Brigitte Varangot (1 May 1940 – 12 October 2007) was a French

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

er.

Early life

Varangot was born in

Biarritz Biarritz ( , , , ; also spelled ; ) is a city on the Bay of Biscay, on the Atlantic coast in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the French Basque Country in southwestern France. It is located from the border with Spain. It is a luxu ...

in the French Basque Country and was a self-taught golfer, who did not take many lessons and did not practice a lot.

Lally Segard Dorothée Sonia "Lally" Segard (née Vagliano) (4 April 1921 – 3 March 2018), also known as Vicomtesse de Saint Sauveur, was a French amateur golfer. Early life Segard was born in Paris and the oldest of three siblings of a Greek (born in Mar ...

(also known as Vicomtesse de Saint Sauveur) (1921–2018) became her mentor. Varangot and Segard came to win several foursomes tournaments in the 1960s. Varangot came to represent Golf de Saint Germain, situated 20 kilometers west of

Paris, France Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. Varangot, age 17, won the 1957

Girls Amateur Championship The Girls Amateur Championship is a golf tournament held annually in the United Kingdom. Girls need to be under 18 on 1 January in the year of the championship. Until World War II the championship was organised by a series of magazines and always ...

North Berwick Golf Club The North Berwick Golf Club (NBGC), at North Berwick, East Lothian, was founded in 1832. It is the 13th oldest golf club in the world and only St Andrews hosts a club which has played continuously over the same course for longer. Although the NBGC ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, the most prestigious youth golf tournament in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. She came close to defending her title, when she reached the final the following year. Dominating junior golf in France, she won both the French Junior Championship and the French Junior Open Championship for the Trophée Esmond three years in a row 1959–1961.

Amateur career

Varangot's greatest individual victories came at the

British Ladies Amateur The Women's Amateur Championship, previously known as the Ladies' British Open Amateur Championship, was founded in 1893 by the Ladies' Golf Union. It is organised by The R&A, which merged with the Ladies' Golf Union in 2017. Until the dawn of t ...

, one of the two most important amateur tournaments in the world. Despite fighting off an attack of

tonsillitis Tonsillitis is inflammation of the tonsils in the upper part of the throat. It can be acute or chronic. Acute tonsillitis typically has a rapid onset. Symptoms may include sore throat, fever, enlargement of the tonsils, trouble swallowing, and en ...

, her first victory came in 1963 at

Royal County Down Golf Club Royal County Down Golf Club is a golf club in Northern Ireland, located in Newcastle, County Down, Newcastle, Newry, Mourne and Down. It opened on 23 March 1889 and is one of the oldest golf clubs in Ireland. It has two 18-hole links (golf), lin ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

, coincidentally the same venue were her mentor and friend

won the same championship in 1950. Two years later, she won again, this time at

St Andrews St Andrews (; ; , pronounced ʰʲɪʎˈrˠiː.ɪɲ is a town on the east coast of Fife in Scotland, southeast of Dundee and northeast of Edinburgh. St Andrews had a recorded population of 16,800 , making it Fife's fourth-largest settleme ...

, beating home player

Belle Robertson Isabella Robertson (née McCorkindale) (born 11 April 1936) is a Scottish golfer who won the British Ladies Amateur in 1981. Robertson represented Great Britain and Ireland in the Curtis Cup as a player on seven occasions and twice as non-playin ...

in the final. With Varangot's third victory in the championship at

Walton Heath Golf Club Walton Heath Golf Club is a golf club in England, near Walton-on-the-Hill in Surrey, southwest of London. Founded in 1903, the club comprises two 18-hole golf courses, both of which are well known for having heather covering many of the areas ...

in 1968, beating fellow country women Claudine Cros-Rubin on the 20th hole in the final, Varangot is the most recent women to win three times and one of seven players who have won the championship three times or more, since its began in 1893. Varangot was part of the French team that won the first

European Ladies' Team Championship The European Ladies' Team Championship is a European amateur team golf championship for women organised by the European Golf Association. The inaugural event was held in 1959. It was played in odd-numbered years from 1959 to 2007 and has been pl ...

Cologne, Germany Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and over 3.1 million people in the Cologne Bonn urba ...

in 1959 and also the teams that won again in 1961 and 1969. The inaugural world team championship of ladies' amateur golf, named the

Espirito Santo Trophy The Espirito Santo Trophy (World Women's Amateur Team Championships) is a biennial world amateur team golf championship for women organised by the International Golf Federation. The inaugural event was held in 1964. It was instituted by the Fren ...

, took place in October

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 – In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patria ...

at Varangot's home club Golf de Saint Germain and was planned by Varangot's friend Lally Segard. Segard was also the non-playing captain of the French team, which consisted of Varangot, Catherine Lacoste and Claudine Cros. France won the team tournament by one stroke over the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

team. Varangot finished 7th in the individual competition. Varangot represented France at the Espirito Santo Trophy on four other occasions and in three of them her team earned one silver medal and two bronze medals. In 1964, Varangot played an 18-hole exhibition match against American

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who work (human activity), works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the partic ...

Mickey Wright Mary Kathryn "Mickey" Wright (February 14, 1935 – February 17, 2020) was an American professional golfer who played on the LPGA Tour. She became a member of the tour in 1955 and won 82 LPGA Tour career events including 13 major champions ...

, at Estoril Golf Club,

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

, for the televised series of golf matches '' Shell's Wonderful World of Golf,'' which included many of the greatest stars in professional golf, men and women.

Style of play, death

Varangot had a short swing and she was usually playing with a fade. She had a great short game and was especially known for her pitching, chipping and bunker play. On the course, she was often seen with a cigarette in her mouth. Varangot died at age 67, on 12 October 2007, in

Bayonne Bayonne () is a city in southwestern France near the France–Spain border, Spanish border. It is a communes of France, commune and one of two subprefectures in France, subprefectures in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques departments of France, departm ...

, close to her birth place in the

Nouvelle-Aquitaine Nouvelle-Aquitaine () is the largest Regions of France, administrative region in France by area, spanning the west and southwest of Metropolitan France. The region was created in 2014 by the merging of Aquitaine, Limousin, and Poitou-Charentes ...

region, in the south-west of France. In her honor, the French Girls Championship under-16 division is named the Trophée Brigitte Varangot.

Amateur wins

* 1957

* 1959 French Junior Championship,

French International Lady Juniors Amateur Championship The French International Lady Juniors Amateur Championship (), known also as the Esmond Trophy since 1927, is an annual amateur golf tournament in France for women up to 21. The match play tournament has been held annually at Golf de Saint-Cloud ...

, French Ladies Close Championship * 1960 French Junior Championship, Kayser Bondor Foursomes (with

* 1961 French Junior Championship,

, French Ladies Open Amateur Match-play Championship, French Ladies Close Championship * 1962 French Ladies Open Amateur Match-play Championship, French Ladies Close Championship, Palm Beach Women's Championship (United States) * 1963 Kayser Bondor Foursomes (with Isa Goldschmid),

, French Ladies Close Championship * 1964 French Ladies Open Amateur Match-play Championship, French International Ladies Amateur Stroke-play Championship * 1965 Casa Pupo Foursomes (with Marley Spearman),

, French Ladies Open Amateur Match-play Championship * 1966

Avia Foursomes The Avia Foursomes was a women's foursomes golf tournament contested annually from 1958 to 1989. It was held at Sunningdale Golf Club in its first year but was then played at the Berkshire Golf Club near Ascot, Berkshire. The event consisted of 7 ...

(with

), French Ladies Open Amateur Match-play Championship, French Ladies Close Championship * 1968

* 1970 Italian Open Amateur Championship, French Ladies Close Championship, French International Ladies Amateur Stroke-play Championship *1972 French International Ladies Amateur Stroke-play Championship * 1973

(with

Anne Marie Palli Anne Marie Palli (born 18 April 1955) is a French professional golfer who played on the LPGA Tour. Palli represented her country seven years in a row at the European Lady Junior's Team Championship, for players up to the age of 21, winning four t ...

, tied with Mickey Walker and Linda Denison-Pender), French Ladies Open Amateur Match-play Championship Sources:

Team appearances

Amateur *

(representing France):

(winners),

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

(representing France):

1959 Events January * January 1 – Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 – Soviet lunar probe Luna 1 is the first human-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reaches the ...

(winners),

1961 Events January * January 1 – Monetary reform in the Soviet Union, 1961, Monetary reform in the Soviet Union. * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and cons ...

(winners),

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cove ...

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The First Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lynd ...

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 6 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and Army of ...

1969 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1969th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 2nd millennium, the 69th year of the 20th century, and the ...

(winners),

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...

1973 Events January * January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 14 - The 16-0 19 ...

Vagliano Trophy The Vagliano Trophy is a biennial women's amateur golf tournament. It is co-organised by The R&A and the European Golf Association and is contested by teams representing "Great Britain and Ireland" and the "Continent of Europe". It is played in o ...

(representing Continent of Europe): 1959, 1961, 1963, 1965 (winners), 1969 (winners), 1971 Sources:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Varangot, Brigitte French female golfers Amateur golfers Winners of ladies' major amateur golf championships 1940 births 2007 deaths 20th-century French sportswomen