2nd of December, 2012. Marta Martín finishes in fifth position at the Lacoste Promesas. The prestigious tournament gathered José María Olazábal, Miguel Ángel Jiménez and Nacho Garrido as masters of ceremonies of the event and allowed golfers between 14 and 16 years old to train alongside their great idols. It was a dream for the quarry of the time.
The final phase of the tournament was held precisely on the course where the La Sella Open is being played this week. Twelve years later, Marta returns to her beginnings. Although if there is something that the Madrilenian remembers perfectly, it is that the Cantabrian Celia Barquín, tragically killed in a brutal murder in the United States six years ago, won that tournament.
Between Celia and her, there was only a six-day difference. Marta was born on June 30, 1996, and Barquín on July 6. They were friends, very close friends, they considered themselves the best. They were very close and she still gets emotional when remembering her. Mentioning Celia makes Marta cry. She tries to start, but her voice breaks. She wants to talk about her friend, but the memories overwhelm her and it’s not easy to sort them out. Many stories, many hours lived, it’s been six years without her, but it seems like yesterday.
Little by little she recovers. She wants to continue. She wants to talk about Celia, even if it takes guts, heart. “No, no, we continue, these are not tears of sorrow, they are tears of emotion, they are good. I knew that this week I was going to get more emotional and it has happened now. Somehow having played here together, everything reminds me a little more of her, but I know that Celia would not be happy seeing her friend cry,” she concludes trying to smile.
“At that time we were promises and here I am now”. Marta is aware that her golf transcends and that she plays for something more: “I know that I play for myself, but I carry her cover and there I see her every day, it was a dream we had together since we were little. This week is very special, playing at home and with the anniversary so recent”. Somehow, wherever Marta goes, there is Celia.
Fernando, Marta’s father, recalls how the Cantabrian had to play with a borrowed putter because hers had been stolen just before the start of that 2012 Lacoste Promesas. His words also falter when remembering that tournament.
Marta pulls a smile out of her hat that fills her face: “Even though I’m crying, my memories with her are super positive, I’m sad not to be with her, but they are tears of happiness for having had a great friend from whom I keep very happy memories, that’s what we should keep and what she would want us to focus on. She had a real gift for making people smile”.
When asked about a golfing memory, Marta opens her eyes wide and does not hesitate: “Well, I was just telling Gabi, my caddie, a while ago. It’s incredible the ability she had to play many holes with the driver, it was her favourite club. We would get to a tee and I would tell her that we had to play a hybrid and she would tell me smiling: ‘No, no, I driver’ and I would argue, ‘but how can you driver Celia and she would reaffirm: yes, yes, I lower the tee a bit, I hit it a little cut and that’s it’. She was able to do 220 meters or 170 it didn’t matter. This week I have remembered her a lot also for that”.
Between Celia’s inspiration and the great game, the reality is that Marta Martín is doing very well in these first 36 holes of the tournament. Only two cursed holes, 16 and 17, prevent her from going out this Saturday in the most prominent positions. At the moment she is (-3) just four strokes from the lead.
After her victory in the Czech Republic, the Madrilenian is playing very loose. So much so that she has played the first two Majors of her career and has made the cut in both. Marta is going through a sweet moment after having gone down to the mud just a year ago, to the depths of the LET Access Series. Only she knows what it has cost her to get here. The Spaniard is clear that this weekend, for herself and for Celia, what is needed is to enjoy and smile fulfilling the dream that twelve years ago they imagined together on this same course.
