DAVIS, Calif. — If there was a golf equivalent to a "gym rat," UC Davis junior
Andrea Gomez Lloret may just be it.
Like most athletes, her athletic resume is diverse. Gomez Lloret played soccer until she was 14 — "I was probably more talented at soccer than I ever was at golf," she admitted — along with swimming, tennis, and even a few years taking ballet.
However, from the moment she picked up a club for the first time when she was only five years old, the Veracruz, Mexico, native has been swinging it nearly every day since. Her father, Pablo, who began playing in his twenties, enrolled her at a golf academy near their home and the competitive juices began to flow.
"It was small, but it was full of kids," Gomez Lloret recalled. "That's where I started getting very competitive, especially with all the boys that were there with me. I wanted to beat them so bad."
It wasn't until she found herself shaking hands with a future Ladies Professional Golf Association Hall of Famer did she know she was hooked.
"I started competing when I was seven," Gomez Lloret said. "I won my first international tournament by the age of nine, so I was on the rise and, when I was eight, I met Lorena Ochoa and she presented me with a trophy at one of the local tournaments I won.
"From that point on, I fell in love with her. I wanted to be like her. I was obsessed with golf and wanted to pursue that my entire life."
Born and raised in Guadalajara, Ochoa — who also began playing at the age of five — was the top-ranked golfer in the LPGA for a record 158 consecutive weeks when she retired in 2010 at the age of 28, a four-time LPGA Rolex Player of the Year, won 27 titles in less than eight full seasons, and inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2017.
The lofty bar was set.
Growing up, Gomez Lloret took her game around the world with her mother, Veronica, living in Colombia for a spell and spending some time in Orlando before attending the John Cooper School in The Woodlands, Texas, where she received All-Southwest Preparatory Conference and Girls' Golf Most Valuable Player honors as a senior.
Outside of her prep career, she was a nine-time qualifier for the Junior World Golf Championships, collected four top-five finishes on the Future Collegian World Tour in Florida during the 2015 season, won the AJGA TaylorMade Innsbrook qualifier with a round of 71, tied for fifth at the 2017 Golfweek Northern California Junior Open, and won three Southern Texas PGA tournaments throughout the 2017-18 season.
When it came time to select a college, UC Davis provided the managerial economics major and math minor that perfect mix of rigorous academics — which has always been a priority for her and her family — and athletic opportunity she craved.
"Managerial economics uses a lot of calculus, which is why I was so interested in it," Gomez Lloret said. "My AP economics teacher in high school, Donielle Albrecht, who continues to be a very good friend and mentor of mine, just really inspired me.
"My calculus teacher, Marilyn Prine, was also instrumental in helping me choose my path and I thought, 'If I could combine theories of economics with math, it would just be amazing.' It all just fit the bill."
However, once on campus, she realized that horizons weren't necessarily limited to her studies and sport. The narrow fairway quickly opened up for Gomez Lloret as she began to discover passions for things outside the course like yoga and painting, allowing her to redefine her own interpretation of a "student-athlete."
She was also active in a number of Student-Athlete Resource Groups (more on that in a bit) such as A.G.S. (Athlete Guidance and Support) Ambassadors, Athletes in Action, and the UC Davis Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, expanding her "bubble" of friends outside the bounds of her teammates while finding ways to help guide and better the experiences for the university's student-athlete population.
"I think being a student-athlete teaches you more than any other experience," Gomez Lloret said. "I've moved around a lot in my life, but being a student-athlete has allowed me to grow so much. Allowing me to understand myself a little bit better, to grow on the golf course, and really discover why it is I play golf."
Another club in her development bag came courtesy the groundbreaking Aggie EVO program, which is geared toward preparing student-athletes for life after sport. At one of the program's speed networking events, Gomez Lloret had a productive conversation with Anthony Mar, the CEO and founder of AM Advisors — a financial planning firm located in Oakland, Calif.
Just like the perfect swing, the timing for Gomez Lloret couldn't have been better. Aside from the Aggie connections (Mar's daughter, Sophia, was a setter for the UC Davis women's volleyball team from 2014-16, while record-setting Aggie libero Malia Bolko, who lettered in volleyball from 2015-18, is a member of the staff), the COVID-19 pandemic sidelined all UC Davis student-athletes for the spring. This situation created time for Gomez Lloret to pursue a professional opportunity — albeit virtually — that may not have been possible had she been in the midst of a full course load as well as Division I competition.
"At that point, I was only a sophomore and, sometimes, it's hard to get internships when you're that young, but I was determined and ready for the challenge," Gomez Lloret said. "I think this situation taught me the ability to work independently and figure some things out on my own. I learned to try and do as much as I could on my own until I absolutely could not figure out the answer."
With a such small staff, Gomez Lloret was able to get valuable experience in numerous aspects of the company, even if it was via Zoom calls and instant messaging. Aside from working on day-to-day accounts payable, bank and credit card reconciliation, and payroll processing, Gomez Lloret was also involved in meetings with various clients, working on performance oracles, researching software and technology, as well as taking the lead on an estate case.
From there, Gomez Lloret teed off into other professional opportunities. Following her time with AM Advisors, she accepted a position with River City Bank as a Banking Academy Intern during the fall of 2020, a 9-10 week program learning from industry experts that helps develop general business acumen through broad, yet in-depth, exposure to numerous divisions of banking, with an emphasis on understanding banking operations and commercial lending.
This summer, she will join PricewaterhouseCoopers as a technology consulting intern.
Even after all that, Gomez Lloret still wanted something she "could call her own."
Without a true business school at UC Davis to draw from, and inspired by her fellow student-athletes who have carved out niches for other various professional interests, Gomez Lloret — with assistance from Dr.
Michael Lorenzen, the executive director of the Aggie EVO program — formed her own resource group, Athletes in Business.
Relationships with fellow student-athletes Luke Hazel (men's soccer), Sydney Holmes (women's track and field), and Tatiana Arias (field hockey), who all had a hand in growing various SARGs within the athletics department, paid dividends in helping Gomez Lloret get her project off the ground and the group even drew interest from Five Star Bank, which signed on to be the official sponsor and provides mentorship, guidance, and opportunities within the organization.
Although they have yet to meet in person due to the pandemic, the group has been well-received. Gomez Lloret stated that they received interest from between 40-50 student-athletes from their initial survey.
"We wanted to construct a group that focuses on creating a space for student-athletes who are interested in consulting, finance, and entrepreneurship," Gomez Lloret said. "The goal is to gain hands-on experience and skills that one would not have otherwise received in the classroom or through a lecture.
"As student-athletes, it's great when we do get internships, but it's rare that we're able to do so during the year — or even during that summer — because of our schedules. This was a way that we could receive those experiences and experience mentorship by bringing in industry professionals to talk with the group."
This past fall, Gomez Lloret, along with her leadership team of Fabio Kammler, Eva Goodisson, Lauren Bouvia , and Matthew Whipple, held seven meetings with industry experts from the likes of Deloitte, Bain, Accenture, and Boston Consulting Group (among others), with representatives from Nike and JP Morgan waiting in the wings for winter quarter programming.
Even with that full of a plate, the self-described "golf nerd," who hopes to one day earn her MBA and become a successful businesswoman after her time on the course is up, still reverts back to her "course rat" days, losing herself down a rabbit hole of golf tournaments whenever she can, and is an avid fan of England's Charley Hull on the LPGA Tour.
"She's very fiesty," Gomez Lloret said. "Very competitive. I just love how she plays and handles herself on the course. She's very fast and goes right at it."
Sounds a lot like an Aggie we know.
ABOUT UC DAVIS
Over 700 student-athletes across 25 intercollegiate athletics teams, following the addition of equestrian and women's beach volleyball in 2018, represent the fifth-ranked public school in the nation.
Centrally located between San Francisco, Lake Tahoe and the Napa Valley, UC Davis is known nationwide as a leader in Title IX gender equity and leadership, ranks annually in the top 10 in diversity and students' social mobility and offers an unrivaled student-athlete experience that features the ideal combination of elite academics, Division I athletics and personal growth.
UC Davis is uncommonly committed to preparing student-athletes for life after graduation with Aggie EVO — an innovative student-athlete outcomes program that helps young women and men develop passions, gain real-world experience, and enjoy a successful launch to full-time employment or graduate school. Through Aggie EVO, Intercollegiate Athletics provides unmatched resources and a vast network of working professionals to ensure post-graduation success for its student-athletes.
AGGIE EVO
Launched in 2017-18, the Aggie EVO System is UC Davis Athletics' investment in the primary mission of preparing student-athletes for a successful "launch" after graduation. Thanks to a collaboration of alumni, university resources, corporate partners, coaches and Student-Athlete Outcomes staff, all Aggies are guided over four years to acquire the skills, knowledge, opportunities and tools to better know and navigate the "World of Work" after graduating from UC Davis. Follow the Aggie EVO system on Twitter and Instagram at @AggieEVO.
