Astrid Vayson De Pradenne. @TristanJones

What is your assessment of the 2019 season?

I finished 61st in the order of merit, I maintain my full card on the LET for 2020 with a 5d category. I was in the hard from March to July because of a faulty putting. I then made a change in the team around me to find serenity in this area of ​​play. Following the advice of Emmie Peronnin, another player on the circuit, I adopted the grippe and je revieweds since Scottish, in August. I finished the end of the year brilliantaeven with a 5th place in Kenya at the very last tournament. I am therefore attacking 2020 with a lot of desire and ambition.

The grippe influenza is used more and more on the women's circuit?

Some players use it anyway, like Céline Herbin or the German Esther Henseleit. When putting, I know very well what the right hand and the left hand should do. On the putting green at the entranceîor on a reconnaissance trip, I puts the ball in the hole without problem. But under stress, that's another story, my right hand tends to get overactive and literally do anything. The flu grips, it was like a reset for me, an upgrade with new sensations. I was like a child discovering the thing, curious and enthusiastic. It allowed me to inhibit my right hand and perform a lot under tension.

You have already started the 2020 season since you are currently in South Africa…

Yes, I play two Sunshine Ladies Tour tournaments in Cape Town (Astrid just finished 4th) and in Sun City next week. I wanted to find the rhythm of the competition before attacking the start of the LET season in Australia in mid-February. It's not so much that the game is rusting in the offseason, I especially need playing golf with a scorecard in my pocket is another dimension of my sport. I havei want to feel this to arrive serene in Australia.

What do you think of the new LET calendar, which offers 24 tournaments, including 15 in Europe this season?

It is a dream to have more opportunities to play in continental Europe and to see European golf develop under the impetus of this new LPGA-LET partnership. The LPGA needs a pool of European female players to attract a new audience and to negotiate its television rights as well as possible. Some people think that Asian players are not always very expressive and charismatic and thatposter Europeans will be able to attract more audiences. It's a win-win for everyone, actually.

What are your goals for this season?

Join the LET Top 25 to compete against the British and replay Majors, as in 2018. I would like to do the Evian Championship again this year, but for that, I have to win a tournament or be in the top 5 of the ranking.

What result did you obtain in 2018, in Evian?

(Laughs) I always answer that I played at the same level as Laura Davies (the two players had missed the cut at +12). I was moved that week and despite the presence of my coach, I got lost in my stress.

What is your strong point in golf?

I have a very solid driver. In bad days, I still touch ten fairways. I also type relatively far. According to the stats, I'm around the 50th instead, but I know the girls are pipetting a little. OWe do our own statistical survey, each time on 2 of the 18 holes, and I can see où I situate myself in reality. My other strong point is undoubtedly the chipping. When I get on the ball, my little voice insidee tells me : "Come on Chipping Queen, çhas returned ». (Laughter)

Are there compartments in your game that you want to improve?

My score on the par 5. Last year, I gained 0,2 points on average, while the top players of LET gained 0,8 points. Par 5s are the key to getting results for pros. This year I promised myself to have this acute awarenessë of 5 each time I plante climb. And there is my putting of course. In 2019, I had an average of 31,6 putts per round and I would like to go below 30 in 2020. I have a little "confidence notebook", in fact a simple notebook on which I note and describe my most beautiful putts: whether it's an 11 meter string for birdie, a 3 meter downhill putt with a big break to save the par, etc.

Speaking of notebook, sur thecase of your logbook, I believe there is a shark and a crocodile. For what reasons ?

The shark is not a reference to Greg Norman. I have done a lot of scuba diving or snorkeling and find the shark to be a beautiful, graceful, athletic animal. It changes speed and direction, like us in golf. As for the crocodile, it is an animal which bites, which does not let go of its prey. I like the idea that you should never let go. In golf, we often say that there is no room for error, but I think it's the opposite. Golf is a permanent redemption, the course offers you thousands of chances to redeem yourself. You can always put in a long putt or its exit from a bunker, nothing is ever completely lost. There are dozens of different ways to birdie or save a par.

Did you follow a mental preparation for the offseason?

Yes. I even did several sessions in January with a mental trainer, Fred Cliquet, who practices hypnosis. This allows me to have refuge images that come back on the course when the tension rises, I do a breathing work too. And then I read and reread Bob Rotella.

You have a lot of reading it seems. On this famous notebook we were talking about earlier, there is also this quote from the Swiss philosopher Alexandre Jollien, which uses a phrase from Spinoza: "Do well and be happy".

Yes, Alexandre Jollien has written a very beautiful book, Praise of weakness. Weakness also has its virtues, especially in an environment like mine, which is very performance-oriented. I feed off these readings in relation to what I do on the course. After all, you just push a bullet into a hole, that's absolutely ridiculous. I also really like the Austrian poet Rilke. When I read Letter to a young poet, I have the impression that it is addressed to me. I ask myself a lot of questions about my existence, what I do with it. On what I sacrifice as a professional golfer in relation to my social or love life, motherhood ... and these nourishing readingsremit my soul.

When you are a professional golfer, do you manage to separate performance from pleasure?

It's hard to separate the two. Much of the fun is performance. It is also about giving meaning to what we do on a course. Why do we plant a tee at the start? One can appreciate the quality of the grass, the interaction with the spectators, an approximatelynnaturally even if it is façOnne by the hand of thehike. There is also a lot of time out in golf, which allows me to nourish my contemplative aspects, my religiosity. But also my creative aspects, with the reflection on how we are going to play our next move. We have time to ask ourselves a lot of questions in golf.

Before discovering golf quite late, at 15, you played tennis in competition ...

Yes, at 14, I was ranked 5/6. I picked up a bit in 2017 after a shoulder injury. The FFT assimilated me 15/5 and I took the opportunity to play a team match and register for three tournaments. I did serve and volley, my opponents are not used to facing this type of player, who is 1,82 m! I had a lot of fun, I won until 15/3. Sport is very important to me, I bless my parents for introducing me to tennis when I was very young. I think that sport generates beautiful things in human beings, it makes balanced adults.

What is your worst memory as a golfer?

A tournament in Sweden, on Letas in 2015. I couldn't manage my emotions so badly that I threw up bile on the course! I even requested medical assistance during my game. I was in such a state that I also warned the referees so that they would not worry if I was late recording.

And your best memory?

My victory at the Jabra Ladies Open in Evian, in 2018. You can't imagine what I felt when I put in my putt in the play-off, against the German Karoline Lampert. A feeling of fullness. A putt not easy to enter, a good 3 meters downhill and which broke quite a bit. I barely pushed the ball and was afraid I hadn't put in enough. But she came back in extremis by the edge of the hole!

Who are the players you like?

I like Ben Crane's completely offbeat videos.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pX8HdgiXth8 HYPERLINK

Bubba Watson too, he has an atypical swing, like me (laughs). He's a very creative player, a bit on the margins. I also like Ian Poulter, especially when he releases his angry point. I've been told that sometimes I celebrate my putts too hard, like "You birdie at 5, we heard you at 7". But I was also told "It boosted me to hear you ". There are some that bothers and others that it can motivate.

What about women?

Annika Sorenstam. Last year I participated in La Reserva de Sotogrande Invitational in Spain and she was there. She did a clinic and I went to see her, sitting among the kids. I asked her a question about what she had in mind when she got down to putting skill and she replied: “When I'm on top of the putter ball, I can hear it fall already. " On the Sunday of the tournament, I even made a hole in one and she came to congratulate me!

Was it your first hole in one?

I had done one before in Sweden, but it was during a reconnaissance trip and I was all alone. For a long time Omega sponsored holes in one, but in Spain this was no longer the case. So I got nothing, peanuts. (laughs)

What are your favorite routes?

The Renaissance in Scotland, south-east of Edinburgh. Dar Es Salam in Rabat, Morocco. There are great magnificent cork oaks, I sometimes touch their bark. The maintenance of the course is perfect. There is also Evian obviously, with the lake, it's just huge. The atmosphere is very special, you know all the big names who have walked on these greens….

To conclude, what is the most common fault among amateur players in your opinion?

There are so many (laughs)! The most striking and easiest to correct is putting. However, in terms of physical or cardiovascular difficulty, putting is nothing. This is really the thing where amateurs can earn lots of points, but they never practice, or too little. They have real shortcomings, especially on the dosage, and they get annoyed much too quickly.

Interview by Franck Crudo

https://www.astridvaysondepradenne.com/