There was a plethora of excellent golfers, most of them from the Grand Ouest and Centre-Val de Loire, for this first meeting of the year: the traditional Grand Prix de Baugé on the magnificent course of the Domaine des Bordes, a par 72 of 5,947 meters. The rain in March had made it soggy, making some holes tricky, but the weekend’s weather had called for a break on the first day.
Played in stroke play without a cut, Saturday’s skimming confirmed that the best cards returned were the prerogative of the best indices. There were three of them: Tourangeau Raphaël Arnoult, Manceau Thomas Lebon and Angevin Philippe Pouzet at +1 in the lead, but behind eleven golfers between 74 and 76 could still do well on the last rainy and windy day.
Léonie Bernard holds the pressure well
The improvement came from Anatole Fabre, 13, who finished at 2 under par (70) after a game without any bogey: “This is my best score in a Grand Prix. My five workouts per week are starting to pay off.”
The winner was expected. Raphaël Arnoult demonstrated his consistency over the two days to finish in par (144) and thus pocket his 7th Grand Prix. “I was able to avoid the pitfalls specific to the course and the conditions. Winning consistently is always satisfying in golf. I am especially happy to have been able to continue over the 2 days and to have managed to free myself from the numerous applicants. Yesterday my putting was failing, today it was much better. This is how I was able to build my victory. »
Among the women, victory went to Léonie Bernard, the favorite, with only one stroke ahead of a duo composed of the local Julie Briere and the Francilienne Pauline Ratajczak: “My putt on the 18th for birdy made the difference (1 string of 8 meters), because before I had struggled on the 16th with a double bogey.”
The results
Men. 1. Raphaël Arnoult 144 (73+71) Touraine; 2. Anatole Fabre 146 (76+70) the Golden Island; 3. Benoît Métayer 149 (77+72) Guérande.
Women. 1. Léonie Bernard 164 (85+79) Nantes Vigneux; 2. Pauline Ratajczak 165 (81+84) Ozoir; 3. Julie Briere 165 (80+85) Baugé.
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