Juanele Postigo, the one-shoe golfer who started in the Decathlon golf section

Juanele Postigo

does not know what it is to tie the laces of both shoes.

"I was born just the way I am," says the 31-year-old golfer from Cantabria, which translates into a congenital malformation of his right leg, so short that he does not reach the knee, and with his foot glued to the stump.

A disability that has not prevented him from succeeding in the world of golf.

Postigo has just won the first G4D event of the year in Abu Dhabi, the golf tour for the disabled, an initiative created by the DP World Tour, which started last year with seven tournaments, which this year will grow to nine, and whose Goal is to get to 15.

When Juanele was 16 years old, they proposed to amputate his foot to fit a prosthesis.

"It was one of the worst decisions of my life," she recalls.

The intervention did not go well and they left a touched nerve.

Sorrows entered her life and she has not left him.

The golfer plays as he came into the world, that is, without a prosthesis.

"I started playing with it, but in 2012

, since then I have neither the desire nor the interest to try again," he explains.

In the disabled ranking, the Spaniard occupies fourth place, but his story of overcoming seems to have just begun, with the first victory last week and his jump to professionalism.

Gone are his years working in the

.

"Now I dedicate myself to golf," he says proudly.

He even has some sponsorships thanks to his manager,

and also a golf professional.

Train about 3 or 4 hours a day.

"Not the ones that I should, but I have to protect my body. Where we do put a lot of cane is in the gym, because I have to strengthen my abdomen and the only leg I have," he explains.

Postigo after winning in Abu Dhabi in the first test of the year of the G4D, the golf tour for the disabled.GUETTY IMAGES

Although his focus will continue to be G4D, he intends to combine it with a tournament on the PGA of Spain, the Alps Tour and the Challenge Tour: "Even knowing that it is not my space, because I am aware that the game and the level are different".

The handicap is in the distance from the tee box.

"We generate

which translates to about 245 meters. To be competitive on these courses you have to generate at least 115 miles per hour, and you have to fly the ball around 270 meters or you're dead. That's where our big disadvantage comes from," says who is also one of the great punchers on the circuit along with the number one and main rival, the Englishman Kipp Propert, who

in 2022.

Another difficulty, especially in the case of Juanele, is the fairway bunkers and unevenness.

In short, "maintaining the balance", he explains, "something that on very windy days is difficult".

G4D has promised that this year it will pay its players

.

"They are selling our faces and that generates value that little by little has to be remunerated," says the golfer.

At the moment the DP World Tour covers the expenses of the participants but, as Juanele affirms, "you always spend something".

The Cantabrian player believes that golf is an ideal sport for not establishing categories: "There is a minimum that must be respected, because it is not the same to go in a wheelchair, that you cannot hit the ball the same way, or the blind, which require of specific competition conditions, but then there are all the others: arm amputees, leg amputees, cerebral palsy, back scoliosis, there are many disabilities and everyone strives to put on a show".

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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