“Despite the hundreds of tournaments I have played in my life, I still get butterflies in my stomach every time I tee off on the first hole. Despite everything, I know that this is where I want to be, nowhere else, this is where I belong. Playing on the LPGA Tour remains my only goal and I am ready to achieve it.”
She still has her little girl voice, but Josée Doyon is asserting herself as a mature woman, a determined 31-year-old athlete who works hard without ever giving up. The proof is that she has just qualified for the second stage of the LPGA Q-school after having passed, at the end of last week, through the first event which took place in California.
So we had to talk to her, which we did on Tuesday. Right from the start, a little clarification is necessary. Contrary to what has been written elsewhere, she did not finish in 82nd position, but in 70th place, and she did not attend the American university Purdue, but Kent State in Ohio (Maude-Aimée Leblanc graduated from Purdue but not Josée Doyon).
“In the United States,” says Josée Doyon, “being identified with a university other than the one you attended is not done; people make it their duty to always remain loyal to their university.”
Well, that’s it, the parenthesis is closed because, first and foremost, it is about informing about the journey of this athlete who has decided to follow her dream… In fact, no, it is no longer a question of a dream, in her case. It is her job, her profession to battle on the professional circuits. It is not easy, the mountain is very high, steep, except that she intends to climb it.
And she has the tools to get there. Especially since by qualifying for the second round, she will have a good place on the Epson circuit, the LPGA’s school club.
“It’s a big challenge to get through this first stage,” says the athlete from Beauce who finished the tournament at minus 1. “And it’s getting harder and harder. Not so long ago, you could qualify by playing in the plus 4 or plus 5 after four rounds. Today, it’s par or plus one. It’s quite a difference. It’s huge, even!”
Throughout the interview, we perceive that she is inhabited by an unwavering determination and a well-measured confidence. She has been navigating in this environment for several years, gradually making her way through the accumulated successes and despite the pitfalls that arise from time to time.
“Yes,” she says, “I’ve had success in almost every year of my competition (this summer alone, she won twice), but I’ve also stumbled. I’ve had tough times, too. But I’ve always gotten back up and never given up.”
“And now,” she continued in a tone that left no room for doubt, “I am more mature, I am very happy, I really do not regret my choice to fight to reach the major circuit. I feel that everything is possible because both the technical aspect of my game and the mental aspect are on point.”
She is therefore ready for the next qualifying stage which will take place in Venice, Florida from October 15 to 18.
“I just successfully completed the first stage when I felt like I wasn’t hitting my shots well,” she said. “So I’m confident in my swing. And I know the courses where the next stage will be held.”
With the good results she has had in recent months (in addition to her two victories, she has regularly appeared in the Top 10 of the Anika Women Pro Tour events, a very high-level circuit in the United States), it is clear that she is in great shape and, yes, as she does not hesitate to point out, she is happy. She is no longer continuing her path to the top alone, her husband and caddy André Giroux is by her side and she appreciates this help, this presence so much.
“We are a team, a great team,” she says happily.
We understand that having the person we love at our side, in everyday life as well as in tournaments, is a precious asset.
“He (her partner) motivates me in difficult times,” she says. “He encourages me constantly and he knows how to bring me back to a calmer state when I sometimes get carried away after a bad blow.”
Having been based in Florida for a few years now, precisely to be better able to compete at a high level all year round with our neighbours to the south, she will devote the next few weeks to solid training in preparation for stage 2. A quick trip to Quebec is also on the agenda, of course, to see her family again in Saint-Georges, in Beauce, but also to meet up with another guide, or rather another guide, in the person of Caroline Ciot, another Quebec pro who stands out.
“Caroline is a great friend and much more,” she recalls. “She guides me in my golf. I don’t know how to place her, what title to give her except, perhaps, that of technical advisor. She helps me a lot and I’m sure we’ll see each other when I’m in Quebec in a few weeks.”
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