Chacarra siblings Eugenio and Carolina earn first college golf wins three days apart
STILLWATER, Okla. (BVM) – February has been quite the month for the Chacarra family on the golf course. Eugenio Chacarra, a senior at Oklahoma State, earned his first collegiate win at the Amer Ari Invitational at Hapuna Golf Course in Kamuela, Hawaii on Feb. 5 by scoring an astounding 10-under par 62 to score a 19-under 197 during the event. His 62 during the final day matched a program record for lowest score during an 18-hole round and he would be named Golfweek’s College Performer of the Week.
“I had a great preseason back home in Spain. I grind a lot with my coaches when I was over there so I feel like my game was obviously there,” Chacarra said. “I just knew before the final round that I could go low because I had been going low the last couple of months so I just stuck to my process and tried to give myself good chances and my putting was hot that day so I finished the deal with a good round.”
College Performers of the Week powered by Rapsodo: Eugenio Lopez-Chacarra, Oklahoma State https://t.co/Az1c2Vw5Ir
— Golfweek (@golfweek) February 9, 2022
The accomplishment was monumental, glorious and short-lived. That’s because just three short days later on Feb. 8, Eugenio’s younger sister, Carolina, won the UCF Challenge in Orlando, Florida by finishing her final round with a 10-under 62 to secure a 19-under victory for her first collegiate win as well. Her final round score of 62 marked the lowest 18-hole score in Wake Forest program history and the second lowest in NCAA history, helping Carolina steal some of the limelight from her brother.
“It was crazy, something that never happens,” Eugenio said. “We’re really close. We talk a lot, like once a week. We FaceTime all the family and I told her when she started that day that I just did it so just go out there and trust all the hard work we put in and you can also do it.”
However, the fact remains that not only did one Chacarra sibling earn their first collegiate win in the month, but both did and did so by practically mirroring each other’s performance. Now that is some friendly sibling rivalry.
“I was really proud of her,” Eugenio said. “Everything she does is good for me, good for our teams and good for our family. I’m happy for her and I know she’s a great girl, she practices a lot and she’s going to do great things in the golf world.”
Past four days for Chacarra siblings:
Final-round 62 ✅ ✅
19-under total ✅ ✅
First college win ✅ ✅ pic.twitter.com/UhxTb5d3bM— Brentley Romine (@BrentleyGC) February 8, 2022
Naturally with Eugenio nearing the end of his career with the Cowboys and Carolina only just beginning hers with the Demon Deacons, the question becomes just how much can these siblings accomplish? Eugenio is well established in the collegiate golf world after he earned first-team All-America status from both the Golf Coaches Association of America and Golfweek and was named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year and first-team All-Big 12 after transferring to the school from Wake Forest.
Prior to his time in college, Eugenio was a strong golfer in his home country of Spain. Eugenio was the top-ranked player in Spain in 2016 and became the first player to hold the top spot in Madrid’s junior ranking for eight consecutive years, doing so from 2009-16. He even won the International Copa Adulucia, the first big amateur event of the year in Spain, in 2019.
Eugenio went to school at the International College School in Madrid and trained at the Moraleja Golf Club in Spain prior to going to Wake Forest. He would be named the 2019 Atlantic Coastal Conference freshman of the year in 2019 before transferring to Oklahoma State in May 2020.
“I’m a guy who’s proud of everything even if I play good or bad I just try to work hard every day and try to get as good as I can,” Eugenio said. “I feel like I’ve had a lot of good moments…I feel like playing for Oklahoma State is something special and now that I’m here I’m really happy so I’m going to work hard to make it onto the [PGA] Tour in the next couple of years.”
Much like her brother before her, Carolina was also an elite golfer during her youth in Spain where she was a Spanish national champion and a member of the Madrid Golf Federation and Spanish National teams. She signed her National Letter of Intent to join the Demon Deacons in November 2020, bringing a proven track record with her to Winston-Salem.
“We’ve been practicing together since we were little so I know how good she is,” Eugenio said. “She has advantages over other girls because she can hit high and long. Once her driving and putting gets consistent I know she’s going to be up there a lot. She’s special and she knows that and she works really hard so I’m not surprised she’s winning and I won’t be if she still has a great season and a great couple of years in college.”
For an encore, Eugenio proved he is still at the top of his game as he finished tied for third place with an 8-under 202 to help the Cowboys finish with a 16-under par 824 at the VyStar Gators Invitational at Mark Bostick Golf Course in Gainesville, Florida. Carolina will have to wait her turn to get back on the course as the Demon Deacons won’t return to play until the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate at Long Cove Country Club in Hilton Head, South Carolina beginning Feb. 28.
The two hope that one day they’ll be able to play together as a mixed team, bringing the Charcarra golf play full circle.
“We’re more of a team, we push each other, we practice together, we just get better with each other every day,” Eugenio said. “One of our goals for the start of the season was for both of us to make the Arnold Palmer Cup team so we could play mixed groups together and that would be kind of cool for my family and parents.”
While the Chacarra family certainly has a lot of golf ahead of them between the two siblings, it will be difficult for the pair to top the week they just had. With their games peaking at the right time, expect the Chacarra name to be prevalent throughout the collegiate golf circuit this year.
“I don’t know what you can expect, but we’re going to be working as hard as we can to get more wins and our team’s NCAA Championships,” Eugenio said. “For our individual parts we will just work hard and try to do the best that we can and hopefully we can win a lot more and hopefully we just keep doing good.”
