Swing-Féminin: What is your professional background?

Antoine Maisetti: I started golf 12 years ago. Previously, I was a professional football player in Cannes and after serious injuries, I got into golf a bit by chance after seeing the professional player Jérôme Lando Casanova who plays on the European Tour. I took advantage of the fact that my uncle is the CEO of the golf course in Spirona to go and train on the course. I hooked up very quickly. It must also be said that one of my best friends, Jean-Claude Papi, was also the Pro de golf de Spirona. After six years, I got to be negative (-0,5). With Jérôme, we therefore went pro. This is how I evolved for 5 years on the ALPS circuit (the European professional men's golf circuit which serves as the third European level behind the European PGA Tour) and the Challenge Tour. Later, Paul Canarelli, the owner of Murtoli who saw me being born, calls me with Pascal Grizot (the president of the Ryder Cup committee and the vice-president of FFgolf) to ask me if I would be interested in doing this. occupy a golf course on the estate. I said yes without hesitation. So I stopped the circuit and started to put everything in place from A to Z.

Antoine Maisetti, Murtoli Golf Manager - Photo: © DRAYNAL

SF: The Spirona golf course is currently the only 18-hole course on the island. In your opinion, has the creation of a 12-hole course at Murtoli boosted the golfing offer on the island?

AM: The creation of this 12-hole course in Murtoli simply confirmed that Corsica was now a real golfing destination. There is a lot of talk about Spirona which is only 30 km from here, but there are a total of eight golf courses in Corsica. Most of them are 6 or 9 holes which allow people to come and hit the ball almost in any season. And this, in a region which has only 300 inhabitants and which is not yet in the minds of visitors a golf destination like Spain, Portugal or Tunisia. In addition, we have created and maintained a real marketing and development agreement between Murtoli and Spône, notably with the implementation of great complementary offers.

SF: What is your role in Murtoli?

AM: My role is to oversee everything. It is not always obvious. It ranges from welcoming customers to meeting almost all of their expectations. I had the chance to see a lot of things in the United States or South Africa and I try on the field to share this international experience with our customers. There are 5 people full time on the golf course. A gardener with a green keeper, a person at the shop, two master caddies for the season and me as a Pro. Murtoli is already a big machine and we have to organize ourselves to keep it that way all year round.

SF: How is golf currently evolving?

AM: I created the association, the golf school and a team of 12 people who are all friends. Our team now has identical equipment, bags, clubs, and outfits. There are two training sessions per week with an obligation to be present during the competitions, because in my eyes, the members of the team represent the field.

SF: What competitions do you organize?

AM: We organize around thirty competitions during the year, including fifteen sponsored. We are also in the process of setting up a Pro-Am with my friends who are on the Tour. For each competition, we donate 5 euros to the registration fees of each participant in the association of former footballer Pascal Olmeta, A smile, a hope for life (whose goal is to improve the physical and moral well-being of sick children as well as that of their families editor's note). It does not exist anywhere else. Ten other euros are also donated to our association which manages the golf school.

SF: What is the type of customers?

AM: First of all, there are the clients outside the domain who call, reserve and play on their schedule like everywhere else. Then there are our guests who for the moment do not always know that they can play golf. Some have not yet noticed that there is a golf course on the estate. It is for me to help them in their approach and to put myself at their disposal to offer them private lessons or an accompanied course.

SF: How do you manage to maintain and preserve this exceptional course designed by Kyle Phillips? 

AM: First of all, we try to respect the shape that Kyle Phillips wanted to give to the course. All the more so since it left us the opportunity to draw the fairways and all the holes ourselves at the start. In fact, he drew his 12 holes and then he said to us: go for it since the tees aim at almost 4 or 5 greens each time, you have a multitude of possibilities. It is rather unusual as a step!

SF: How do you see the evolution of golf?

AM: We will try to push this original concept of multiple combinations to the maximum. First, you have to explain to people who are used to playing 18 holes that they have the possibility of playing here during their stay, 8 courses of nine different holes. By its particular configuration, Murtoli pays homage to the 12-hole course of the Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland, which hosted the first British Open when it was created in 1860. This is something our guests often ignore. We are also in the process of creating a special entrance for golf in order to preserve the tranquility of everyone, players and non-players. This will perhaps allow us to accommodate schoolchildren more easily.

SF: What are the prices?

We have two daily rates which include trolleys and practice balls. For outsiders who are licensed but not resident in Corsica it is 100 euros. For Corsican licensees and residents of the estate, 70 euros.

SF: This typically Mediterranean course is quite hilly. Are you going to offer golf carts in the long term?

AM: There won't be any. We do, however, offer electric trolleys. We don't have a Clubhouse either, but rather a living space which is the meeting point for all the people who pass by on the domain. The presence of this hotel and agricultural building encourages us to offer our customers to make nine holes in the morning and stop for lunch in order to set off again on the course in the afternoon to discover another combination of nine holes. The green fee being daily, they can also go to the beach or indulge in the many activities offered on the estate.

SF: What would you like to bring to Murtoli golf course in the years to come?

AM: Two things. First of all, I would like to hang up on the competition so that it serves as a showcase and springboard for the organization of future competitions. Then, I would like us to lead by example and succeed in democratizing golf a little more. Currently, anyone in England can come and train on a driving range, whatever their social level. Little by little, I try to bring people who are not from the community to Murtoli, to simply show them what golf really is. In the end, I love my land and I love the people who live there. This is why I want to share my passion with as many people as possible.

Interview by David RAYNAL 

Domain Murtoli

Ortolo Valley 20100 Sartène
Tel. 04 95 71 69 24
Website: www.murtoli.com

The Murtoli Golf Links

A Golf "tournament" version.

• 12 holes between 100 and 500 meters long.

Multiple game configurations possible:

• 4 by 5 (from 480m to 530 m)
• 1 course configuration of 12 by 3;
• 1 9-hole course with 6 par 4.
• Play clockwise or vice versa or cross paths, you will be spoiled for choice.

To find out more about the Association of Pascal Olmeta, A smile, a hope for life: www.assopascalolmeta.com

To make you want to leave even more…
The calendar of fall-winter events on the Murtoli estate

October 22 to 29 - All Saints' week in Murtoli

The beautiful farewells of summer

Seven pivotal days. Baths or storms, a whole soft, unexpected, mind-blowing program…

No longer knowing where the wind comes from. We have to go.

From 11 to 13 November - Open Golf Links de Murtoli

Happiness on the green and next door

Inimitable… the charm of life in the sheepfold combined with the fever of a great tournament, on a golf course which hides its game in a funny way!

From November 19 to 25 - Slimming and body fitness

The Detox stay with the Wild Thought

Everything, to live the time of a short week, the double magic of Murtoli and an immense know-how. The Exceptional Cure!

From November 25 to 27 - Corsica "Land & Sea" in the stars

New guest of this weekend "One day, One chef".

A talent that we meet few. Hence this new vision of terroirs and island wines, which will leave you speechless and a thousand times better!

From December 5 to 9 - To listen and live standing up, or almost!

The “I Voci di Murtoli” Festival. Magnificent in its second edition.

With one or two groups each evening and, on the last evening, everyone's symphony. A true revealer of the voices and music of the island.

From December 9 to 11 - The Chic & "In" weekend

The night is a sun in Murtoli

First evening, concert with a cult voice. Another secret. Second evening, The Avener, in flesh and radiant music! As for the days… other surprises. Irresistible, right?

From December 17 to 18 - The Alliance-Cup Murtoli Sperone

Peps and rage in the air!

The famous Sperone golf course and the Murtoli Golf Links, again theaters of a unique competition. And disputed! But also rituals not to be missed ...

From December 17 to 25 - Natale, or Corsican Christmas

The thousand candles in the night of Murtoli and the star trails

And then, a whole program, which young and old will never forget, not to mention Christmas in the Cave!

From December 26 to January 2 - Capu d'Annu or the New Year celebration

Seven non-stop days of sea and mountain pleasures. The perfect week for everyone and challenging the imagination. Until the stroke of midnight. Madness ...