In this professional tournament, we were able to find a large number of foreign players in the field but also many amateurs, the France Girls and Ladies teams having made the trip: thus 34 amateurs took the start on Friday morning. This second edition of the Montauban Ladies Open was won by Marine Griffaut. After a first lap in 73 (+1), Marine recovered very well on Saturday with a nice 66 (-6), setting the course record. In the last part on Sunday, she signed a final 70 (-2) to secure her first victory among the pros.

Trained at the Meaux-Boutigny golf course and passed through the France pole, Marine now represents the Cannes-Mougins golf course and its American university: Texas State. Let's come back with her to her tournament and her ambitions:

© Patrick Fischer

Hello Marine, what's it like to win?

“It's a great satisfaction, I questioned my golf a lot two years ago, to the point of wanting to quit. I have since worked a lot, I have tried to start from scratch, to work in particular with mental coaches, the fact of working on the mental part and having won, proves to me that I am on the right track and that it I had to work in this sector to progress. I already felt better in my golf and in my mind and this victory gives me even more confidence. It is a pride to win a tournament with such a field of players, pros and the France Dames and Girls teams. It's only positive.

Back on the course, how did you find it?

The course was really great. It's a course that I found really balanced. There are 7 holes which I dreaded because they were technical and long. I didn't really want to play them when I got up in the morning (laughs).

Exactly, how did you feel during the tournament and in particular on the last lap?

I was a little disappointed in the first round of the score compared to my ball strike. I hit really well in the second round, often placing myself in good birdie positions. I knew I was playing well and the cameras came in around the 15th so I knew I was really good. It was very impressive, we also have cameras on tournaments in the US but they are less close to the players, they were really close to me when they were following me and it was quite difficult to manage.

On the last lap, there were a lot of people and it was quite difficult to get into the game. On the start of hole number on the last lap, I wondered what I was doing there, I wanted to go home (laughs). This first hole was hard to manage but on the 2nd I managed to relax a bit. There were so many people that I was no longer paying attention, I was concentrated in my part and my routines. It was really tiring at the end of the tournament, luckily my younger brother was there to help me. I saw images of the tournament and I am seen saying that I cannot take any more.

What are your goals and upcoming deadlines?

I am leaving for Denmark on June 28 for an amateur tournament. I then continue with a tournament in Italy in Rome counting for LETAS, the European individual championships and perhaps a tournament in Sweden also counting for LETAS. My goal was to win at least one tournament out of the 4 and now that it's done, I tell myself why not start over. I hope that this victory will open doors for me and allow me to enter bigger tournaments, some LET tournaments for example.

I can't wait to see the updated rankings because my tournaments for the 2019 season, which was a difficult season for me, still enter the points calculation. So I hope to be able to come down in the French and world ranking. I will then go back to the United States at the end of the summer, I hope to be able to win a tournament there.

To know more : https://www.liguegolfoccitanie.fr/produit/montauban-ladies-open/