Interview with Bernard Pascassio

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MORE THAN A MONUMENT

For all golf enthusiasts, having an appointment with Bernard Pascassio will brighten your day. With his fascinating story, his many lives, from exceptional player to tournament organiser, you know that the moment will be too short and inevitably frustrating. And yet, the pleasure remains immense...

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There's no need to introduce Bernard, so many generations of golfers know him. From France's No. 1 golfer in 1984, to a TV commentator on Canal+ for more than 20 years, to a tournament organiser today with Kalika, the company he set up in 1981 to cover his backside, Bernard Pascassio has been a key figure in our sport for more than 50 years.

The godfather of the 2023 edition of the ARKÉA OMNIUM, with his many anecdotes, remains an inexhaustible encyclopaedia. And sometimes his opinions are trenchant.

Born on his family's farm in Ciboure, just a drive away from the Golf de la Nivelle, he, like many young Basques, got his first taste of golf by playing caddie at Chantaco when he was very young, to help his parents make ends meet.

Winning the cadet competition two years running, Bernard realised that he had some aptitude for the sport. But in those days, the pathways to top-level sport were not the same as they are today.

With a carpentry CAP to reassure his family, Bernard likes to say that he was lucky. He was lucky enough to caddy for the Lacoste family and Philippe Chatrier, who opened the doors of the Club du Lys Chantilly to him. The chance to become a teacher, being one of the first to pass the state diploma created by Pierre-Etienne Guyot in 1969. The chance to take part in the World Cup in Buenos Aires with Jean Garaïlade in 1970. The chance to meet some great people and receive support for his various projects, both sporting and, later, professional.

But if you ask him, Bernard admits that the main chance he had was to benefit from a caring upbringing that transmitted the values necessary for success.

I got lucky

With his uncommon generosity and deep convictions - a pleonasm for the Basque that he is - Bernard has always sought to give back what he has received.

Right from the start of his career, he set about creating the ADGF in 1982 to defend golf course directors, and he also set about creating a French circuit, the Pro 2000, so that the pros of the time could play and collect winnings because, and we must remember this, there were very few tournaments at the time.

Bernard unites people around his projects

An excellent player at the time, number 2 in France in the early 70s, then number 1 in the mid 80s, Bernard quickly realised that he was not just a sportsman but also an entrepreneur.

That's how he's been able to build a career where, alongside the well-known sportsman, there's always been a teacher, a TV consultant or a company director.

Bernard is like that. Both visionary and ambitious, his depth and loyalty have enabled him to make some wonderful encounters and benefit from invaluable support in bringing his projects to fruition.

We could mention Charles Bietry, then director of sports at Canal+, or Bill Coore, the architect with whom he built the Golf du Médoc, and without it being possible to name them, all the great managers with whom he was able to work in complete confidence.

Bernard, and this is a great quality, unites people around his projects. You only have to attend an event organised by Kalika to understand this. Just recently, during the French Professional Championship, organised at Golf du Médoc, all the players called out to him, thanked him and exchanged a few words. Bernard is a monument to our sport. A monument who has surrounded himself with associates and collaborators known and recognised for their skills.

Driven by an unshakeable passion, Bernard Pascassio wants above all to talk to us about the future.

Although he has been heavily involved in events since the mid-1980s, he would like to emphasise the pleasure he has always had in organising great events with great players. Whether it's for professional tournaments, ProAm events or amateur events, his schedule is packed between France and Morocco, so that he can offer events that are meticulously organised.

As far as the professional world is concerned, Bernard remains sceptical about the role and use of money in this sporting economy. He likes the bonus of results. He always has. He remembers doubling the prize-money to attract talent.

Today, he has less understanding of the distribution keys in today's golf.

How can a circuit like the LIV, with signing bonuses of over €100 million for a single player, coexist with a circuit like the Challenge Tour, with its €250,000 to be shared each week between 150 players? In his opinion, the world doesn't go round, and we can only agree with him.

It's important that we restore sport to its original role

As a player, and then as an observer, his experience and outlook command respect. Bernard believes that managers tend to forget the player's interests and are too involved in sports management and planning. To put it simply, Bernard is convinced that it would have been a good idea to copy the ATP's organisation for tennis to avoid the pitfalls we all know about, particularly the advent of the LIV. Seve Ballesteros and Greg Norman had already proposed this project, but without success.

For him, it is important that we restore sport to its original place.

Privileges, invitations, exhibitions and shows will never have the same flavour as a purely sporting tournament where the only way to claim a place at the start is on merit.

The ideal organisation? 52 weeks means 52 tournaments. Geographically distributed according to the interests and strengths of the participants. All organised with 3 or 4 divisions.

As you can see, simplicity, meritocracy and good farming sense have enabled him to build an extraordinary career.

Gary Player once said to him: ‘Bernard, if you want gratitude, you breed dogs’.

Although we are neither Breton Spaniels nor German Shepherds, we would like to express our sincere gratitude for the time we spent together.