As a child, Gabrielle Cyr accompanied her father and grandfather to golf, whether for rounds at the defunct Bonniebrook club or at the driving range to hit balls. Some 25 years later, she has just returned from Germany with a trophy in her suitcases, the Mercedes Trophy, which she won hands down with rounds of 67 and 73, for a cumulative score of minus 4.
“I never thought golf would take me this far, give me such a great experience,” she said in a telephone interview.
It is rather customary for companies, often automobile manufacturers, to organize golf tournaments for their customers. What is less obvious, however, is that a young mother (she has two young daughters) dominates this type of competition, first winning the regional qualification, doing just as much at the provincial level, repeating the then a feat for all of Canada during an event in Toronto and, thus, finding herself in Germany for the grand final which she proudly won.
There were a total of 78 competitors, teams of three from 26 countries. Gabrielle Cyr beat everyone, on an individual level, but in addition the Canadian team emerged victorious in the team competition. And as that wasn't enough: “I also won the competition for the longest tee shot,” she explains with a laugh, visibly delighted by so much success.
For her, a phone call from the Franke Mercedes dealership in Sainte-Agathe, where she was a customer, offering to represent them for this corporate competition, made the last three months truly magical. On July 5, after her victory at the Royal Laurentien, she found herself a few weeks later at the Whitlock club, in Hudson, where she won the provincial. Then, she went to Toronto for the Canadian and, after two days of competition, on October 1 and 2 in Germany, she was crowned grand champion of this event where men and women competed at the same level.
You should know that not only has golf been part of Gabrielle Cyr's life since she was 10, but she excels at it. Now a member of the St-Jérôme club, she enjoyed success at the junior level where she twice won gold at the Quebec Games in addition to having, at the age of 17, finished second at the provincial junior championship. . She was only one stroke behind the winner, in this case Maude-Aimée Leblanc who today plays on the LPGA circuit.
Exactly, has she not thought one day of making the jump to the professionals, we ask her.
“I have too good a job to give it up and take a big risk,” she replies. I remained very close to Maude-Aimée. Every winter, I go to see her in Florida and I can tell you that life on the LPGA is not always easy. Maude-Aimée works very hard, it’s impressive. I don’t necessarily envy him.”
Even if she did not take the same path as her friend, Gabrielle Cyr does not hesitate to say, since her return from Germany, that golf has nevertheless fulfilled her.
“It’s such a beautiful individual sport where you have to rely only on yourself,” she recalls. In addition, it is an activity that you can practice with your loved ones. My partner started playing golf two years ago and since then, we have spent so many wonderful times together on the courses. We share a passion!”
And precisely, her prowess having taken her to Germany ensured that Mercedes took care of all the travel expenses for her and her partner Marie-Pier. So, when she landed in Germany, Gabrielle Cyr had no stress, she already felt so lucky to be able to live this experience.
“I had no expectations, so no stress,” she emphasizes. And that's why from one competition to the next, everything went well for me on the field. It was just on the very last day of competition, in Germany, that I started to feel some stress. I finished the initial round at 5 under, birdies were falling easily. So I told myself that it was possible, that I had a strong chance of winning and that stressed me out a little. Finally, I managed well the next day by playing plus one for the victory!”
Yes, as a kid, Gabrielle Cyr was happy to go play golf with her grandfather and her father and, today, she is so grateful to them.
“I insist,” she finishes, “I never thought that golf would make me experience this one day. It’s extraordinary!”
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