Manuel "Manu" Elvira joined the UCF men's golf team as a freshman in 2014 and over the course of his four-year career, solidified himself as one of the greatest Knights in program history.
Under head coach Bryce Wallor, Elvira was the individual champion at three events, a three-time American Athletic Conference All-Conference honoree, was a part of two UCF teams that played in the NCAA National Championship Tournament and helped lead UCF to an NCAA regional title.
Today, the Santander, Spain native is back overseas pursuing his lifelong dream of playing golf at the professional level, but Elvira credits his time at UCF as a big reason for why he is where he is.
"I came in as a freshman that didn't speak a lot of English," said Elvira. "[Coach Wallor] was like a second father to me. He took care of us and helped us as much as he could. He turned me into a better player and a better person. It was a different culture at first, but I got used to it quick after my first semester and then I just tried to enjoy myself as much as possible. Looking back on it, my college experience was a lot of fun."
Elvira is one of just eight Knights to win three or more events in their time at UCF.
In his sophomore season in 2015, Elvira claimed two individual victories, earning medalist honors at the Homewood Suites FGCU Invite and the FAU Slomin Autism Invite.
Elvira secured his third victory in his junior year as he was crowned the individual champion at the Homewood Suites FGCU Invite for the second time in his career.
"[Winning three events at UCF] meant a lot to me because it made me realize that If I played well, I could compete with the best players out there," said Elvira.
Although Elvira made some unforgettable memories by winning those tournaments, his favorite moment in his time as a Knight came when UCF secured the regional title during his junior season.
The Knights finished the tournament at one under par, beating out Power Five programs including Vanderbilt and Clemson.
"Winning the regional championship in 2017 was unforgettable," said Elvira. "Everyone on the team played great golf and we all had a great week off the course as well. It was awesome just to show everyone that we could be a great program and win big tournaments. It was special for me and probably my favorite memory from school overall."
Elvira, Wallor and the Knights after winning the 2017 regional championship
That regional title, which was UCF's first since 2009 and just the second in program history, would secure the Knights a spot in the NCAA Championship Tournament, marking their first of two straight trips to the championship.
"It was such a special and unique opportunity [to lead UCF to two NCAA Tournaments]. Being there felt like a pro event in some ways. We had the quality of competition there, and the courses were incredible. It was a different atmosphere."
Coach Wallor believes Elvira was a big part of UCF's success in those postseason runs.
"Manuel was such a powerful player that it made the course a bit easier for him than most," said Wallor. "We had a running joke about his TaylorMade hybrid club. We called it 'the eagle club'. It got the name because he hit it so far and made a few amazing threes on par fives with that golf club over the years, but, I really believe it was Manuel's body of work that showed how special he was at UCF."
Elvira was not just an athlete during his time at UCF. Graduating in 2018 with a Bachelor of Science in Finance, Elvira truly was the embodiment of an all-around student-athlete.
"Manuel was clearly one of the best student-athletes that I have coached in my time at UCF. He achieved at such a high level in both the classroom and on the golf course during his time in Orlando that you could clearly see the intelligence that he possessed on and off the course," said Wallor.
Following graduation, Elvira spent some time with coach Wallor and the team in a different capacity as a volunteer assistant coach.
"We asked Manuel to be the team's volunteer assistant coach as he was trying the professional tour qualifying process in the USA," said Wallor. "We wanted to be able to support Manuel with an opportunity to stay in a competitive environment and have guys to play and practice with during his time in Orlando right after college.
"If you ask most young professional golfers, the hardest thing to do right after college is to find a competitive group of people to be around at your local golf club. When you add to that the fact that Manuel is an international player living away from his home country, we just felt that was the right thing to do for our program."
As the volunteer assistant coach, Elvira's role was to be a sounding board for the team at practice, and when the starting lineup was on the road competing in another town, Elvira could stay in Orlando with the rest of the team.
"I learned a lot from my time as an assistant, like how [coach Wallor] scheduled practice and things like that," said Elvira. "I was able to spend a lot of time with the guys out at practice while I was working my way through Q-school. It was definitely a route I would look into doing if I don't continue playing golf at the professional level."
When asked if he would be open to having Elvira return in a coaching capacity, coach Wallor said "the door will always be open for Manuel at UCF."
For now, coach Wallor hopes Elvira stays far away as he believes in Elvira and hopes he has a long and prosperous career as a professional golfer.
And with the way Elvira's young career has begun, there is good reason to expect just that.
Elvira shined in his first professional event after graduating. Playing at the Ein Bay Open, part of the Alps Tour, in February of 2019, Elvira finished in second place.
"I wasn't nervous," said Elvira. "I just wanted to go out and do the best I could. Once you realize that you can compete at the professional level, your game is really able to expand."
Elvira bested the competition with a round-best 65(-7) in the final round of play to secure second place. He finished with a 205(-11) total, but the early success came at a price.
"After I did so well, I put a higher expectation on myself and that is why I didn't perform as well as I could have last year overall," said Elvira. "I learned the hard way, after missing some cuts, to not put so much pressure on myself and to try and enjoy myself on the course more. I think that is why, over the last two months so far this year, I have been playing some of the best golf I have played in a while. I've been able to gain a lot of confidence."
When it comes to longevity in the game and how to sustain success over the course of a season, Elvira has the ultimate role model to look to in his brother, Nacho.
Growing up, Nacho was a big part of how Elvira got into golf. In a recent interview with the European Challenge Tour media team, Elvira said:
"I got into golf when I was about two or three years old… mainly because of my brother... he started when he was about eight or nine years old and I am nine-and-a-half years younger than him, so my father took us both to the golf course."
The 33-year-old Nacho has enjoyed plenty of his own success during his time in the professional landscape, winning four professional events on the Challenge Tour. Oddly enough, the runner-up at two of those, the Challenge de Madrid (2015) and the Rolex Trophy (2015), was none other than UCF's own Ricardo Gouveia, who played with the Knights from 2011-2014.
Nacho has been a key figure and somebody to look up to for Elvira in his young career.
"He tells me just to be patient, enjoy the game while you can, and go out there and have fun," said Elvira.
Although 2020 has not gone as planned for Elvira as he, along with the rest of the world, has navigated through the struggles that the COVID-19 pandemic has brought on, he is now back to competing professionally. In September, Elvira wrapped up play in the Alps Tour, and between October and November, Elvira competed in three Challenge Tour events. Now looking forward to a key offseason, Elvira expects to return to the Alps Tour and more Challenge Tour events in 2021.
Coach Wallor believes Elvira has what it takes to thrive at the professional level.
"When I think of Manuel, I think of a winner on and off the course," said Wallor. "I think of a guy who came from a tight-knit family that showed so much love and support to both Manuel and our program. I will always remember him as one of the great players that I have had the privilege to coach."