A few 30 kilometres west of Paris lies the golf course of Saint Nom La Breteche, very close to the imposing Palace of Versailles. It may not ring a bell for the younger generation, but it is a venue with significant weight in the history of the DP World Tour. For over 20 years, the Lancome Trophy was held here, it also hosted the World Cup, and on three occasions, it welcomed the Open de France and the Seve Trophy. This week it returns with full force to the spotlight as the Open de France will be played on its grounds for the fourth time.
This venue also holds extraordinary significance in the history of Spanish golf. It is a source of pride for our Armada. We have won here, and we have won a lot. And many have won. The love affair began very early, in the first major tournament played there, the World Cup of 1963, then called the Canada Cup. The victory went to United States, represented on that occasion by a pair of ‘unknowns’: Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer. As if to defeat this pair. Well, the closest contenders were two Spaniards: Ángel Miguel and Ramón Sota. Quite something. Honours to both. History of our golf. They finished second.
The next events played at Saint Nom were two Open de France, in 1965 and 1969. More fuel for the love affair. In 1965, that is, the first time this course hosted an individual tournament of maximum international prestige, when the European Tour did not even exist, Ramón Sota won. Boom! First stake in Versailles at the first attempt. It was also the venue for the Open de France in 1969. Then the Argentine Roberto de Vicenzo won.
We continue our journey through this very special place for Spanish golf. From 1970 to 2003, inclusive, the Lancome Trophy was held there, one of the most important tournaments played in those times in Europe. The Armada‘s harvest there is spectacular. Seve Ballesteros, curiously the nephew of Ramón Sota, won this tournament there three times (1983, 1986, and 1988). In addition, José María Olazábal took it in 1990, Miguel Ángel Jiménez did the same in 1998, and Sergio García added it to his record in 2001. Of our Grande winners, only Jon Rahm is missing… and because he has never played there.
More fuel for the fire. Of the three Open de France played there before the edition starting this Thursday, we have already said that one was won by Sota, another by De Vicenzo, and the third by Seve. Yes, Seve again. The Cantabrian has four victories on this course. It happened in 1982. One of the gardens of the genius from Pedreña. Between 1982 and 1988, Ballesteros won four times. Almost laughable…
Saint Nom La Breteche also hosted the Seve Trophy on three occasions: 2009, 2011, and 2013. Obviously, this tournament format was different. It served as preparation for the Ryder Cup and pitted a team from Great Britain and Ireland against one from Continental Europe, similar to what happens now with the Team Cup. Well, although the way of measuring the success of Spanish golf is not the same as in an individual tournament or in the World Cup, it is noteworthy that Miguel Ángel Jiménez, who played all three editions there, won his individual point each time. He defeated Ross Fisher, Darren Clarke, and David Lynn. Additionally, entirely Spanish pairs won with Gonzalo Fernández Castaño and Jiménez in fourball, Álvaro Quirós and Jiménez in greensome, and Pablo Larrazábal and Jiménez in fourball. Specifically, Jiménez won six points out of the eleven he contested. In entirely Spanish pairs, he only lost once with Quirós and twice with Larrazábal.
Lastly, a major amateur event was also held there, the most recent one. It was the World Cup or Eisenhower Trophy in 2022. Spain attended with a great team formed by Josele Ballester, David Puig, and Luis Masaveu. It was played at Saint Nom and at the Golf National. Spain finished fifth as a team, and Puig was the best in the individual chapter in fourth place. The individual victory went to the Swede Tobias Jonsson, and the team victory went to Italy with Filippo Celli as the leader. Among the participants were Ludvig Aberg, Aldrich Potgieter, Keita Nakajima, Kazuma Kobori, Martin Couvra, Tom Vaillant, Sam Bairstow, Rasmus Neergaard Petersen, or Wenyi Ding.
Spanish golf has had tremendous success at Saint Nom La Breteche, and there would be no greater tribute to this history than another great performance by the Armada this week, twelve years after that last Seve Trophy. They are there to try to extend the legend: Joel Moscatel, Ángel Hidalgo, Pablo Ereño, Nacho Elvira, Eugenio Chacarra, Manu Elvira, Rafa Cabrera Bello, Jorge Campillo, Pablo Larrazábal, Ángel Ayora, and Alfredo García Heredia. Curiously, of all of them, only Larrazábal has played on this course before.
