Agathe LAISNÉ
Golfer

Agathe received a grant to help her enter international competitions.

What is your sporting background ?
Coming from a family of golfers, I naturally started golf at the age of 3, first in the summer in the Basque country where many competitions for children were organized at Chantaco and La Nivelle, then in a more supervised way at the Racing Club de France, where my parents were members. This is still my club today, the one where I train when I am in France. I really loved all ball sports as a child: tennis, basketball, golf and soccer, but as I broke a cruciate ligament in tennis at the age of 7, golf quickly became my main sport. I was lucky enough to be in a club, the RCF, where competition was in the genes and so I quickly played in the teams to represent it. I played in inter-clubs, in U16 team, and in Golfer's from a very young age. I was also quickly selected for the league team and then for the French team. From the age of 13, I was able to play in the U14 in Evian, and in the French Girls team. I then started to travel internationally to more and more important tournaments: in Europe at first (I won the Belgium Open at the age of 14 and 15), then in the United States to play AGJA tournaments and the US amateurs. My progression has been steady: I won the European Women's Individual Championships the year I graduated from high school at 18 and represented France twice at the World Amateur Championships in 2016 in Mexico and in 2018 in Ireland. I went on to study in the United States and that allowed me to compete against stronger players and experience more competitive courses. I loved that experience. I played a lot more than in France because the system is more adapted to sports study.
The year before last, I started to ask myself more questions about my future and my desire to go professional. It was the year of Covid, and I hesitated because I still wanted to continue on to Master studies. But I won 2 LETAS and thought that I should do it straightaway. So, I applied at the end of my 4th year after my bachelor’s degree for both the American and the European circuits. I got both and am now a Rookie on both tours in 2022!

 How do you view your profession today ?
It's still a little early to tell. I really started in March of this year after getting my US visa. The transition from the amateur world takes time and I am learning. The big difference I feel right now is that the player must be in the present during her tournament and at the same time manage a lot of other things, such as logistics, future travel, public relations and financial management of the season. All this was taken care of by my university coach before. So I am discovering this whole entrepreneurial part of the job and it is a side that interests me.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years ? In 10 years ?
I have already accomplished one of my long-term goals by earning my LPGA card for the season. So I'm happy to be where I am and to start my career here in the US. If I use the analogy of starting a business, I see myself as an entrepreneur who will have had a great run in five years. You don't go into this kind of business without a desire to succeed. My goal is to win LPGA tournaments, and why not win majors (but which ones is a bit more secret!). To get there, I'm learning to manage my performance by relying on my stats and considering my resources. I regularly make intermediate points with my coaches: my game must continue to progress as fast as possible as well as the physical and mental aspects that go with it without the machine breaking. In 10 years, I don't know what I will do. It seems very far away. I may have sold my successful business and started another one!

Interview conducted in 2022
Photography credit: Julie Glassberg