Last May, Samuel Espinosa Trueba (Pedreña, 2001) graduated in Business Psychology from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
The Cantabrian was going to be a biomedical engineer, but after moving universities in 2022 and leaving East Tennessee for Chattanooga, he had no choice but to change his career and thus maintain his golf scholarship.
During his university years, the Spaniard tasted victory once and has been ranked among the top 260 amateurs in the world.
As soon as he finished his degree and at the age of 23, Samuel was clear that he wanted to try to become a professional and dedicate himself to his passion, golf. So the last week of June this same year he made the leap and stopped being an amateur to become a pro. He soon realised how complicated this venture is. Getting to the big circuits is very difficult, you compete against the best and making a place in those battles is something that very few achieve.
However, there is another barrier that the Spaniard did not count on, or at least not such a big one, the economic one. “I entered the Blume with a scholarship at 16 and two years later I came to the United States with a full scholarship. I have been very fortunate and these years I have been able to focus exclusively on studying and playing golf, but as soon as I finished university I came face to face with the reality that starting professional life is very expensive”, he explained to Ten Golf.
The Spaniard’s goals are clear, right now he is focused on playing the Korn Ferry Tour School and the PGA Tour which starts in three weeks. If he achieved the final goal he would have to pass four tests: “Just the registration for the first phase is three thousand dollars, but if I pass it I have to pay another three thousand. If I made it to the last stage just to register for the tournaments I would have to spend 18,000 dollars”. It’s no small feat.
“My reality is that at this moment I am not fortunate enough that my family or I can afford these expenses, to which of course you have to add the travel and accommodation for that week which with US prices can go up to a thousand or twelve hundred additional dollars”, explains the Spanish player.
Necessity is the mother of invention and that is why the Spaniard has decided to launch a fundraising campaign, a full-fledged crowdfunding to help him cover, at least that registration to the tournaments. “It’s a significant amount that I don’t have right now and hopefully this initiative can generate that income for me”. He is not the first to run a campaign of this kind, nor the last to do so, but let it not be for lack of trying. It’s a tough situation that thousands of players face and the Spaniard is also feeling it.
This whole story could have been very different. Last May the Spaniard fought for the PGA Tour Americas card. He was one step away from getting it, but he fell short. That’s golf, the shortest path is not usually the fastest and Samuel will have to play all or nothing to the School card, which grants five cards for the first division of the North American circuit and forty for the Korn Ferry Tour. It’s a very difficult task in which he will have to leave hundreds of players behind, but Samuel is confident he can achieve it.
Now, there is a plan B. The Spaniard is trying by all means to get into the ProSpain programme that provides aid to young golfers and which renews the pool of players who access it in December. This would also give him the possibility of accessing Alps Tour or Challenge Tour tournaments thanks to some invitation and carving his way in Europe. “The priority is the United States, but if it is not possible I will try it in Europe, as long as of course I can find the funds and I can generate some money thanks to what I earn from prize money in the tournaments”.
The beginnings of a professional golfer are not easy and Samuel Espinosa is feeling it from the first minute. By the way, the Spaniard has wedding plans and has already proposed to his girlfriend Maddy. However, the date and time will have to wait, right now the only priority is golf and Samuel is going to do everything possible to achieve it.
