August 2, 2022, 9:00 PM
August 2, 2022, 9:00 PM
The exclusive La Paz Golf Club is closed because this Monday some of its workers are in competition: among them four women, including two Aymara indigenous people who will show off their swing skills without leaving aside their typical colorful skirts.
Golf has no popular roots in Bolivia and is considered a sport for wealthy people, but for 37 years these two women who work in the maintenance of the field they have been attracted by this sport and have decided to play it with their traditional clothes.
In the middle of the mountains to the south of La Paz, at about 3,300 meters of altitude, is the club whose lawn is “very well cared for”, Martha Mamani and Teresa Zárate extol themselves.
Two other rookie players accompany them, Patricia Huaycu and Nelicia Alejo, who learn from Mamani, 55, and Zárate, 51.
“Golf is very beautiful,” but it takes a lot of patience and calm, Mamani said in a story that appeared in the Los Angeles Times. The athlete only changes her classic shoes for golf shoes, but she keeps her colorful skirt, her blouse and her low-top hat.
“I have seen my colleagues, the women in skirts, participate in various sports. This is how we always have to be. Go ahead!” Zárate expressed to encourage other Aymaras to practice golf.
Mamani does change her hat for a wide-brimmed one, but only to avoid the sun.while displaying in the 60 hectares of the field the swing that Paraguayan professor Ángel Jiménez has taught him.
In Bolivia there are only five golf clubs whose competitions have less than 90 golfers, mostly men.
The prize is not yet determined, but Mamani recalled that in previous editions they competed for products from the family basket to state-of-the-art cell phones, all financed by club members.
Another 20 workers participate in the championship in order to fraternize, explained the general manager of La Paz Golf Club, Víctor Hugo Aguirre.
“That they (Mamani and Zárate) enjoy this is special… and it speaks of inclusion. Anyone can learn to play golf and you just have to have an interest,” she added.
