New York-born Swiss star Albane Valenzuela has been a regular on the LPGA Tour since earning her card after finishing fifth at Q-Series in 2019 and, in many of the high spots of her professional career so far, she has relied on family for caddying duties.
Despite her relatively young age of 26, Valenzuela has already competed for Switzerland in all three of the Olympics since golf was reintroduced to the Games in 2016. In the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, she had her brother Alexis on the bag, and he has accompanied her frequently throughout her professional career.
It’s not just Alexis from the Valenzuela family who was accompanied Albane in big events, though. For example, one of the highlights of her career so far came with a T4 at the 2023 Chevron Championship, and on that occasion, she had her dad, former amateur star Alberto, by her side.
At the time, she told LGPATour.com: “This week I have my dad caddying for me. I wanted to have him by my side because he is my swing coach, mental coach, and my dad. He has helped me a lot during the week with playing very calm.”
More recently, Valenzuela has had Jamie Longman carrying her bag. The Englishman is the long-term boyfriend of Spanish star Carlota Ciganda and has often caddied for her. However, he’s not the only LPGA Tour star he has worked with. He has also been the regular caddie for Caroline Masson and worked with Linn Grant and Moriya Jutanugarn in recent years.
He was also the caddie for Fatima Fernandez Cano when, in 2022, she shot an 11-under 61 in the third round of the Carlisle Arizona Women’s Golf Classic to match the lowest 18-hole score in Epson Tour history.
Most recently, Longman has been seen alongside Valenzuela, including when she finished T20 at the 2024 AIG Women’s Open – a performance that was the precursor to arguably the biggest honor of her career so far.
Valanzuela’s performance at the Old Course, St Andrews, included a third round of 66, which caught the eye of Team Europe Solheim Cup captain Suzann Pettersen. Valenzuela told the media afterwards: “She said, good, round, good playing – just very nice of her.”
Two days later, Pettersen confirmed Valenzuela would be one of her wildcards, meaning that she, with Longman presumably alongside her, will appear at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club match on the same team as Ciganda.
