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Jean-Louis Guépy (born 25 May 1967) is a French professional golfer from
New Caledonia New Caledonia ( ; ) is a group of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean, southwest of Vanuatu and east of Australia. Located from Metropolitan France, it forms a Overseas France#Sui generis collectivity, ''sui generis'' collectivity of t ...
. Guépy was originally a tennis pro but abruptly quit at the age of 20. Despite having no background in golf he then trained to be a professional golfer. Within years of picking up the game Guépy earned membership on the
PGA Tour of Australasia The PGA Tour of Australasia, currently titled as the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia for sponsorship reasons, is a professional golf tour for men, owned and operated by the PGA of Australia. Official events on the tour count for World Golf ...
and
European Tour The European Tour, currently titled as the DP World Tour for sponsorship reasons, and legally the PGA European Tour or the European Tour Group, is the leading men's professional golf tour in Europe. The organisation also operates the European ...
. Though he never won on either tour, he recorded runner-up finishes in three prominent international events, including to world #1
Greg Norman Gregory John Norman (born 10 February 1955) is an Australian former professional golfer who spent 331 weeks as List of World Number One male golfers, world number one in the 1980s and 1990s. He won 88 professional tournaments, including 20 PGA ...
at the 1996 Ford South Australian Open.


Early life

Guépy was born and raised in
New Caledonia New Caledonia ( ; ) is a group of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean, southwest of Vanuatu and east of Australia. Located from Metropolitan France, it forms a Overseas France#Sui generis collectivity, ''sui generis'' collectivity of t ...
, a French territory in the Pacific. He originally wanted to be a tennis professional. The game was part of the family as his father, George, was a local tennis president in
New Caledonia New Caledonia ( ; ) is a group of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean, southwest of Vanuatu and east of Australia. Located from Metropolitan France, it forms a Overseas France#Sui generis collectivity, ''sui generis'' collectivity of t ...
. As a young adult, Guépy peaked within the top ten of France and Australia's amateur tennis rankings. He defeated Australian pro
Jason Stoltenberg Jason Stoltenberg (born 4 April 1970) is an Australian former professional tennis player. Tennis career Stoltenberg began playing tennis at age ten on an antbed (crushed termite mound) court where his father owned a cotton farm in the Far Wes ...
at an event in Europe. He reached the low #200s in the professional rankings. He quit playing tennis at the age of 20, however. "Tennis was no more fun for me," he stated later in life. He did not play golf at all until he was 20 years old.


Professional career

Guépy declared himself to be a professional golfer at the age of 24. Soon afterwards, he was conscripted into the French National Service. His service lasted two years. Shortly thereafter, he joined the
Challenge Tour The Challenge Tour, currently titled as the HotelPlanner Tour for sponsorship reasons and also sometimes referred to as the European Challenge Tour, is the second-tier men's professional golf tour in Europe. It is operated by the PGA European To ...
, the European Tour's developmental tour. He played in 11 events in 1992, making the cut in all of them, including a top-10 performance. He finished 73rd on the Order of Merit. The following season, he played full-time on the Challenge Tour. He finished in the top-10 in 11 of 20 tournaments entered. He won his first professional event, the Open de Vittel, and finished second on the Order of Merit to earn full playing rights on the European Tour. Guépy had a difficult transition to the main tour, missing the cut in four of his first six events. However he played excellently in his next event, the Heineken Open Catalonia. In second round, he shot a 30 (−6) on the front nine to take a four shot lead. With strong winds in his face, he came back poorly with a 38 (+2) to lose two strokes to the field. His round included eight birdies, four pars, four bogeys, one eagle, and one double bogey. He stated afterwards, "It was a real crazy round." Guépy held a two stroke lead entering the weekend. In the third round, he shot an even-par-72 but lost ground to the field as most challengers shot under par. Argentina's José Cóceres took the lead. In the final round, Guépy played in the final group with Cóceres. Though he shot a one-under-par 71, he was outplayed by Cóceres's 69. Guépy finished in solo second, three back. Despite the disappointing weekend, this was easily the best finish of his European Tour career. Guépy was not able to advance on this good performance, however. In his remaining 15 events, he missed the cut, withdrew, or was disqualified from twelve of them. However, his high finish in Catalonia helped him finish 112th on the Order of Merit. He maintained full status on the European Tour. Later in the year, he played in the
Dunhill Cup The Alfred Dunhill Cup was a team golf tournament which ran from 1985 to 2000, sponsored by Alfred Dunhill Ltd. It was for three-man teams of professional golfers, one team representing each country, and was promoted as the "World Team Championsh ...
. France played Australia in its first round of the tournament and Guépy defeated
Steve Elkington Stephen John Elkington (born 8 December 1962) is an Australian professional golfer on the PGA Tour Champions. Formerly on the PGA Tour, he spent more than fifty weeks in the top-10 of the Official World Golf Ranking from 1995 to 1998. Elkington ...
in his first round match. However, France did not win its group to advance to the knock-out bracket. In 1995, Guépy made "impressive progress" on the European Tour. In the first 10 events, he did not have much success, only completing two of them. In the summer, he began to turn it around. In early July, at the
BMW International Open The BMW International Open is an annual men's professional golf tournament on the European Tour held in Germany. History Founded in 1989, it was held near BMW's home city of Munich every year until 2012. From 1989 to 1993 and from 1997 to 2011 ...
he shot rounds of 65–68 (−11) on the weekend to finish in a tie for fourth. Later in the summer, he recorded another top-5, finishing T-5 at the
Czech Open Czech Open is a name given to many sports events in the Czech Republic, including: * Czech International, a badminton tournament now known as the Czech Open * Czech Open (darts), a BDO sanctioned darts tournament * Czech Open (floorball), a floorba ...
, recording four straight rounds in the 60s. In September, he tied the course record at the
Trophée Lancôme The Trophée Lancôme was a professional golf tournament which was staged in Saint-Nom-la-Bretèche, France from 1970 to 2003. Gaëtan Mourgue D'Algue, a French golf enthusiast from Saint-Nom-la-Bretèche, hoped to popularize the then little-kn ...
with a 62 (-8). Also in September, he held the joint first round lead of the
British Masters The Betfred British Masters is a professional golf tournament. It was founded in 1946 as the Dunlop Masters and was held every year up to 2008, except for 1984. Dunlop's sponsorship ended in 1982, and the name sponsor changed frequently there ...
. Overall, Guépy won £117,535 and finished 50th on the Order of Merit. After the season ended, he played in the
World Cup of Golf The World Cup of Golf is a men's golf tournament contested by teams of two representing their country. Only one team is allowed from each country. The players are selected on the basis of the Official World Golf Ranking, although not all of the fir ...
in
Shenzhen, China Shenzhen is a prefecture-level city in the province of Guangdong, China. A Special economic zones of China, special economic zone, it is located on the east bank of the Pearl River (China), Pearl River estuary on the central coast of Guangdong ...
. He and teammate Jean van de Velde finished at 561, in a tie for 6th with Ireland. Soon after the World Cup, Guépy returned down under to play on the
PGA Tour of Australasia The PGA Tour of Australasia, currently titled as the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia for sponsorship reasons, is a professional golf tour for men, owned and operated by the PGA of Australia. Official events on the tour count for World Golf ...
. The first tournament he played was the
Australian Open The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...
. In the second round, he shot a 69 (-3) to get in contention. He shot a third round 69 (−3) to reach 211 (−5) and get within one of Greg Norman and Peter McWhinney's lead. He shot a final round 70 (−2) to finish at 281 (−7). He finished the event in a tie for third place with
Craig Parry Craig David Parry (born 12 January 1966) is an Australian professional golfer. He has been one of Australia's premier golfers since turning professional in 1985, and has 23 career victories, two of those wins being events on the PGA Tour; the 2 ...
earning $A49,088. A few weeks later, he played in the Greg Norman Holden International. He opened with a 70 (−3). In the second round, he shot a 63 (−10), recording 10 birdies. It was the lowest score by any player on the PGA Tour of Australasia in three years. It was also a course record. It got him to 133 (−13) and within one shot of
Craig Parry Craig David Parry (born 12 January 1966) is an Australian professional golfer. He has been one of Australia's premier golfers since turning professional in 1985, and has 23 career victories, two of those wins being events on the PGA Tour; the 2 ...
's lead. He "came back to earth" with a third round 74 (+1). He was at 207 at this point, in a tie for second, four back of leader Parry. He shot a 76 (+3) in the final round and finished in a tie for 4th place with Australians
Stuart Appleby Stuart Appleby (born 1 May 1971) is an Australian professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour Champions. He was a nine-time winner on the PGA Tour. Early life Appleby was born in Cohuna, Victoria, and grew up on a nearby dairy farm. He be ...
and Terry Price. This excellent play would culminate at the Ford South Australian Open. Guépy was tied for the lead entering the final round with Bradley Hughes and Glenn Joyner. He was in contention for most of the day but had a "costly" three-putt on the par-5 16th for bogey. However, on the next hole he holed a bunker shot for birdie. On the 18th, he had a 15-foot birdie putt to enter a playoff with
Greg Norman Gregory John Norman (born 10 February 1955) is an Australian former professional golfer who spent 331 weeks as List of World Number One male golfers, world number one in the 1980s and 1990s. He won 88 professional tournaments, including 20 PGA ...
. However, as "20,000 people gave an agonized groan" the putt "pulled up short." Guépy finished solo runner-up, one behind Norman. He reached his career Official World Golf Ranking peak at 128 after the event. Guépy returned to Europe in April. Despite reaching a new career peak in the global ranking, Guépy's career would not advance from this point onward. In his nine European events, he only made the cut once. In June 1996, a back injury prevented him from playing in Europe for the remainder of the season. Guépy started playing again as a touring professional in October in Australia. His performance down under was slightly better; in nine events he made cut five times including four top-25s. This included a tie for 11th place finish at the Australian Open. In the spring of 1997, he returned to Europe. He was granted a medical extension by the European Tour for the 1997 season. In his first event in Europe, the Spanish Open, Guépy had much success, scoring four consecutive under-par rounds. He finished in a tie for fifth, two out of a Mark James
Greg Norman Gregory John Norman (born 10 February 1955) is an Australian former professional golfer who spent 331 weeks as List of World Number One male golfers, world number one in the 1980s and 1990s. He won 88 professional tournaments, including 20 PGA ...
playoff. Guépy did not follow up on this success, however. He missed the cut, withdrew, or was disqualified from 12 of the remaining 14 events he played in Europe. He played much better when he returned to Australia, starting the season with four straight placings in the top-12. One of those results was a joint runner-up finish at the
New Zealand Open The New Zealand Open is the premier men's golf tournament in New Zealand. It has been a regular fixture on the PGA Tour of Australasia tournament schedule since the 1970s. The 2019 event was the 100th edition of the tournament. Since 2014 it has ...
. Due to his poor performance in 1997, Guépy did not retain his European Tour membership. He did play in two regular European Tour events, making the cut in both. He also qualified for the
1998 Open Championship The 1998 Open Championship was a men's major golf championship and the 127th Open Championship, held from 16 to 19 July at the Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport, England. In weekend wind and rain, Mark O'Meara won his second major champio ...
. Guépy was the first player to tee off in the event. He missed the cut. It was the only major championship or
PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also known as the PGA Tour, the PGA Tour Champion ...
event he would play in his career. Like the previous seasons, he returned to play on the PGA Tour of Australia. Guépy made the cut in 4 of 8 events, including consecutive top-10s at the
Heineken Classic The Heineken Classic was a men's professional golf tournament played in Australia from 1990 to 2005 as part of the PGA Tour of Australasia. From 1990 to 1992 it was called the Vines Classic. It was held at The Vines Resort & Country Club in We ...
and Greg Norman Holden International. In 1999, he returned to Europe and played in two events in France. Like previous years he returned to Australia. He did not record any highlights during the 1999–2000 season, however. Shortly after the season ended he took a two-year break from the game. In 2002, Guépy returned to Europe to play on the Challenge Tour. He played poorly. However, he earned his European Tour card at Q-School with a 32nd place showing. Late in his career, Guépy was able to enter some events in the Australasian region. He held the five-way share of the lead at the midway point of the 2012 South Pacific Golf Open Championship. Two years later, Guépy attempted to qualify for the 2014 PGA Tour of Australasia but failed by two shots. He was able to play some events that year, however, including the
Queensland Open The Queensland Open, originally called the Queensland Championships, and also known as the Queensland Lawn Tennis Championships, Queensland Grass Court Championships and the Queensland State Championships, was a tennis tournament played in Bris ...
. In 2016, Guépy played in the South Pacific Open Championship in his homeland of
New Caledonia New Caledonia ( ; ) is a group of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean, southwest of Vanuatu and east of Australia. Located from Metropolitan France, it forms a Overseas France#Sui generis collectivity, ''sui generis'' collectivity of t ...
. He finished in solo 23rd. The next year, he played again played an event in New Caledonia, this time the South Pacific Classic on the PGA Ladbrokes Legends Tour.


Personal life

As of 1994, Guépy lived in
Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...
, France. His interests include following politics and the stock market.


Professional wins (2)


Challenge Tour wins (1)


Alps Tour wins (1)


Results in major championships

CUT = missed the halfway cut
''Note: Guépy only played in The Open Championship.'' Source:


Team appearances

*
Dunhill Cup The Alfred Dunhill Cup was a team golf tournament which ran from 1985 to 2000, sponsored by Alfred Dunhill Ltd. It was for three-man teams of professional golfers, one team representing each country, and was promoted as the "World Team Championsh ...
(representing France):
1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...
*
World Cup of Golf The World Cup of Golf is a men's golf tournament contested by teams of two representing their country. Only one team is allowed from each country. The players are selected on the basis of the Official World Golf Ranking, although not all of the fir ...
(representing France):
1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...


References


External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Guepy, Jean-Louis French male golfers New Caledonian male golfers European Tour golfers 1967 births Living people 20th-century French sportsmen