When Julián Romaguera Googled ‘golf jobs in Asia’ as an ambitious young golf professional, little did he appreciate that his career would take him on his own personal world golf tour.

Growing-up on the Costa del Sol in Spain, Romaguera, like many of his peers within the industry today, fancied his chances as a budding tour professional, competing week-in, week-out on the world’s best golf courses.

His ambition took him to the US where he secured a golf scholarship at Orlando Webber International University – which is where Romaguera gained a degree in business management – but he quickly realised that if he wanted a career in golf, it needed to be away from playing the game he openly admits he loves.

During his time in Orlando, realisation dawned that he just wouldn’t make the grade as a tour pro saying: “I realised that although I was a good golfer, I was not good enough to play on the Tour.” So, after finishing his degree in Orlando, Romaguera returned to Spain where he worked for a year or so in golf retail before his ambitious nature left him wanting more.

“I really enjoyed the experience,” recalls Romaguera, “but after a year I noticed that this was probably not what I was meant to do. So, I started searching on the Internet for ‘golf jobs in Asia’ and admits: “I was very young, but very eager to do new things and learn a lot from different cultures.”

During Romaguera’s Internet search, an opportunity to run golf academies for children in Singapore was advertised, and soon, Romaguera was en-route to a new life in Singapore working as a golf manager for Kindergolf who specialised in imparting golf, mental and life skills to 2-7 years old.

“Little-by-little, I fell in love more with managing within the golf industry and [shortly after arriving in Asia] was selected to be the operations manager at Blue Canyon Country Club in Phuket, Thailand, which was my first real experience working at a golf club.”

Romaguera spent 18 months in Thailand, followed by another year-and-a-half as director of golf at Phokeethra Country Club in Cambodia, employed by Sofitel, where he briefly flirted with the idea of changing career paths into hotel management.

“I was living in the hotel and the company were very honest with me saying that as Sofitel had only two golf courses in the world, my career progression with them could not be through golf, and as such, I needed to train in hospitality management which I was happy to do.

“I was obviously managing the golf course, but for example, if there were some night shifts at the hotel, I would help out, or if the rest of the managers need to go on training or something else, I was the one in charge for that period.

“So, it gave me plenty of skills, and I also got to understand the running of hotels as well. Looking back, my time in Cambodia was the most rewarding, because I learned so much in a relatively short time.”

Eager to progress his skill set further, in November 2014, Romaguera left Asia to head for Central America, and another 18-month spell, this time at Riviera Maya Golf in Cancun, Mexico. “I loved my time in Cambodia, but there comes a point when you’re looking for something else, and the Gulf is where I felt more comfortable. So, I moved to Mexico.”

Now PGA Riviera Maya Golf, Romaguera recalls the destination being “a hidden gem in Mexico because the property is amazing… the golf course is stunning.”

Managing a golf club within such a huge resort with 3,600 hotel rooms often proved challenging, with Romaguera admitting: “For many, many years, they did not take golf as a business seriously compared to the whole resort, so part of my job was to try and give it some importance.”

Romaguera may well have stayed longer in Mexico, yet the pull of home – not to mention a beautiful woman who is now his wife – proved too much, and in April 2016, Romaguera returned to the Costa del Sol to start a new chapter in his personal and professional life, securing the position of general manager at Los Naranjos.

“I was on holidays here from Mexico, and she was living in Madrid and was also on holiday here as well, and we met by accident,” recalls Romaguera fondly. “We’re expecting our first child this year which is fantastic.”

Aged just 29 at the time, some within the industry may have been daunted by the task of managing such a prestigious club at such a tender ago, but not Romaguera.

“I took the role with a lot of responsibility. I knew that many people in the industry probably would not take me serious because of my youth, but obviously to me [that] was a challenge. I had always been very brave in that aspect. I’m a push forward guy.”

And it was his tenancy and determination that landed the role, a position that wasn’t even advertised. “There was no position officially… someone passed me the contact details of the president and I just sent him an email and our conversation started there.

“It took me six months to get this role in the end, so it was not something which happened all of a sudden. Obviously, I fully understand that probably they had, at the time, their doubts about hiring such a young person for this position.”

Located in Marbella, Los Naranjos has undergone something of a revolution under Romaguera’s stewardship, increasing their market share of online bookings exponentially over the past four-and-a-half years.

“Traditionally golf clubs have been working a lot with Tour operators, and now Los Naranjos can say that we are very independent ourselves because we sell straight through our website, whereas before it was pretty much only Tour operators selling.

“When I joined, I presented a vision to the owners. They understood that we were on the same line, but I also understood that there had been some changes in the ownership and that a younger generation of owners would understand that being young was something positive.”

Six years on, now aged 35, Romaguera can reflect on his achievements at Los Naranjos, and is thankful for the faith that the owners showed in him.

“In some things I have matured over the time,” admits Romaguera. “I would say myself and my management and my vision has become much more mature in this project because I have much more freedom to do things that I couldn’t do earlier in other projects.

“I think all my experiences before allowed me to have the right tools to achieve how I would like the club here to evolve. I like to call it the DNA of Los Naranjos, and that goes from the very beginning from the kind of people we hire, and the traits that they have, to regular training and meetings.”

Romaguera was also instrumental in securing the rights to host the Ladies Open of Spain last November – the final event in the Race to Costa del Sol – and harbours dreams of one day hosting, or working even, at a major Tour event venue.

“I think Los Naranjos was originally designed and built for tournaments, and unfortunately for different reasons had been 33 years without one,” he said.

“It was my vision to bring a Tour event to the board, and obviously the TV exposure was fantastic – having some of the best girls in the world here was great. Plus, by hosting the Race to Costa del Sol, I have seen the best of each of my staff. I feel very proud about that.”

And when asked about his own future, Romaguera candidly says: “I’ll tell you the same thing I told my wife the first day I met her. My dream at some point is to be the CEO of a project that has hotel, real estate, and golf.”

The only unanswered question is where in the world one day that will be.