Albane Valenzuela plays for Europe at the Solheim Cup

It all began in Evian, the French town on Lake Geneva. When Albane Valenzuela was eight years old, she was given a pink golf ball by the winner of the Masters tournament there. Valenzuela admired how far she could hit the ball – and from then on dreamed of a career as a professional golfer herself.

Valenzuela’s parents met on the same golf course on Lake Geneva; his father was Mexican and one of the best amateur players in the world, his mother was French and a talented amateur golfer.

Albane Valenzuela was born in New York and lived in Mexico before moving with her family to Vésenaz near Geneva and staying there until she started studying. She applied for a Swiss passport at the age of 14. It was always clear to her that she wanted to play for the country in which she has spent most of her life. The family now lives in the Bahamas.

Albane Valenzuela is now 26 years old and the best Swiss golfer. She has been living her childhood dream of becoming a professional for four years, and another dream will come true next weekend: Valenzuela will be able to compete in the Solheim Cup. This is the equivalent of the men’s Ryder Cup and is the most prestigious team trophy in women’s golf. The best twelve professionals in the USA compete every two years against the best twelve from Europe. No Swiss woman or man has ever made it into such a selection. Until Albane Valenzuela came along.

“After the nomination, I didn’t sleep for three nights,” Valenzuela said in a video call a few days before the Solheim Cup, which takes place from Friday to Sunday in Gainesville, Virginia. “Previous players told me that you are never ready for the pressure there. Some were close to throwing up.”

The noise and hustle and bustle of this competition are unparalleled. The last event in the USA attracted 130,000 spectators. But how did it happen that the girl with the pink golf ball is now one of the best golfers in Europe?

At first she felt a little overwhelmed by the atmosphere in these circles

Albane Valenzuela’s family and her career are still closely intertwined today. Her father Alberto was both her coach and mental trainer. When his work as an investment banker allows it, he also acts as her caddy, as he did at Valenzuela’s first Olympic Games in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro.

When she took part in the Olympic Games in Tokyo 2021 and Paris 2024, her younger brother Alexis carried the bag and discussed the upcoming turns with her. The fact that he can do this is nothing short of a miracle: when he was three years old, doctors diagnosed him with autism. They told his parents that their son would probably never be able to speak. But the Valenzuelas made speech therapy possible for Alexis and assigned him behavioral therapists at school who helped him understand the teachers.

Alexis could do a lot with his hands, and so the family tried to communicate with him using balls, as mother and son told the “Tages-Anzeiger” a few years ago. Alexis started playing golf at the age of five, and played his first tournament at the age of eight. He and his sister quickly became a close-knit team. Albane Valenzuela said before the games in Tokyo: “Alexis knows me better than anyone else. He knows how to calm me down.” Alexis Valenzuela is now 23 years old and a master’s student.

When Albane Valenzuela applied to the elite Stanford University, she wrote in her application essay how Alexis had inspired and influenced her. She later said that Alexis had shaped her into a mature person who was aware of the realities of life. “When you grow up with someone with autism, you get different perspectives and insights into life.”

Albane Valenzuela studied political science at Stanford. The university in California boasts famous alumni and professors: golf icon Tiger Woods studied there, Valenzuela studied with nine-time Olympic swimming champion Katie Ledecky, and former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice advised the Swiss woman.

At first, Valenzuela felt a little overwhelmed by the atmosphere in these circles. But she soon found her place in the sporting and academic world. Golf is one of the most important disciplines in American college sports. The teams are popular and the education is first-class.

Valenzuela began her studies after the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, for which she surprisingly qualified at the age of 18. As the youngest of the Swiss delegation, the youngest in the golf tournament, and one of only three amateur players, she finished 21st in the field of 60 participants.

Her game continued to develop at Stanford, and in 2017 and 2019 she climbed to second place in the amateur world rankings. And she qualified for the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) tour, the world’s strongest women’s tournament series. Valenzuela became a professional player, but still completed the last few months of her studies.

An endless and sometimes frustrating challenge

The transition to professional life was hard for Valenzuela. For the first time, she was no longer part of a team. From the age of 14, the Swiss Golf Association had organized tournaments, trips and training sessions. Later, she traveled with the college team. Now, as a professional, Valenzuela had to build her own environment. She likes to learn from a wide variety of players and coaches.

In her first few years as a professional, things didn’t go as smoothly as Valenzuela had hoped, partly because of injuries. Golf remains a never-ending and sometimes frustrating challenge, even for a professional player. Even after thousands of attempts, a shot doesn’t always go well. “One day I think I’ve got it. And the next day it feels like a slap in the face again.”

Valenzuela is still waiting for her first win on the LPGA Tour. At the beginning of the year she came second in Thailand. After that she played such a strong summer that she received a wild card for the Solheim Cup – as a “captain’s pick” because she had convinced the leader of Team Europe, the Norwegian Suzann Pettersen. Valenzuela’s most important results: 22nd place at the Major in Evian, 13th place and the best round of all players at the Olympic Games in Paris. Or 20th place at the Women’s Open on the venerable Old Course in St. Andrews, Scotland.

As in Paris (7 under par in the fourth round), she excelled at the British Open (6 under par in the third round) after failing in the first rounds. Valenzuela is proud of the way she deals with pressure. She first had to find out how she works best as a professional, but she has now found her rhythm: play for three weeks, then take a break. Valenzuela says: “This way I have the balance between Albane the athlete and Albane the person.”