Canadian Named Swiss National Coach

Canadian Denise Lavigne, a teaching professional at Club de Golf Le Mirage in Terrbonne, Que., has been named coach of the Swiss women’s national team.

Lavigne still coaches outstanding Canadian players such as Danielle Mills, who was runner-up recently at the Duramed Futures Tour qualifying school, and top amateur Maude-Aimee LeBlanc.

Lavigne, who also works as a teaching professional at Deer Creek Golf Club in Deerfield Beach, Fla., played college golf at Florida International University in Miami and went on to play competitively in Europe, Asia, various mini tours, the LPGA Tour and what is now the Futures Tour.

Both in Quebec junior camps and in her later career, she received coaching and support from Jocelyne Bourassa, whose programs got Lavigne into LPGA events such as the du Maurier Classic.

She was a member at Richelieu Valley Golf Club, where she also became a teaching professional before moving on to Royal Montreal for three years and a 15-year stint at Golf Club de Geneve in Switzerland. As a member at Richelieu Valley, she was coached and mentored by the late Jack Bissegger.

Lavigne says her previous experience in Switzerland likely played a role in landing the national team position. “I think it’s from the work I had done in Geneva for 15 years and they saw how many good players came out,” she said.

While she will continue to live in Florida, Lavigne says the national team job will keep her traveling quite a bit as she prepares for the World Championships in Argentina.

“I’ll be pretty much on the road all the time,” she said. “I’ll be visiting with the girls or meeting the girls and also visiting the coaches.”

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