FIGARO INFORMATION – Disappeared from the calendar for ten years, the event has been relaunched by Bernard Pascassio and will be played on the Châteaux course from June 15 to 18, 2022. With ambition to spare.
From our special correspondent in Pian Médoc,
The French professional golf championship is getting ready to come back to life. Organized by kalika company with the seal of the French Federation, the only one authorized by the sports ministry to deliver a national title, the four rounds of the 2022 championship will take place from Wednesday June 15 to Saturday June 18 at the Châteaux du Medoc Golf Resort. “I firmly believe in this event because the title of Champion of France is very symbolic”, points out Bernard Pascassio, at the initiative of the project. We’ll have to look for the Jean Garaïalde trophy in the cupboards and dust it off before giving it to the next winner…
staffing
With an endowment of up to 150,000 euros, the French professional championship will host from 2022 a field of 90 players, distributed as follows: the 40 best players in the national ranking at the beginning of June, 25 players present in this same ranking the previous year, while that 20 invitations will be issued and 5 amateurs will be accepted. The final list of players present will be known in early June.
“We chose the date according to the international calendar, points out the founder of Kalika. This falls during the US Open. The French players will be the protagonists. We count on your presence. But, for me, the tournament must be stronger than the players…” In other words, the Jan-Garaialde Trophy, last contested in 2009 and won by Gary Stal, is legitimate enough to attract the very best. If the best French do not come, the organizers will no longer take into account the dates of the European circuit next year. “We intend to relaunch the event for a long-term lease, specifies Denis Fabre, capo of this relaunch together with Bernard Pascassio. We are not moving, we want to see it recorded over time and played on the Médoc Resort golf course for at least the next three years. »
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If this relaunch is possible from 2022, the organizers owe it in large part to the arrival of a title sponsor: Maisons MCA (a construction company based in New Aquitaine, which has some forty agencies in the Landes, in the Country Vasco…) led by Serge Melchiorre have committed themselves for the next four years “Being champion of France means being the best of the best”emphasizes Thomas Delage, director of communication, in the words of his boss, a golf fan (index 2), a member of Arcachon, the club with which he was crowned French senior amateur champion.
“When you are a professional golf player, you have to take risks. You don’t work in administration! »
Bernardo Pascasio
“No boasting, summarizes Bernard Pacassio, never stingy with good words, The Ryder Cup was able to be held in France thanks to the €4M endowment of the Open de France. By the way, I have never paid any player to come, because I prefer to put the money in the endowment. When you are a professional golf player, you have to take risks. You don’t work in administration! My wish today is to help the young French players. » And to continue: “I received a note from Raphaël Jacquelin that moves me. He writes, among other things: “I will be available for the French championship. It is a pleasure to come and play this tournament and honor the efforts made to revive it. » I want the players to be proud to be champions of France! With the challenge of the Golf du Médoc Resort course and a good staffing, I think we have the legitimacy to believe in it. »
Although he hosted the Lacoste Ladies Open de France on his course for three years (to be held in 2022 in Deauville), Vincent Paris is delighted to see the French professionals land in the Médoc. “The question of going there or not was not raised for a long time, explains the general manager of the Golf hotel complex, which is usually among the most beautiful in Europe. Since its creation, not a year has gone by without a professional golf tournament, beyond the four years of work we have carried out. In addition to the Lacoste Ladies Open de France, there was the Men’s French Open, Challenge Tour finals, Alps Tour stages or the PGA Schweppes Championship…”
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Appreciated by many French players (Havret, Pavon and many others) who have made it a privileged training ground, the Golf du Médoc Resort is also the ideal place for an event that promises to be a beautiful annual celebration of French professional golf. “We plan to invite Jean Garaialde to present the trophy that bears his name in the company of the President of the Federation”, says Philippe Sabarros, called in reinforcement by Pascassio and Fabre within the organization. In this sense, a blue-white-red border could appear on the winner’s sleeves – in the manner of what exists for the French champions of cycling or skiing – just as a “French Legends” outing could start on the morning of the the 4me and last lap of the event, as the holders of the Augusta Masters.
“In 2023, we could have a field of 90 men and 50 women, with identical endowments. »
Bernardo Pascasio
In 2023, the French championship should also be mixed. “We wanted it to be like this from 2022, Bernard Pascassio explains, but the calendar of the Ladies European Tour already had a date in mid-June (Aramco Team Series in London, editor’s note). Very bad for this year. In 2023, we could have a field of 90 men and 50 women, with identical endowments. This is our goal. The endowment of the ladies would be the same as that of the gentlemen, in proportion to the female participation. » Obviously, the project has the support of the main sponsor, MCA, open on the subject: “If, in the long term, MCA can collaborate with other partners to develop the diversity of the French professional championship, concludes Hugo Lafitte, we will encourage it. Golf is a mixed sport and carries values of equality. » Notice to…professionals.
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