Growing up in Spain, sophomore golfer Ana Sanjuan’s dream was to one day be a part of the Ladies Professional Golf Association.
She began playing golf 14 years ago, at age 5, and never stopped. For Sanjuan, that dream is potentially on its way to becoming a reality.
Sanjuan’s coach, Clint Wallman, said he believes she is doing the correct things to get there one day.
“We’ve seen huge amounts of growth in the first year,” Wallman said. “We’ve got two more years with her, and I think you’ll really see her develop into one of the elite players in college golf.”
Sanjuan said her favorite part of the team is the traveling, but she also acknowledged that there are challenges that come with being a student athlete.
“I love traveling with the team, being with the team in competition, getting support from my teammates and coaches,” she said. “When we travel, it’s very difficult to be on par with the school. I am really lost sometimes, school is pretty hard.”
Sanjuan was born and raised in northern Spain and spends nearly half the year thousands of miles away from her family, which she said can be difficult at times.
“I like spending time with my family because I don’t see them for six months,” Sanjuan said. “I’m here for a long time, so when you go home you need to be with your family.”
Wallman said Sanjuan’s work ethic is one of the main reasons he wanted her to come to IU when recruiting her in high school.
“I knew she was a person who would work hard,” Wallman said. “She just had such a huge amount of intangibles, work ethic, passion for the game, personality. I saw an ability for her to become a tremendous player from a potential standpoint.”
When Sanjuan was deciding where to attend college, she said it came down to a battle between two teams.
“I was recruiting Ohio State, and just Ohio State ?really,” she said.
This season, she said she wants to win a tournament, and she thinks she is getting close to reaching that goal.
Sanjuan said she understands that the team goals are important as well, and she hopes they can finish the season strong to achieve their goal of making regionals.
“We have two more tournaments, so we have to play really well to make it,” ?she said.
All of this work with the team is going toward what she wants to do in the future.
“I want to be a professional golfer,” she said. “I want to be in the LPGA.”
