As a Monterrey native, Ana Gonzalez found her way to the U.S. to get an education and play golf for the UTSA Roadrunners.

“I’m from Monterrey, Mexico. I went to high school there and just came [to San Antonio] for college. [I have spent] all my life in Mexico,” Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez first found her love for the sport at six-years-old, and has been with it since. One of her proudest moments is being able to represent her country in the World Championships.

“When I got recruited and started playing with girls of my age, I knew this was my thing,” Gonzalez said.

In 2019, Gonzalez represented her country for the Spirit International Amateur Golf Championship. Unlike regular tournaments, the stands there cheered teams on. Golf is an individual sport where you play for a common goal alongside your team, but it does not have the same side-by-side feel as basketball or football naturally would.

“It was just amazing to think that you had someone there to, like, just cheer for or they were cheering for you,” Gonzalez said.

One of Gonzalez’s most memorable tournaments was the Mercedes-Benz Invitational at Cherokee Country Club in Tennessee. This was a tournament she had played a few years in a row, but her sophomore year, she finished runner-up top 10. In her junior year, Gonzalez finished third place after firing seven-under-par 206, the second-best 54-hole total in program history behind her 205 at the 2017 Invitational.

With the intention of improving, San Antonio, Texas, was her ideal location of a school because it is where her Swing Coach is natively from. Having him closer meant she could get more practice in, and continue to improve for herself and the team.

While at UTSA, Gonzalez chose to major in psychology, so if she does play golf professionally, she will continue her education and gain a masters in sports psychology. Even if she does not get to continue her dream, she can help people who are like her.

Being in school, working out and playing a sport that travels the nation, Gonzalez does not find free time unless she dedicates it to herself. When she finds herself with free time, she listens to new music.

“I like Spanish [music], it just turns my mood up,” Gonzalez said.

Aside from golf, she enjoys yoga, swimming and watching basketball and football Americano. Gonzalez does not enjoy changing her routines. Although she is not superstitious, she does not believe changing her daily routine will help her in her sporting or academic career.

One of Gonzalez’s favorite things is to travel. Golf has given her many opportunities to visit countries around the world.

“I’ve been lucky enough to play for Mexico and travel, go to Japan, Chile and Canada. That’s probably the most amazing [part of traveling globally for tournaments],” Gonzalez said.

Moving to the U.S. with the intention of a degree and playing collegiate golf, Gonzalez has improved in her mental health tremendously.

“[The way] I feel right now, just so much stronger because golf is a game of mental,” Gonzalez said.