Photo: DR

He has demonstrated his know-how in the organization of golf events for a quarter of a century. Christophe Cantegrel has just given a new little brother to the Pro-Am de la Côte d'Opale, which welcomes almost 400 participants each year, at the end of April, on the golf courses of Wimereux, Hardelot, Le Touquet and Belle Dune. On July 19 and 20, the Amiens golf course will host its first international Pro-Am. "The opportunity to take advantage of the convivial spirit of the North of France and to discover a well-designed course, but also this beautiful city of Amiens, which we call the little Bruges", emphasizes the founder of the Golf First agency. With its many canals and hortillonnages (floating gardens), the house of Jules Verne and its cathedral (the largest in France) listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Amiens is certainly not lacking in attractions under the summer sun. And if we consider it a “little Bruges” while Bruges is nicknamed “the little Venice”, then…

Christophe Cantegrel is counting on the participation of around twenty teams for this first edition, which will take place on the technical course of the Amiens golf course, the first holes of which came out almost a century ago (1925) on the edge of the Bois de Querrieu. The traditional drive and precision competitions will be offered, in particular in partnership with Seiko watches and the artist Hubert Privé, who will exhibit some of his golf works for the occasion.

Golf First, Pro-Am in the skin

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Created in 1987, the First golf agency now organizes four Pro-Ams in the year: Agadir, which will celebrate its 4^e edition on four courses (Tazegzout, golf of the Ocean, the Sun and the Dunes); Marrakech, in March, also on four golf courses with accommodation at the Kenzi Menara Palace; and therefore the Côte d'Opale in April and Amiens in July. Not to mention La Nuit du golf, which will take place on July 4 on the Lyon Salvagny course. The opportunity to live an astonishing experience by playing 9 holes until 1 am in a festive atmosphere. “Each year for the occasion, we deploy 500 LED sticks to light up the course. And we use light balls. On average, they lose 20% in distance compared to a normal ball. But at night the visual effect is astonishing, one has the impression that they are floating in the air ”, confides the man who discovered golf in Wimereux at the age of 13, before becoming index 6 five years later.

Another competition should also be organized for the first time by Golf First, at the end of November 2019 in Agadir: Les Duos d'Agadir. "Teams of two amateurs will compete on four different courses in four different formulas", announces Christophe Cantegrel, who can count on a team of 4 to 10 people each time, depending on the importance of the event. "But what takes the most time in terms of organization is all the upstream logistics, says he. There is the search for partners, the preparation of the courses, the interlocutors and the policies which can sometimes change… ” How suddenly does he still find time to hit the little white ball? “It's difficult to be able to play and organize at the same time, I have to do 10 courses a year at most. " Too bad for Christophe. And so much the better for us.

Frank Crudo

https://www.proamamiens.com/

http://www.golf-first.fr/