Following the excitement of the men’s Olympics golf tournament, which saw American Scottie Scheffler claim the gold medal, this week sees the women’s event at Le Golf National.
Like the men’s competition, many of the world’s best players will be in action in Paris, including 2020 gold medal winner and current World No.1 Nelly Korda. However, the tournament will feature significantly shorter yardages than the men’s event.
Le Golf National’s L'Albatros Course, which also hosted the 2018 Ryder Cup and is the home of the Open de France, was set up as a par 71 for the men's contest, reaching 7,174 yards. For the women’s event, though, it will be a par 72 measuring 6,407 yards.
The par 4 first hole was 419 yards for the men, and it had initially been anticipated it would be 386 yards for the women. However, the day before the event began, it was confirmed by the Golf Channel it would be moved back to the same tee as the men.
Officials @OlympicGolf told us today and as reported by @RexHoggardGC on GC - the 1st tee of the Women’s Competition will be moved back to the same tee as the Men -providing a stadium environment seen for the opening tee shot last week. The original plan was to use a forward tee.August 6, 2024
Water a factor that will see most players deciding to lay up. Next, it’s one of four par 3s at the course. It was set at 210 yards for the men but will be just 154 yards for the women.
The first par 5 of the course comes next, which was a 558-yard effort for the men, and will be the longest the women will face at 499 yards, where they will need to navigate water on each side of the fairway and a large greenside bunker.
Bunkers guard the green on the fourth, too, which was 486 yards for the men and will be reduced to 421 yards for the women. The fifth was a 405-yard par 4 for the men but will be 371 yards for the women, with bunkers prominent on both the fairway and around the green, before another par 4, at 380 yards for the men and 359 yards for the women, features a huge green but no sand traps.
The seventh was set at 457 yards for the men but is 23 yards less for the women and features bunkers to the left of the green, while the par 3 eighth was 208 yards for the men but will be 161 yards for the women playing from its elevated tee.
The longest hole for the men was the ninth, at 579 yards, but it is set at 466 yards for the women. It features water to the left and a tiered green with bunkers to the right. After the turn, the par 4 10th was 375 yards for the men but will be 351 yards for the women, while the par 3 11th, which has a lake in front of the green, was 174 yards in the men’s tournament, but will be 30 yards less for the women.
The 12th was set at 433 yards for the men, and will be 408 yards for the women before another par 4, the dogleg right 13th, which was 414 yards in the men’s tournament and will be 371 yards for the women.
The long par 5 14th requires accuracy thanks to its narrow fairway. It was 552 yards for the men but will be 478 yards for the women, before players tackle the par 4 15th with its island green - the culmination of 405 yards for the men and 377 yards in the women’s tournament.
The final par 3, set at 168 yards for the men and just 150 yards for the women, is next, before the par 4 17th, which was 480 yards for the men and will be 397 yards for the women.
Discussing the challenges they will face, as well as pointing out how the male style of golf allows for a different kind of game plan, French pair Celine Boutier and Perrine Delacour said there was not much they could learn from watching their male peers just days before.
Delacour said: "The men are playing so far different than us, so I personally think the strategy is way different. Like Victor [Perez] had an iron on No. 3 and I had 3-wood to just like not even get to the green.
"I think it's playing different between the men and us but we definitely have an idea where the pin can be. So that's helpful for us."
Meanwhile, Boutier said: "I agree. The game is very different; the height that they have; the power that they have the stopping power that they have is very different. So you can't really expect us, me personally, to play the same way.
"Like I said, maybe the pin position but, again, because they get so much height they are able to tuck the pins closer to the edges. With us, the clubs that we have, it's a little bit harder to stop it. You have a general idea of what the pins will be, similar to the men."
Finally, the devilish 18th sees players needing to negotiate bunkers and water. It was a par 4 471-yard effort in the men’s tournament, but becomes a par 5 447-yard hole for the women’s contest.
