Josele Ballester keeps his feet on the ground

He is the son of Olympic athletes, and he studies and plays golf at the same university in the United States, Arizona, where Jon Rahm was trained, and he is coached by Sergio García’s father. Josele Ballester seemed destined for sport from the cradle. His father, José Luis Ballester, was 24 times Spanish swimming champion and participated in the 1988, 1992 and 1996 Games in the 100 and 200m butterfly. His mother, Sonia Barrio, won the gold medal with Spain in field hockey at the Barcelona event and played for Atlético de Madrid. Josele is making a career in golf. And he is aiming high. On August 18, the day he turned 21, the Castellón native became the first Spaniard in history to win the US Open amateur, a triumph of enormous prestige. This past Sunday he won his first individual university title, in Chicago, and as of this Thursday he is one of the main attractions of the Acciona Open de España that will be held at the Club de Campo Villa de Madrid.

“I have more confidence in myself now,” he reflected on Tuesday for Morning Express; “I don’t think I’m a much better player than I was a few months ago, but it’s true that I changed my mentality at the beginning of the summer. It’s been very good for me to be more aggressive, to let the ball hit more.” driverand play wherever, and I’m fine around the greenwhich helps to solve problems. It seems funny this sport. You look for a victory and when you get it everything seems to go easier, and not because you play better, but because of confidence in key situations. The head is more important even in the moments I am in now, you have to keep your feet on the ground after the high. I have proven that to myself. Now I believe that I can go out there and give my best version.”

It all started almost without meaning to. “When Josele was three years old, my wife and I started playing golf to do something together and he would go with us. When he got tired he would get in the cart. At four years old he was already hitting the ball and soon we had to take him off the putting green because he wouldn’t stop playing,” says his father, José Luis, while he follows the boy’s 18-hole training session at the Country Club. “He has always been very disciplined. I forced him to swim two or three days a week to take care of his back and stay in shape, until at 16 he told me he didn’t want to know anything about the water anymore. He also really liked tennis, and he was even hesitating between tennis and golf,” adds the former Olympic swimmer.

Golf won out over tennis and swimming and Josele grew up at Sergio García’s club, the Mediterráneo de Borriol. There he began to be tutored by Victor, the father of the golfer who is now in LIV, and still is. “He has a great long game, he hits it very hard, and his return is improving, as is his mentality, he is settling in,” his trainer pointed out yesterday.

Like so many other promising players, the youngster packed his bags to emigrate to the United States and combine his studies with amateur sport at the highest level. In Arizona, where Rahm is an idol, he has been studying Sports Science for three years and participates in the powerful university league. This is how he ended up in the US Open amateur in August and went through the rounds until he beat the Spanish player Luis Masaveu in the semi-finals, when he showed his best game, and in the 36-hole final the American Noah Kent. An epic and unprecedented bingo for Spanish golf. Neither Seve, nor Olazabal, nor García nor Rahm reached that peak. The Castellón native and the Basque player, with whom he will meet these days in Madrid, sent him messages of congratulations, and the course where the tournament was held, the prestigious Hazeltine National, in Minnesota, made him a member of the club for life and gave him a personalized ticket.

The success allows Ballester to play in 2025 the British Open (he already played in 2023 and did not make the cut), the Masters in Augusta after receiving an invitation and the US Open, still as an amateur. The acceleration in his career does not alter the plans of the boy, despite everything. After his historic victory he returned to classes at the university the following week, just as he will do after this Spanish Open. “I have to be patient, one thing at a time,” explains Josele; “I have one year left in the United States, which is very important because I want to finish my studies and finish training as a player, live more as a professional, take care of the schedules, sleep, nutrition, training…”

The horizon holds a leap to professional golf and surely a path to choose, the one that leads to the PGA Tour or the one that could enroll him in the Saudi League alongside Sergio García and Rahm. “We will see what is on the table and what plans I have. What I would like is to leave my mark on the sport, to make my history,” says the player, currently ranked seventh in the world amateur ranking.

The new Spanish golf prospect is making progress, and his parents are still surprised by the impact of their son and his sport. Neither swimming nor field hockey helped them financially. José Luis now works at Porcelanosa and Sonia is a teacher. “They taught me what it means to sacrifice for what you want,” says Josele; “you must not forget where you come from and how hard it is to get to the point where things go well. I have to be the same kid as always.”

Groups and schedules for the first two days of the Spanish Open.