José Sintes spent an hour scrolling down his mobile screen to refresh the live results page of the Alps Tour. An hour is the time that passed between when he holed his last putt on the 18th hole of the Sokhna Golf Club in Suez and the end of the star match. An hour is what it took to confirm his victory in the Red Sea Little Venice Open. The first of his career in a professional tournament valid for the world ranking.
Between scrolling and scrolling, Sintes was still mulling over in his head the twisted tie that his birdie putt on the 18th had made him. He had about three meters. “I just thought I was going to lose the victory because of that putt,” he explains to Ten Golf from Egypt, shortly before starting the transfer to the city of Giza (about two hours by coach), where they play the next tournament starting on Friday.
Sintes is 18 years old, is an amateur, was born in Gran Canaria and, for now, does not plan to make many changes in his career. Precisely, his amateur status has not allowed him to cash the cheque of 5,800 euros that was destined for the champion, but right now he prefers to think in points rather than money. The other will come. “My clear objective is to finish among the top five in the Alps ranking this year and get the Challenge Tour card, although I know that for that I will have to play very well,” he says with a notable maturity and uncharacteristic of his age. For now, he is going to combine the professional calendar of the Alps, a circuit he accessed through the school, with the amateur.
Let no one be mistaken. His decision to continue as an amateur player does not mean that his back is well covered economically, on the contrary. For now, all expenses are being borne by the family on their own. “I have no support or sponsor. Hopefully after this victory something can come out. The help would be very good for us,” he says. Let’s see if some company is encouraged because he has certainly shown that he deserves it. Not in vain, he has confirmed himself as one of the great promises of Spanish golf, not only for this victory, but for what he has been doing as an amateur in the last year.
In the hour he was in the clubhouse waiting to be crowned champion, Sintes received two phone calls. One was his father and the other his coach, Carlos Suneson. “I am delighted with Carlos. He has a lot of experience and teaches me many things, I learn a lot with him,” he tells us. And not only about golf technique, he also has many stories behind him. Not in vain, Suneson (56 years old) played 348 tournaments on the DP World Tour and achieved one victory (St Omer) and 16 top 10. Until last year he has been competing in the Senior. He is a well of wisdom.
Surely, the driver was the key club in Sintes’ victory this Tuesday. “I hit very well from the tee. I think I only missed one fairway. I was almost always in position and I had a lot of wedge in my hands. Practically, I couldn’t make any bogey. I was two shots behind the leaders and knew I had to push. I hadn’t done any calculations, I just wanted to play as well as possible, give myself at least one opportunity and see how far I could go,” he points out.
The truth is that despite his youth, Sintes, as his friends know him, exudes a bomb-proof tranquility. “I didn’t have a result in mind when I went out to play. In fact, I only looked at the scoreboard once. It was after the 9th hole and I saw that I was leading by one stroke. I knew I still had to push and make birdies because the others were going to make them too”. He made two more on the 10th and 16th holes, crucial for his victory with a one-stroke advantage. “I would say that the second shot on the 16th was the most important in the victory. I had about 90 meters to the flag, after a very good drive, to the right place. I hit the 56 degrees and left it given,” he recounts.
That shot is no coincidence. Sintes is a peculiar player. In these times when it seems that the driver is the most important club for any golfer, the Canarian defines himself as a lover of short irons. “They are my favourite clubs. My favourite shot is between 100 and 140 meters,” he says. By the way, this does not mean that the boy is short, not at all. His average flight with the driver is 275-280 meters.
Sintes will continue to alternate the amateur world with the professional for now. What he wants most is to play and learn, to keep improving. It’s the ideal recipe. By the way, one of the first to congratulate him was another Canarian, one who has reached the PGA Tour, has made top 10 in Majors and has played a Ryder. None other than Rafa Cabrera Bello. “Yes, he wrote to me, very good people, he has always been very kind to me”. Hats off also to Rafa.
