GETTING TO KNOW… TIFFANY ARAFI

After picking golf over horse riding as a teenager, Tiffany Arafi made it her goal to become a professional golfer and play on the Ladies European Tour.

With one year left at Coastal Carolina University, Tiffany competed at LET Q-School in 2022 and gained full status after finishing 14th in the Final Qualifier.

Tiffany comes from a family of golfers and one day hopes to represent Switzerland at the Olympic Games.

Excited for the season ahead, we caught up with Tiffany to find out more about her golfing journey, her Multiple Sclerosis (MS) diagnosis, and her goals for 2023…

Hometown: Birsfelden, Switzerland

Home Course: Golf Club Crans-Sur-Sierre

Age: 23

Started golf at: 6

Turned pro: 2023

Handicap: +4.4

I was six years old when I first started playing golf. My whole family was playing already, and it was on Saturdays and Sundays that we would go there and spend the whole day at the course altogether. At first, I was also doing horse riding, so I had to pick between horse riding and golf, but I chose golf!

Tiger Woods and Michelle Wie were my heroes growing up. Michelle was so impressive back when I was little. She was really tall and I was just so small. The way she used to putt with the wider stance was so cool and I was just really impressed by her when I was little.

As soon as I decided between golf and horse riding I knew I wanted to turn pro. I thought if I’m going to do it, I want to do it 100%. I was still studying in Switzerland at the time, so I wasn’t in a sport school or anything. But then later I moved to Orlando to do my last few years of high school and my senior year at a golf academy.

Afterward, I went to college and played for four years for Coastal Carolina. College was great. All very good years. I had a great team and it was a great place to practice too. Myrtle Beach is a great place with so many many golf courses.

I didn’t know if I was going to be able to play golf again. When I was in high school in Orlando I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). That’s been my biggest challenge so far because I was off school for a really long time. I was not able to exercise so I had to find medication and treatments and then do some rehabilitation. That was right before college, so I was scared to lose my scholarship and tell my coach. But she was super supportive and told me it wasn’t a problem and that she still wanted me on the team.

It’s changed my perspective on life. It made me realise how much my family means to…