FIPPA Newsletter - March 2007.
Welcome to this edition of the FIPPA Newsletter.
History of the French Open
LACANAU 5 – 7 October 2001
The first "Open" event organised by AFPP was held in south-west France on a 9 hole course in Lacanau. This holiday resort is best known for the great surf that rolls in from the Atlantic and the breaking waves can be heard from this delightful Pitch and Putt course. For this first edition, 32 players travelled from all over the country, but there were no players from outside France.
After a first round of strokeplay, the players were "seeded" 1 to 32 and over the next two days the format was knock-out match play. A local player, Michel MOULINIER, won the final against Christian Pujol from Ariège. The 3 & 4 place final was an all-ladies event, won by Etiennette Durrieu from Midi-Pyrénées against Michèle Hudson from Auvergne. They took some consolation and pride from having eliminated 6 men between them! In the losers' final, Stéphane Monchaux from Les Volcans defeated Pierre Rabeyroux from Corrèze.
Unfortunately, no-one thought, or had the time, to take any photos of this historic "first".
LES VOLCANS 26 – 28 July 2002
The following year, the event moved from the ocean to the volcanic mountain range of central France and players from Italy and Holland made up an international field which included 9 players who had taken part in European team championships.
The format was the same as in Lacanau, with 5 rounds of match play, the first four over 9 holes and the final over 18. In fact, in the 3 & 4 place final, Jean-Patrick Lorgeou needed 20 holes to defeat a young Dutchman, Yannick Van Veldhoven who had lead for most of the match. Jean-Patrick's experience the previous year, when beating the daunting Sean Harkins in Papalus, had given him the confidence to hold on and sink a series of vital putts.
Antonio TRASFORINI from Italy held on to an early lead over Michel Lestrade, the AFPP team captain, and ran out a worthy winner. His best round of 9 holes included four pars and five birdies! Someone even remembered to bring a camera:
LA GRANDE MOTTE 15-16 March 2003
As the event was growing in importance and attracting more interest internationally, in 2003 it was decided to move to a new venue with an 18 hole course, on the Mediterranean coast. It was an immediate success as 101 players from eight different countries signed up for the competition and an EPPA Council meeting was held at the same time.
The defending champion did well and was one of four players to record the low round score of 52. Stephen O'LEARY also shot 52 in his second round, managing to catch the first round leader, fellow Irishman, Alan Hanlon, both players finishing on an overall par. Stephen won the play-off at the third hole. Another player to shoot 52 was a local player, Christian AUZIERE, who has since become the main organiser of this annual event, with la Grande Motte as the permanent home.
LA GRANDE MOTTE 6 & 7 March 2004
In 2004, the French title of the event changed to "Les Internationaux de France". It was again played over 36 holes and the field of 94 included seven different nationalities. The top local players came out in force and took the first 6 places. Alain Hanlon, who was by now the most experienced international player in the field, took the cup for the best non-French player with his lowest score yet of 3 under par.
Adrien LACORE, playing his first ever Pitch & Putt competition, went wild on the first round, shooting 8 under par. His 46 still stands as the course record. His friend, Sébastien Clément, from nearby Nîmes, got to 6 under par for the two rounds and was relieved when Adrien could only manage two over for his final round. Adrien found his touch again in the play-off and a birdie was enough to give him a well-deserved title.
LA GRANDE MOTTE 16 & 17 April 2005
This was the year when the French Open adopted its current format and title: "Le Challenge International", played over 54 holes of strokeplay. The organisers were so intent on attracting international players that they forgot to advertise in France and had the lowest French contingent ever! It was also the year when Alan HANLON finally got his hands on the cup, with two Irish friends close on his heels.
On the Saturday morning, AFPP's leading young player, David Antonelli. recorded the best score of the competition with a 51 and although his level par second round kept him with a share of the lead, he knew that with a dozen top Irish players in the field he was going to need a really good final round to win. Conditions were more difficult on the Sunday and David could only manage a 57 which moved him down to fourth. The Irish took the top three places and had 6 players in the top ten, so the previous evening's trip out to sea and the flamenco dinner had not affected their play.
Sean Goggin, Gerard McGuirk, John Deeble and father Steve, all managed to shoot under par in this final round, but it was not enough to catch the experienced Mr Hanlon who ended up with a one shot lead at 3 under overall.
LA GRANDE MOTTE 28 – 30 April 2006
The defending champion was back in La Grande Motte for the fourth year running and determined to retain his title. His opening round of 50 left no doubt as to his intentions but this year, there would be 34 rounds recorded at par or better. Quality in depth! The main threat seemed to be coming from the Viking invasion, in the shape of William and Edvard Hatle who were scoring low with amazing regularity. As was the Catalan champion, David Solé and another Irish regular, Ian Farrelly, who finished under par on all three rounds.
Alan Hanlon pulled out all the stops on Sunday but his 3 under was not enough to beat yet another Irishman, young James CARROLL, getting his first taste of international Pitch & Putt. James had scored a remarkable 49 on the Saturday afternoon session and managed to record an all time low of 8 under for the tournament. William Hatle also shot 8 under on his last two rounds but was let down by his first round 56.
Also shooting low, also Irish and finishing a shot ahead of the Catalan and Swiss internationals, Ramon Carrera and Ueli Lamm, was the leading lady, Liz Quinn, tied with the best French player, Joël Dehove on 6 over.
LA GRANDE MOTTE 27 – 29 April 2007
The field gets bigger and better each year and the scores get lower and lower. All of the above mentioned players are coming back this year and we are looking forward to yet another great competition. So watch this space!
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