Severiano Ballesteros (pronounced buy-yuh-STAY-ros) was born in Pedreña, where his father, a former Spanish-champion rower, was a farmer. His three older brothers, Baldomero, Manuel and Vicente, were golf pros, as was his uncle Ramon Sota.
As a boy, he batted stones with a homemade golf club on the beaches near his family’s stone farmhouse. When he was 8, his brother Manuel gave him a 3-iron, and he began to caddie at a prestigious golf club in Santander, near his home. He won the caddie championship there at age 12 with a 79, sneaked onto the course at night to practice his shots, quit school at 14 and turned pro at 16.
Wow, I love to find moo-tivation everywhere I look! I’m always sufficiently astounded!
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