Martinez still waiting for her chance as a professional

BROWNSVILLE — April Martinez was finally getting her chance.

Martinez, who last fall qualified for the Duramed FUTURES Tour, hadn’t yet played a single event. Though she did qualify, she only earned a status that doesn’t guarantee her a spot in a tournament. Because of her non-exempt status, Martinez, a former player at UTB-TSC and Edinburg Economedes, is what amounts to an alternate player, waiting for openings at tournaments.

That opening finally occurred for the Falls Auto Group Classic in London, Ky, an event that started Friday, July 2.  Martinez, who is still based in Brownsville, found out she was in the field on Tuesday, and needed to drive over 1,100 miles in three days just to play. The cost, plus the impending arrival of Hurricane Alex, made it all but impossible for her to play.

“It’s frustrating, there’s no doubt about it,” Martinez said. “It’s very frustrating but I’m hopeful.”

What happened less than two weeks ago reminded Martinez of a couple things she’s learned all too well this season. The first is that, at this level, money can be a hindrance.

“When you’re in junior high, high school, college, you don’t realize how expensive it can be because your school is always footing the bill for travel, hotels and food,” Martinez said. “To have to do it on your own is pretty tough.”

And the second lesson was that, simply, she needs to qualify better than she did last November. During her four-day tour qualifying tournament, Martinez shot a 308, missing the Day 4 cut by seven shots. Though that was good enough to technically make her a member of the tour, it hasn’t been good enough for much else.

“I needed to get higher in the qualifier and I didn’t do that,” Martinez said. “So hopefully for next year, the 2011 qualifier, I can get a higher score so my status can be a lot better on the exemption list.

“That’s what my biggest mistake was, to not reach for a higher goal,” Martinez added. “That’s something I need to fix for next year.”

When the qualifying tournament for the 2011 tour comes around this November, it’s possible Martinez won’t have played competitively in over a year. She’s still practicing daily, spending as much time as she can on refining her game for her next opportunity.

Obviously, it isn’t how she saw her first professional season playing out.

“It kind of gets really mundane,” Martinez said.

Brian Sandalow covers sports for Valley Freedom Newspapers. You can reach him at (956) 683-4436.