Basque country: the Nivelle golf course returns to the first division thirty years later

They had been waiting for this result for thirty years. The Nivelle golfers have finally managed to bring the club back to the French first division. A result obtained during the last French championship played at the Albi golf course, from May 23 to 26. This accomplishment is the fruit of long work, sometimes with its share of disappointments.

“We went through moments…

They had been waiting for this result for thirty years. The Nivelle golfers have finally managed to bring the club back to the French first division. A result obtained during the last French championship played at the Albi golf course, from May 23 to 26. This accomplishment is the fruit of long work, sometimes with its share of disappointments.

“We went through moments where we were discouraged,” confesses Hervé Blanco Paviot, 31, captain of the pennant team. Trained at the club from the age of 10, he has worn its colors since he was 15. The Nivelle golf course spent many years in the second division, sometimes even moving to the third level. For the captain, the potential was there, but he was still missing that little something to move to the next level.

What if, ultimately, this little something wasn't someone. Three years ago, Antton Arbide took over as head of the club's sports committee. The retiree, born according to his words fifty meters from the Nivelle golf course, played there all his youth, before becoming a professional for ten years, then starting his business.

When he returned to the club in 2020, he made a “deal” with the players. He gives them three years to find the elite of French golf. “There was a very good generation, trained at the club and who never left. It was coming to maturity,” he maintains.

Group of friends

Remobilized, the troops will pick up the pace. With two training sessions per week under the leadership of Eric Boucher, the golf school teacher, also a mental trainer. But above all, the teammates looked each other straight in the eye. “We decided to put a framework for our objective, by committing to each other,” says Hervé Blanco Paviot. In the end, the group made up of around ten players, all trained by Jean-Bernard Lecuona, their former teacher, becomes a real “band of friends”, who play, eat and celebrate together.

This state of mind undoubtedly contributed to their success during the last French second division championship. Arriving first at the end of the group stage, they won in the quarter and semi-finals, in twisted scenarios. A way to finally get their ticket to the French golf elite.

Passing the torch

“It’s a big relief, because we’ve had this goal in mind for years,” admits the captain. They will therefore face, in a year, the fifteen other best French clubs, in a five-day duel. And for the goal: “It’s going to be something new for us, but we’re not afraid. We go there with the desire to perform,” assumes Hervé Blanco Paviot.

Antton Arbide, for his part, is not worried: “They will progress further, because as they play in the first division, they will be invited to tougher competitions. » The objective has been achieved, the director of the club's sports commission has decided to give his place to a young member of the club, Thibault Gelos. He leaves, thanks to this accession, through the “big door”.