French LET players Gwladys Nocera, Virginie Lagoutte-Clement and Caroline Afonso have welcomed the decision to award The 2018 Ryder Cup to France. France, Germany, Spain, Portugal and the Netherlands delivered bids, but Le Golf National on the outskirts of Versailles near Paris, the well-established home of the Alstom Open de France, will become only the second Continental venue – following Club de Golf, Valderrama, in Spain in 1997 – when the 42nd edition of The Ryder Cup between Europe and the United States is contested in the autumn of 2018. “I know how important it is for the country to host The Ryder Cup,” said Nocera, who has played in The Solheim Cup, the women’s equivalent of The Ryder Cup, three times from 2005-2009. “My personal view of it is that if we get The Ryder Cup then we might get The Solheim Cup. Hopefully some French guys will be in the team and some really good young guys are coming up. It will be fun.” Virginie Lagoutte-Clement, a three-time tournament winner on the LET who has a chance to make her Solheim Cup debut at Killeen Castle in Ireland this September, commented, via translation: “I think it is important for France. It will be super: like the Evian Masters, The Ryder Cup will be great for the country and for us. I think that the course is super for a tournament like that as it already hosts the Open de France and for several years I have hoped that the Open de France Feminin would be at Le Golf National. It is designed for following. Spectators can view easily because all the holes are like stadia. All the holes are designed for having a grand competition. It will be a super experience and it will encourage the democratisation of golf.” Caroline Afonso, who won the 2010 order of merit on the LET Access Series, the official feeder tour to the LET, added: “I think Le Golf National is a great place and they play the Open there. There are a lot of hotels nearby and it will be very nice. Le Golf National is very nice: good greens and very challenging.”Anne-Lise Caudal was also pleased to hear the news and celebrated with a high-five with her compatriots.
