This year is the 50th anniversary of Catherine Lacoste’s milestone as the only amateur to win the United States Women’s Open, and it has stirred more interest than usual in the French golfer’s decorated past.
As this week’s Evian Championship brings the world’s top players to France, some see Lacoste’s ability to place her homeland on the world stage in 1967 as proof that there are opportunities for other French golfers.
After Lacoste won the Women’s Open at age 22, she went on to win national women’s amateur championships in the United States, Britain, France and Spain in 1968 and 1969 – an unorthodox international tournament schedule at the time for European women.