A man has been charged with murder after a former Iowa State University golf champion was killed at a golf course.
Celia Barquin Arozamena, 22, was found dead at Coldwater Golf Links in Ames in the U.S state of Iowa on Monday.
Police were called to the golf course just before half past ten on Monday morning after golfers found an unattended golf bag.
Celia Barquin Arozamena, 22, a Spanish national from Puente San Miguel, died following an assault and a man has been charged with her murder
Officers then discovered a body some distance from the bag.
Officers determined the Spanish national had died following an assault and confirmed that 22-year-old Collin Daniel Richards had been charged with first-degree murder. Authorities said Richards has no known address.
Barquin Arozamena, from Puente San Miguel in Spain, was the Iowa State Female Athlete of the Year and was finishing a civil engineering degree this semester, having missed the beginning of her university life to take part in the Youth Olympic Games in China.
Iowa State University said she was one of the most accomplished players in their golf history.
Barquin was one of the most accomplished players in Iowa University’s golf history and would have been a competitor at next year’s Women’s British Open at Woburn
‘Outstanding’: Barquin was already a European Champion and was tipped for the top
In April, she became only the second women’s golfer at the university to earn medalist honors at a conference tournament when she won the 2018 Big 12 Championship with a three-shot victory.
Barquin reached the apex of her career in July, just two months before her death, when she hit a course-record at Penati Golf Resort in Slovakia in the third round on her way to a one-shot victory in the European Ladies Amateur Championship.
She became the third Cyclone women’s golfer to compete in the U.S. Women’s Open Championship and was ranked No. 69 nationally by Golfweek.
Iowa State President Wendy Wintersteen said in a statement on Twitter that she was ‘deeply saddened to learn of the tragic death’ of Barquin Arozamena, describing her as a ‘dedicated civil engineering student’ and an ‘acclaimed golfer with a bright future.’
Story County Sheriff’s Department release a photo of Collin Daniel Richards who has been arrested and charged with first degree murder in the death of Celia Barquin Arozamena in Ames, Iowa
Head women’s golf coach Christie Martens said that Barquin Arozamena was ‘loved by all her teammates and friends’ and was an ‘outstanding representative of our school.’
‘We will never forget her competitive drive to be the best and her passion for life,’ Martens added.
Her European win meant she would have been a competitor at next year’s Women’s British Open at Woburn.
Police who found Barquin were responding to reports of an unattended golf back at Coldwater Golf Links in Ames in the U.S state of Iowa on Monday morning
Nacho Gervás, technical director of the Spanish Golf Federation, told El País newspaper: ‘She was a player who was heading for the very top, without a doubt.’
Iowa State athletics are planning to honour Barquin Arozamena when they play Akron at football on Saturday.
Her funeral arrangements are still pending.