{"id":15525,"date":"2018-09-07T17:48:21","date_gmt":"2018-09-07T16:48:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/golfcircus.com\/?p=15525"},"modified":"2019-05-12T11:26:35","modified_gmt":"2019-05-12T10:26:35","slug":"interview-with-paul-ian-armitage-director-and-alejandro-reyes-superintendent-at-le-golf-national-venue-of-the-ryder-cup-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/golfcircus.com\/en\/interview-with-paul-ian-armitage-director-and-alejandro-reyes-superintendent-at-le-golf-national-venue-of-the-ryder-cup-2018\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview with Paul Ian Armitage, Director and Alejandro Reyes, Superintendent at Le Golf National, venue of the Ryder Cup 2018"},"content":{"rendered":"

THE <\/span>RYDER CUP. THE BIGGEST EVENT IN THE WORLD<\/span><\/p>\n

It was announced in 2011 <\/span>that Paris will host the Ryder Cup in <\/span>2018 before other candidates nominated such as El <\/span>Alentejo<\/span>, Munich or Rotterdam.<\/span><\/p>\n

Finally, Le G<\/span>olf National will host the Ryder Cup and the \u201cAlbatros\u201d course will witness the duel between Europe and the USA.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Situated<\/span> in the outs<\/span>kirts of Versailles, near Paris, Le Golf National is<\/span> a 45-ho<\/span>le golf club created to serve as the golf facility of the French Golf Federation and the home to the Open de<\/span> France for the last 27<\/span> years. However, 2017 marks a significant milestone as this event becomes part of the Rolex Series as well as hosting the Olympic Games in Paris in 2024, the Open de France and <\/span>a phase of the Senior Circuit of the European Tour.<\/span><\/p>\n

Le Golf National is a stadium course designed by Hubert Chesneau and Robert Von Hagge ranked in the World\u2019s and European Top 100 Courses.<\/span><\/p>\n

This course has un<\/span>dertaken major renovation works<\/span> for nearly seven years in order to prepare the venue to become a global reference and host the Ryder Cup.<\/span><\/p>\n

Paul Ian Armitage,<\/span> General Manag<\/span>er and Ale<\/span>jandro Reyes, Headgreenkeeper<\/span>, are the two people who know<\/span> e<\/span>verything about Le Golf National de France<\/span>. In this interview <\/span>carried out by Fernando S\u00e1nchez <\/span>Carballal<\/span>,<\/span> they have kindly granted us, <\/span>tell<\/span> us about the challenges to<\/span> be faced as the<\/span> host of<\/span> so many world-reference events.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Fernando S\u00e1nchez and Paul Ian Armitage<\/span><\/p>\n

After you graduated at Newcastle University you went to France. Tell us about your love for this country and your golf professional career.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

I fell in love with Bourgogne, Dijon, Beaune and its wine, of course! During my first two years in France, I worked as a foreign languages teacher at Bourgogne University. Later, I joined the Golf Blue Green Quetigny Grand Dijon team as a sal<\/span>esman.<\/span> This was my first job in the golf industry. I stopped for two years in order to travel around the world as <\/span>the Commercial Manager of a big winery. I was responsible of developing their export strategy.<\/span> Then, I returned to Golf, I joined Blue Green again as Regional Manager.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, my professional career in the golf industry was pushed in 2009 when I received a work proposal from NGF<\/span> and I increased the network of Le Club Golf going from 40 courses to 120 in four years. I have been the General Manager of Le Golf National de France since 2012.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

What are the challenges have you taken on as the General Manager of Golf National de France?<\/span><\/p>\n

The most important challenges have been three: C<\/span>hanging the business spirit from<\/span> a local and regional company to an international company, establishing internal processes to improve the quality of services and <\/span>boost the market in relation to innovation, communication and development.<\/span><\/p>\n

What does the preparation of the Ryder Cup as well as the day-to-day management of Golf National de France mean to you and your team?<\/span><\/p>\n

Well, I think it means<\/span> responsibility as Ryder Cup Europe has trusted Le Golf National t<\/span>o host a golf event that takes golf to<\/span> millions of people around the world.<\/span><\/p>\n

We have worked with the European Tour and we have designed a road map to establish all the steps and important events to take place until September 2018. <\/span>It is a fascinating task. However, at the same time, it is my duty to support my team as they are under a lot o<\/span>f pressure to achieve e<\/span>xcellency<\/span> all the time.<\/span><\/p>\n

What other challenges do you expect after the Ryder Cup 2018 and before Paris 2024?<\/span><\/p>\n

Between these two events we are going to reactivate the \u201cOiselet\u201d, our 9-hole course that will have been closed for six months because of the Ryder Cup. We <\/span>will also work closely with <\/span>Novotel<\/span>, the<\/span> hotel chain that manages the resort hotel, Novotel St Quentin Golf National, as to create a real resort identity and fulfil the expectations of our customers. Final<\/span>ly, I intend to promote coll<\/span>aborators loyalty with the idea<\/span> of leading the European market in terms of sport, leisure and golf.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Alejandro Reyes<\/span><\/p>\n

Preparing the golf course for such a universal event as the Ryder Cup must be the biggest challenge you have taken on. Tell us about your professional career and how you started working at <\/span>Le <\/span>Golf National de France.<\/span><\/p>\n

I studied <\/span>Agricultural Engineering in Spain. When I finished my studies I became interested in golf so I started to look for Postgraduate courses. I studied in England at Cranfield University in order to specialize in sport and grass surface maintenance. I carried out my in training in the European Federation of Greenkeepers and in a Spanish company which built 6 courses with Jack Nicklaus in Murcia, in the south of Spain. At the same time to continue my <\/span>training I worked as a greenkeeper<\/span> in the maintenance of several golf courses. Later, I went to Georgia University in the USA and to Scotland.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Then, in 2012 I saw an advertis<\/span>ement requiring a head-greenkeeper<\/span> in France in the course that was to host the Ryder Cup. I sent my CV to the French Golf Federation, I had two interviews in Paris and finally, I was hired.<\/span><\/p>\n

What<\/span> did becoming the head-greenkeeper<\/span> of Golf National de France represent for you?<\/span><\/p>\n

It was fantastic news and the most beautiful surprise in my life. It came to me when I was looking for new challenges in my professional career and there is no <\/span>better challenge <\/span>than working for Golf National de France. It is also a great personal experience as you work with all the golf course team and a technical challenge as we try to positio<\/span>n Golf National as a European reference in course <\/span>quality.<\/span><\/p>\n

Many changes have taken place in <\/span>the <\/span>Albatros<\/span> course<\/span> in these last years in order to host the Ryder cup. Can you des<\/span>cribe the most important ones<\/span>?<\/span><\/p>\n

Yes, the Albatros course has been closed for ten months between the Open de France in 2015 and in 2016. <\/span>In my opinion, it is a short period when you know the work that has been carrie<\/span>d out. As for the course design, only a few areas have been remodeled as international players considered this an ideal course. The greens in holes 1 and 16 have been redesigned, new exit areas have been created in holes 5, 7<\/span>, 11<\/span> and 14; the bunkers between holes 4<\/span>, 5, 7<\/span> and 11 have been remodeled and a water hazard has been created in hole 11.<\/span><\/p>\n

Maintenance tasks have been more extensive and they have included a complete renovation of the irrigation system, a complete course drainage, bunker drainage with Capillary Concrete system, platforms for the structures built for the audience have been created as well as a 14-kilometre path network outside the limits of the golf course and a water reservoir to collect rain water.<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition, we have remodeled and planted grass in the future <\/span>driving <\/span>range for the Ryder Club that includes a putting green, a chipping green, an approach area and a practice tee.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

THE RYDER CUP. THE BIGGEST EVENT IN THE WORLD It was announced in 2011 that Paris will host the Ryder Cup in 2018 before other candidates nominated such as El Alentejo, Munich or Rotterdam. Finally, Le Golf National will host the Ryder Cup and the \u201cAlbatros\u201d course will witness the duel between Europe and the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":15523,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[2046,2044,2043,2045,140],"class_list":{"0":"post-15525","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-interviews","8":"tag-alejandro-reyes","9":"tag-france","10":"tag-le-golf-national","11":"tag-paul-ian-armitage","12":"tag-ryder-cup"},"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/golfcircus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15525","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/golfcircus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/golfcircus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/golfcircus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/golfcircus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15525"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/golfcircus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15525\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/golfcircus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15523"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/golfcircus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15525"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/golfcircus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15525"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/golfcircus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15525"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}