There are not many people with more local knowledge of Evian Resort Golf Club than Pauline Roussin. The Frenchwoman has been competing here since 2010, when she appeared in her first Haribo Kids Cup. That competition, which features kids from ages 8 to 12 from across France, brought the native of Brignoles to Evian-les-Bains (just a 300-mile journey) for five consecutive years.
Roussin returned to Evian for the 2017 and 2019 Jabra Ladies Open, a stop on the Ladies European Tour, playing as an amateur. She finished second in 2019, and then made her Amundi Evian Championship debut two months later, with a second amateur appearance in 2021.
Now a high-flying rookie on the LPGA Tour, turning professional in August 2021 after two years at the University of South Carolina, Roussin is looking to finally mark her name in the record books at a course that she holds dear.
“Obviously I know more people on Tour so it's nice to be in this kind of atmosphere where you know more people and it's very friendly,” said Roussin on Tuesday. “Compared to the two other editions where I was still an amateur and I was like, oh, wow, this is the adult’s world. I was like, okay. I was kind of shy. Now I'm just like I'm just belonging to the Tour and really enjoying that quite a lot. Yeah, I think it's just fun.”
Roussin is a fiery personality, known to show her frustration and happiness in equal parts. When her LPGA Tour career didn’t begin with a fast start like she expected, some of that fire emerged in ways she didn’t like. “It was hard to be happy on the golf course, because obviously it's easier to be happy when you play well,” said Roussin, who has made nine of 15 cuts this year. “I had to remind myself because I've had one tournament where I had a really bad attitude and I was like, this is not the person you want to be on the course.
That work on her attitude paid dividends for her game. Roussin comes to France fresh off a tie for sixth at last week’s Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational, a successful partnership with Dewi Weber that led to the best finish of both of their careers. Now with a big smile on her face, Roussin is relishing the opportunity to play on her beloved Evian Resort course for the first time as a professional.
“I needed a tournament last week, needed in terms of confidence, in terms of just the way I would hit the ball over there. Because I kept working. I grinded last week. It was just the last prep that was needed, that I needed for me to come into this week,” said Roussin. “All the fun I had really put me in a good mood. I think I'm going to definitely enjoy myself on the course and try to remember how we played last week, which atmosphere we had on the course.”
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