Brigitte Varangot

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

Early life Varangot was born in Biarritz 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 (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. 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, one of the two most important amateur tournaments in the world. Despite fighting off an attack of tonsillitis, her first victory came in 1963 at Royal County Down Golf Club, Northern Ireland, coincidentally the same venue were her mentor and friend Lally Segard won the same championship in 1950. Two years later, she won again, this time at St Andrews, Scotland, beating home player Belle Robertson in the final. With Varangot's third victory in the championship at Walton Heath Golf Club 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 at Cologne, Germany 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, took place in October 1964 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 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 Mickey Wright, at Estoril Golf Club, Portugal, 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.

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.

Team appearances Amateur Espirito Santo Trophy (representing France): 1964 (winners), 1966, 1968, 1970, 1972, 1974 European Ladies' Team Championship (representing France): 1959 (winners), 1961 (winners), 1963, 1965, 1967, 1969 (winners), 1971, 1973 Vagliano Trophy (representing Continent of Europe): 1959, 1961, 1963, 1965 (winners), 1969 (winners), 1971 Sources: