EVIAN-LES-BAINS – Albane Valenzuela finally made the cut at the Evian Championship, and she did it with gusto, chipping in for eagle on the 18th hole from 20 yards.
“I needed to make the cut,” said Valenzuela, a special invite who had missed the weekend here in four previous attempts.
Valenzuela plays under the Swiss flag and lived in nearby Geneva until the family recently moved to the Bahamas. She sits at 4 under after two rounds, six strokes back of leader Mi Hyang Lee, thanks to a 66.
Evian Golf Resort is a special place for the Valenzuelas as it’s where Alberto met his wife Diane at an exhibition match in 1991. The course had recently opened after a renovation and Franck Ribould invited four amateurs to play against four professionals. Alberto, a Mexican, was the reigning French Amateur champion.
“When I saw her,” said Alberto. “I fell in love.”
Diane, a 10-handicap, was working in the export department for Evian at the time.
Valenzuela and her brother Alexis have been in the spotlight in big events before, like the 2018 ANA Inspiration when Albane set a 36-hole record for amateurs and sat tied for eighth after two rounds.
In 2016, Albane qualified for the Olympics after making the cut at the 71st U.S. Women’s Open at the age of 18.
Success at the Evian, however, didn’t come easily. That first year, 2015, Albane was fresh off of exams and had barely played for two months coming into Evian.
“A lot has changed,” she said. “It’s a long journey, but this is the place I want to be eventually.”
Having 8-irons into greens where she used to hit 5-irons, Albane said, helps her to score on the hilly course.
Alberto credits more consistent putting. She’s making her own adjustments and found comfort in what she’s doing on the greens.
Currently ranked fifth in the World Golf Amateur Ranking, Albane heads next to AIG Women’s British Open qualifying followed by the U.S. Women’s Amateur.
It was at the 2017 Women’s Amateur that Alexis, who was caddying for Albane, talked publicly for the first time about his battle with autism, sharing with Golfweek the journey he took from being a nonverbal child to a teenager who speaks three languages. The feedback he received from the story and further exposure encouraged Alexis to launch Alexis for Autism or “A for A.” His inaugural event across the lake at Golf Club de Genève raised over $280,000 toward autism research.
Alexis competed in the U.S. Junior last week in Ohio and is on the bag again for Albane at the Evian. Albane said her brother’s presence helps keep her calm. She can see the progression in his game, too, by the way he helps her around the course.
Safe to say Alexis is as pumped about the weekend as his sister.
“I definitely put that extra pressure on myself,” said Albane, “but I said you know, there are two ways to look at pressure. You either go with fear, or you’re aggressive and excited to go out there. In previous years I got a little bit more defensive and was afraid of missing the cut. This year, I was like don’t even look at the cut. Just look up at the leaderboard and go, go, go.”
