What Is The Course Record At Le Golf National?

France's Le Golf National has hosted several world-class sporting events since officially opening in 1990.

The home of the French Golf Federation has three courses on site - L'Albatros (The Albatross), L'Aigle (The Eagle), and L'Oislet (The Birdie) - but it is the former which holds the title of Le Golf National's premier layout.

Since 1991, it has welcomed almost every single Open de France, the 1994 Eisenhower Trophy, the 2018 Ryder Cup, and now the Paris 2024 Olympic golf tournaments.

At Paris 2024, the par-71 layout played 7,174 yards for the men’s competition before shifting to a 6,374-yard par-72 for the women’s competition. It will feature 45 feet of elevation change throughout and players will be well accustomed to water by the end of one round as water surrounds many of the holes on the back nine, in particular.

During its first Open de France, four-time Major winner Sir Nick Faldo labelled L'Albatros as "tough but fair" and almost every player who has teed it up there since has agreed.

The winning score at the Open de France has ranged from seven-under (Alex Noren - 2018) to 16-under (Guido Migliozzi - 2022) while the men's Olympic golf tournament at Paris 2024 saw extraordinary scoring as Scottie Scheffler won gold on 19-under and Jon Rahm having reached -20 before his late collapse.

Post-event, several players acknowledged Le Golf National's crown jewel offered them a tough test but also provided the opportunity for a low score. As was proved with two golfers joining the joint-course record club at Paris 2024.

The men's course record at Le Golf National is 62 and is jointly-held by four players - Argentina's Eduardo Romero, Danish twin brothers, Rasmus Hojgaard and Nicolai Hojgaard, and World No.1 Scheffler.

Romero was the first to card nine-under in a single round at L'Albatros, achieving the feat in 2005 on his way to a T8 result at the Open de France. He was 50 at the time and reportedly considering a permanent move to seniors golf but returned home to change his diet and sharpen his focus.

The plan worked wonderfully, and he shot 29 on the front nine for the first time ever before returning in 33 - although it could have been even better if a 30-foot putt on the last had not agonizingly lipped out.

What made Romero's feat even more remarkable is that it arrived after he had already played nine holes in the morning due to needing to finish off his first round following a suspension in play. It was also two strokes better than the previous course record.

Romero's low total would stand alone for 17 more years until the first of the Hojgaard twins matched it in some style at the 2022 Open de France.

Rasmus fired 10 birdies - one of which was from more than 70 feet - during his first-round venture onto the course to lead by two strokes. He carded six birdies and a single bogey on the front side before picking up four more shots on the back nine.

Afterwards, he said: "Today was very good. To be fair, I don't feel like I was that good off the tee but my approach play was very good, alongside a very good putter. I holed a few long putts out there, but you have to do that to shoot nine-under."

Hojgaard followed his round of 62 up with a 65 on Friday to break the record for the lowest 36-hole total at the Open de France (-15), but he ended up surrendering a six-stroke advantage to lose by one shot from Migliozzi.

And two years later, at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, Rasmus' brother Nicolai repeated the achievement in the third round. He carded seven birdies and an eagle to fire himself up the leaderboard and move within touching distance of a medal.

Nicolai - who played for Team Europe at the 2023 Ryder Cup - could have earned the title of 'course-record holder' on his own after having a birdie putt on the 18th, but he was narrowly off target and was forced to settle for a tie alongside his brother and Romero.

Around 24 hours after that, the trio of low shooters became a quartet as Scheffler surged to Olympic gold in imperious style. Having started the final round four strokes adrift, the World No.1 opened up with three birdies prior to lighting up L'Albatros' back nine.

Scheffler carded a superb bogey-free 29 down the stretch, which included six birdies, as he powered past Rahm and co. to add to his increasing list of significant achievements.