Bouraeda is only the third Colorado women’s golfer, and the only Moroccan, to advance to the U.S. Women’s Open through the CGA qualifier, edging out competitors Sky Sudberry of The Woodlands, Texas, and Maria Fernanda Lira Solis of Mexico by one stroke.

Bouareda still cannot quite believe it. “It’s absolutely insane,” she said. “It’s the first USGA event that I’ve qualified for.” She sat down with MAP to talk about her journey and tell her story.

Malak is only 21 years old. She told MAP that she has been playing golf for 18 years of those years, and her story is unique.

She draws great inspiration from her parents, both of whom played various sports. “My dad was an accomplished tennis and soccer player, and my mom grew up playing softball and basketball.” Before Malak was born, they decided to take up golf together, a sport that neither of them knew anything about.

Her parents would take her with them when she was a small girl, and she would watch them play each hole from the golf cart. “On one hole,” she said, “my dad hit an extra ball away not thinking anything of it,” and apparently just expecting her to stay in the golf cart. Instead, she recounted, “I got out and walked to the green, picked up the ball and dropped it into the hole. I don’t remember this [myself], but I have heard the story so many times from my dad that I can envision it clearly.”

Malak started playing golf at age three. At the age of ten, she lost her mother to Crohn disease, and her mother became “a strong source of inspiration and motivation.”

“My mom was a fighter and always wanted to use that fighting spirit on the golf course,” Malak recalled. While Malak played multiple sports during her childhood, she described that golf was different. “I felt I could be myself on the golf course.”

Malak’s role models in sport are people who “inspire and motivate” her every day. “In golf,” she said, “Tiger Woods and Nelly Korda are my two biggest inspirations, and, outside golf, my role models would be Kylian Mbappe, Achraf Hakimi, and Serena Williams. All of these athletes have a determination and attitude that I aspire to have.”

As in many sports, golf has a gender pay disparity where men are paid significantly more than women. Recently, the American women’s soccer team players won a long battle for equal pay. Malak believes that this is an important victory.

“I was very pleased and excited to see what came out of women fighting for equality in sport.” She noted that it was recently announced that the golf majors for women would see a rise in the purse for future events, beginning with this year’s US Open. She said she is pleased to see this starting to happen, and she hopes that pay equity will apply to all events and not just the majors. “It is something that I feel very passionately about, and one that I will always fight for.”

While being a professional golfer is not an easy road, and athletes are likely to face challenges along the way, Malak is realistic about the future. Although she has already suffered injuries and setbacks, she said “those low points motivate me to not only keep going but to avoid [them] again. I know that I have it in me to achieve the goals that I have set for myself.”

Not surprisingly at age 21, she observed, “I have a lot left in my tank which is what motivates me to keep going. Low points are always going to happen,” she said, “but with a positive mindset, we can get through anything.”

When asked what it means to her to be the first Moroccan woman to qualify to the US Open, she said “It is a huge honor to represent the [Moroccan] flag on a day-to-day basis let alone in a major championship. I am very excited to have the opportunity to represent Morocco and hopefully be an inspiration to the next generation of golfers.”

Malak received her Bachelor’s degree from the University of Colorado this month, and she plans to return to the university in autumn to pursue a Master’s degree in corporate communication.