Marion DUVERNAY
Golfer

Marion received a grant to help her participate in international competitions.

What is your sporting background ?
I was lucky enough to start golf at the age of seven at the Evian golf course. Inspired every year by professional players from all over the world during the Evian Masters, I knew from an early age that I wanted to become a professional golfer. Studying while continuing to progress in golf has always been a priority for me. At the age of 16, I joined the Toulouse Espoir center, managed by the French Golf Federation. After obtaining my Baccalauréat, I joined the French division and the IUT (University Institute of Technology) of Mechanical Engineering, specializing in Aeronautical Sciences. During those years, I won the French Junior Championships. In 2011, I obtained a full scholarship to finish my engineering studies in the USA and play in the golf team of the University of Tennessee in Chattanooga. I won the Lady Paladin Invitational as an individual and many tournaments with the university team. After graduating in Mechanical Engineering in 2013, I earned the right to play on the Symetra Tour and LETAS. I chose to return to Europe and go pro. In 2017, I resumed my studies to become a golf teacher. After six months of coaching in Dubai in 2017/2018, I realized that I had not finished my playing career on the Tour. I restructured my entire team in 2018 and 2019 to give me the best chances to perform in the USA. In 2020, I will be playing on the Symetra Tour.

How do you see your profession today ?
As top-level sportswomen, we are asked to be actors in our main field of competence, which is golf, but also as company managers. This requires great versatility and total adaptability. These are challenges that I am happy to take up every day and I am proud to do a job that I am passionate about. I am convinced that there is a lot to be done in order to develop all the factors of performance but also to accompany a golfer's career. I am delighted that women's golf is moving forward with the return to the Olympics and the partnership between the LPGA and LET. The desire to promote women's golf worldwide gives me great hope for the development of my professional career. From a human point of view, golf is a good way to convey values such as respect, humility, honesty, creativity, patience and sportsmanship to both adults and children. I wish golf could become more popular and lose this elitist image. I hope that with concepts like Topgolf and Drive Shack, golf will be played by more people.

How do you see yourself in five years ? In 10 years ?
I have started the process of obtaining the P1 Visa for the USA which will be valid for five years. In five years, I see myself living in the USA and playing tournaments all over the world on the LPGA. I would like to participate in the Olympic Games in Paris in 2024. In 10 years, I would like to innovate in the field of coaching using my experience on the Tour as well as the results of my extensive research in the field of golf.

This interview was conducted in 2020
Photo credit: Kamila K. Stanley