Jill Trujillo and Lucy Castañeda, two of a handful of Latinas in managerial positions in the U.S. golf industry, are an incomparable pair. As a golf pro and coach of the University of New Mexico (UNM) women’s golf team and as superintendent of the UNM golf course, Trujillo and Castañeda are the only Latina duo running the daily operations of a golf course.

“It has been such a good education here, not only going to school here, but also working in the golf industry and being a member of the PGA of America and the LPGA. The fact that I worked for UNM for such a long time has been a joy for me,” said Trujillo, who has known Castañeda for more than 35 years.

They both studied at UNM and played for the Lobos. Castañeda was part of the squad in the 80’s. When Trujillo joined the team from 1986 to 1990, she was already moonlighting between her dreams of a career as a professional golfer and working on golf course maintenance.

“Working on maintenance is not so bad. It can be fun,” said Castañeda, one of only three Latina superintendents among the 19,000 members of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America. “It has been a little rough, but it has its rewards too. I have run into good people that respect me and the work I do,” she added about her 35 years of experience.

Trujillo, also one of three Latina golf coaches in Division 1 Women’s College Golf and a clear minority among PGA of America and LPGA pros, had to deal with similar obstacles.

“I think as women in the golf business we find our way around them. I have been in the business for 35 years and still find obstacles to this day,” she said.

The Lobos coach for almost two decades remembers a time when she was the only girl competing in the region and the only girl golfer in her high school. She also recalls a time when she called herself J. Trujillo to take out any gender reference from her applications for a position in golf courses. “I got many phone calls, but then when I spoke, I did not get the job,” said Coach Trujillo.

Almost three decades later, Trujillo has been recognized as one of the top teaching professionals in the country and one of the elite educators of the game. She led the Lobos to six Mountain West titles, three NCAA Championship appearances, nine NCAA Regional appearances and eight team tournament titles over her first 16 years.

“I feel most proud to have been able to connect everyone from the past and the present. I could probably tell you every alumna we have had,” said Trujillo, who oversees the golf program with the nation’s highest team GPA.

“I like to call her my second mom. She really helped me grow as a person and a player. I owe a lot of where I am now to Jill, for sure,” said Jodi Ewart Shadoff, who was a two-time NCAA All-American during her time with Los Lobos.

Ewart Shadoff treasures the memories of her beginnings and her last round with UNM.

“It was very cool to share my first win with her when I was a freshman. I always remember my last event as a college player, walking down the 18th fairway with her was really emotional,” said the English professional golfer, with 31 top-10s and one victory on the LPGA Tour.

“My time with Jill Trujillo was one of the best times of my life. She was an excellent coach and a great person. She cared about me not just as a player, but more as a person,” said Mexican Ingrid Gutierrez, who led the Lobos in scoring average as a sophomore in 2016 and has finished top-10 three times on the Epson Tour.

Gutierrez is an example of the slowly growing number of Latinas in competitive golf and the golf industry. “Inclusion is such a big word. It is so important that we get more young Latinas playing golf,” said Trujillo.

“It would be great to have more Latinas in the golf industry. I probably need to put myself out there more and spread the word that if you don’t want to become a pro, there are other opportunities on a golf course,” added Castañeda.