with: “I’ve been working for a long time on staying focused on every shot, not having concentration lapses, and it’s one of the things that makes me happiest. I’ve managed to stay focused for five consecutive days, putting everything into every shot, very centred on the routine. It’s hard for me, and in Morocco, I’ve achieved it. I hadn’t played with such intensity in my life.”
A key figure in Marrakech was undoubtedly Álvaro Alonso. The former caddie of Carlota Ciganda until just three months ago, he has temporarily carried Blanca’s bag: “The truth is we’ve made a great team, we’ve had a lot of fun together, and he’s brought me a lot of things both on and off the golf course.”
Blanca knows herself perfectly and knows she is a player who tends to be emotional, who struggles to control some reactions and put certain thoughts aside: “At specific moments, my brain doesn’t perform well with some emotions,” the Spaniard says with a laugh, “Álvaro has been a great support, he has a lot of experience and has given me a point of balance. He’s also simplified things for me; sometimes I look to take risks when it’s not necessary, and he’s managed to calm me down.” ‘Blanca, don’t get tangled up,’ he’s told her, especially considering it was a tournament where the ultimate goal wasn’t to win but to secure a place among the top twenty.
Another area where the caddie has enlightened the eldest of the Fernández sisters has been on the greens: “I thought I read the breaks well, but the detail and precision Álvaro has made me realise I have a lot of room for improvement. I’m even starting to consider learning the AimPoint technique.”
Looking ahead to next season, Blanca sets more tasks for herself regarding her game: “Obviously, there are many aspects where I can improve my game, but calculating distances is by far my weak point. Specifically, I struggle a lot when it comes to hitting half swings, like at 70 metres. Obviously, I know how to hit the shot, but with the tension and adrenaline, it’s hard for me to calculate. It’s undoubtedly one of the things I need to work on the most.”
When we say it’s been two weeks of a lot of learning and things to improve, it’s not an exaggeration. To everything said, she adds another: “At the LPGA School, I was amazed by the level of work and routines the Asian players have on the practice field. I improvise much more. I’m not going to stop being who I am, but probably having more routines and structure will help me. I need to think about this too,” the Spaniard says. “I’m also not very keen on looking at many statistics, and I think it’s something I need to change.” There will be plenty of tasks.
However, summarising the last two weeks of competition as a whole, the outlook is more than positive: “I knew I had the level to compete with the best players, but these weeks have been a very positive reinforcement. It’s one thing for everyone to tell you that you can, and another to prove it on the course, and that’s despite things not going as I wanted in the United States, but getting through the first two phases of the Schools has also reinforced me a lot, and I fought until the end.”
For the player trained at Texas A&M, a dilemma arises regarding the 2025 calendar. Besides the LET card, she has the Epson Tour card, which at the end of the year grants fifteen cards for the LPGA. Focusing on the LET, the Epson, or trying to combine them, that’s the question: “The truth is I haven’t had time to stop and think about what I want to do. In terms of tournaments, I’m much more attracted to focusing on the European circuit, but the Epson can open the doors to the LPGA, which is my main goal. I need to think, seek advice, and then put everything in writing. Writing it down helps me a lot, I’ll try to make a decision calmly and without haste.”
Finally, regarding her holidays, Blanca shares her plans: “Home, home, and home. I’ve travelled enough during the year, and I’m very much a homebody. I’m going to spend two weeks without picking up the clubs… although I’m not sure if I’ll last that long,” she admits with a laugh. What she is sure about is that she wants to run the San Silvestre, and precisely with Álvaro Alonso: “We’ve already talked about it, we both love running, I’ve been participating for six years, and we want to run it together.”
