Marta Romeu Chen of UTEP Golf
UTEP golfer Marta Romeu Chen arrived in El Paso last year from Valencia, Spain. She didn’t speak much English but needed to learn quickly for her industrial and systems engineering courses.
She was UTEP’s top finisher at last year’s Conference USA Championships and ended the fall season with her first collegiate top 10 finish at Mercer in Georgia.
The Miners begin their spring season in New Orleans this week.
How was the fall season for you?
Our last tournament was last semester at Mercer University. We played really, really well. I had never played on this course but I set my personal record, top 10 at this tournament. I was happy about that.
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how is your game now
I’m changing my swing so it’s been pretty tough for the last month. But we just played qualifiers and I was happy with how I felt and how I played on the pitch. I also feel like I’m more confident coming back from the break than I’ve been able to see my family. It’s been a long time. I know I have their support and my second year is going to be better than my first. I’m more relaxed now.
How big was the adjustment for El Paso last year?
It was my first time in America and it was the first time I traveled alone. When I came I didn’t speak any English at all, but there were a couple of Mexican girls on the team (Naomi Ramirez and Andrea Ostos) that I was able to converse with. I had the support that they helped me translate so I could talk to my colleagues. One of them I live with (now Assistant Ramirez) is like my big sister.
What was it like traveling solo for the first time?
I had a little experience. When I got to Dallas I lost all my papers. I left all my papers in my golf bag and mailed it (to El Paso). When I got to TSA, I found I didn’t have my papers and my bag was already gone. I couldn’t speak english. I had to be there for six hours to get a ticket without my papers. Then it was ok, I got my bag when I got here. But it was bad, I was missing everything with my name on it.
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What was your first impression of El Paso?
I was expecting a little more, erm, American. Then I came here and there were so many Mexicans and everyone was super nice. Everyone is always so interested in helping. They saw me and said, “Oh, you’re from Spain” and asked me about it. In each class, almost half of the class speaks Spanish. A lot of people spoke to me in Spanish and I said, ‘I need to practice my English.’ But it wasn’t culture shock, I’m kind of Hispanic.
The weather is great, there are five different courses that we play within 10 to 25 minutes. That’s a good thing for us. Each course is different, they have different characteristics. It’s nice that we can play so many different courses. The university is big but everything is close by so I don’t have to rush to go to class and practice.
Every player on the team is a foreigner. How is that?
That’s super nice. There are so many cultures. Most of us are from Europe so we can see each other when we go home. I try to learn more languages. Now I’m trying to learn French. I have a good feeling about all my teammates. When I came I was afraid there would be groups but there aren’t any. We’re like this little family.
You’ve seen America travel with the golf team. How was it?
I want my life to be centered on travel. Getting to know other places and cultures – every place here in the USA is super different. I love traveling, I love learning about different courses, you play with people from all over the world. That’s great fun.
How did engineering class go?
It’s been a tough road. All of my teammates have majors in Economics or Communications, so I don’t have anyone to talk to about my courses. It was difficult not having references. But I like technology and I manage it.
How did you get into golf?
I started playing golf when I was about 9 years old, that’s when I got my first set of clubs. I’ve been to golf courses before because of my dad but I’ve never really played, I only got introduced to it when I was 9. I have a twin brother, we started together.
I didn’t like it at first, I was more focused on action sports. When I was 9 years old there weren’t any girls on my golf course so I didn’t have anyone to look at. But I played more and started to like it. I went to tournaments and there were other girls that I met. You travel a lot and have mini vacations.
When I was about 12 or 13, I started competing in bigger competitions, which led me to realize I could be good at it. As the time around COVID came around it was time to decide if I wanted to come to the US. I saw this as an opportunity to get to know other places and to get out of my comfort zone and be able to travel.
What is the goal this season?
One of my goals is to win a tournament as a team. We are quite strong, it would be super nice for us to take the next step. I would also like to win as an individual, but it’s more difficult.
Bret Bloomquist can be reached at 915-546-6359; [email protected]; @Bretbloomquist on Twitter.
