{"id":8157,"date":"2025-11-17T16:30:56","date_gmt":"2025-11-17T22:30:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/utrgvradio.com\/?p=8157"},"modified":"2025-11-17T16:31:03","modified_gmt":"2025-11-17T22:31:03","slug":"the-heart-behind-the-swing-a-look-at-emilio-gil-leyvas-golf-passion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/utrgvradio.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/17\/the-heart-behind-the-swing-a-look-at-emilio-gil-leyvas-golf-passion\/","title":{"rendered":"The heart behind the swing: A look at Emilio Gil Leyva\u2019s golf passion"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio\"><audio controls src=\"https:\/\/utrgvradio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Emilio-Gil-leyva-1117_mixdown.mp3\"><\/audio><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">Born in Culiacan, Mexico, Emilio Gil Leyva\u2019s love for golf grew alongside his early memories from the age of 5 of watching his brother and father play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At 16, Leyva won a tournament and that is when he realized he wanted to keep playing more and eventually move to a different league.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Leyva did a year in Florida before graduating high school and then decided to go back to his hometown to graduate with his friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He said he loves being part of UTRGV since it feels like \u201chome\u201d.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-pullquote\"><blockquote><p>\u201cIt&#8217;s great, I love it, I think it&#8217;s pretty similar to Mexico, so I kinda feel like at home and I mean, the team is great,\u201d Leyva said. \u201cWe have good facilities where we practice, so yeah, I really like it here.\u201d\u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>He went from playing golf with his family to playing next to professionals at the World Wide Technology (WWT) Championship, a Professional Golf Association (PGA) event Nov. 6 at El Cardonal at Diamante in Cabo, San Lucas, Mexico.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-pullquote\"><blockquote><p>\u201cIt&#8217;s an amazing experience. I mean, playing there in Mexico, it was just unbelievable,\u201d Leyva said.<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Leyva is focusing on getting better and trying new things during the offseason he normally cannot practice during the regular season.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He said he is preparing to come back better and stronger for next semester.<br>To know more about Leyva and the UTRGV Men\u2019s Golf Team, visit <a href=\"http:\/\/goutrgv.com\">goutrgv.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Born in Culiacan, Mexico, Emilio Gil Leyva\u2019s love for golf grew alongside his early memories from the age<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":8158,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[34,60,831,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8157","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","category-golf","category-on-campus","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.4 - 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