01모터크로스 마니아, DP 월드투어 신인으로 첫 시즌
DP 월드투어 루키 오이앙 기야몽드기(Oihan Guillamoundeguy)가 모터크로스를 향한 남다른 애정을 드러내며 데뷔 시즌을 맞이하고 있다. 그는 모터크로스에서 느끼는 짜릿함을 좋아하는 선수로 알려졌다.
기야몽드기는 DP 월드투어 신인으로서 새로운 무대에 적응하며 자신의 경기력을 쌓아가고 있다. 모터크로스에 대한 열정은 그가 골프 코스 안팎에서 에너지를 얻는 원동력이 되고 있다.
그는 신인으로서 배움과 도전을 이어가며, 모터크로스 마니아다운 승부욕으로 투어 생활을 즐기고 있다. 앞으로 DP 월드투어에서 보여줄 성장에 관심이 모인다.
02Original (English) — DP World Tour
A question often asked in elite sport is what people do to escape from the everyday pressures it can bring. For DP World Tour rookie Oihan Guillamoundeguy, his release is among the more adrenaline-fuelled.
One of the youngest players competing on this season's Race to Dubai schedule, the 21-year-old Frenchman swaps fairways for the dirt in his off-time as a motocross rider.
A passion since childhood, Guillamoundeguy counts the World Championship-level Coenen twin brothers Lucas and Sacha, from Belgium, among his closest friends.
But his own chances of joining them as a professional rider were dashed on medical grounds after he was diagnosed with a heart anomaly that prevented blood from flowing properly aged eight and underwent an emergency operation at 12.
His enthusiasm to stick with the sport recreationally when possible has never gone away, however, even in his emergence as a rising star in European golf.
I know it can be dangerous, but I think it helps me a lot to just get away from golf and think about other things
"My dad was into it when I was young," he recalls of how he came to first take part in motocross growing up.
"I stopped when I was like nine years old due to heart problems until I was 14, 15 years old.
"I had surgery [for his heart issues] when I was 12 and I jumped back again onto motocross.
"It's really important for me. I know it can be dangerous, but I think it helps me a lot to just get away from golf and think about other things."
Held over mixed terrain and on closed-circuit tracks, the risks associated with motocross are on the surface far more substantial than golf.
But the fast-paced nature of the motorsport is something that Guillamoundeguy, who practises predominantly on sand, speaks about with such fondness as we catch up at the BMW PGA Championship.
"It's pretty fun when I am on the bike," he adds. "I have a lot of friends who are really good. The Coenen brothers are the best riders in the world at the moment.
"It's nice to talk with them as well. We can talk about sport in general because they are superstars and are really young, so they know how to judge pressure and stuff.
"We have a lot of fun because they play golf as well. When I'm home, I'm riding with them and they are coming to the golf course with me too to play 18 holes."
By the time Guillamoundeguy, who hails from Landes in southwestern France, was initially forced to step away from motocross, he had already started playing golf.
Ten years after starting, and days following his 18th birthday, he turned professional. A week later, he made his debut in the paid ranks at the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open in December 2022.
Already by then a winner on the Alps Tour as an amateur, beating off competition including 2026 BMW PGA Championship runner-up Manuel Elvira, his talent was in no doubt.
After ending the 2023 campaign fourth on the Order of Merit to secure promotion to the HotelPlanner Tour, he recorded three top tens in his first season to finish 49th on the Road to Mallorca Rankings.
Second time around, he bettered that with a breakthrough win on the HotelPlanner Tour at the Irish Challenge to help him finish fifth on the season-long standings and graduate onto the DP World Tour.
Despite the new surroundings, he has more than held his own against players of far greater experience.
With three top tens to his name, including a season's best tie for third at the Estrella Damm Catalunya Championship, focus is on trying to qualify for the DP World Tour Play-Offs rather than just keeping his card.
"I think I'm doing pretty well this season, so I'm happy," says the World Number 249, who is 71st in the Race to Dubai Rankings Delivered by DP World after making the cut on his Rolex Series debut at Wentworth Club.
"I need a bit more consistency, but I'm quite happy with my season at the moment.
"I had a good opportunity as well to play in my first Rolex Series event, so these kinds of tournaments bring me experience which I need."
Sporting curly hair that spills out from under his cap in a similar style to Rory McIlroy during his early years as a professional, Guillamoundeguy like many others has long looked up to the Northern Irishman.
Guillamoundeguy admitted to feeling slightly scared by the thought he was to play in the same event as the career Grand Slam winner last week.
"I grew up watching him on TV and wanted to do the same things as him," he explains.
"He is so good at golf. He looks like a nice person as well. He has character too, I like the way he goes about things. He's my idol."
While he was the last man in the field for the BMW PGA Championship, there were no such doubts over his participation for this week's FedEx Open de France.
One of 26 French players in the field, this will mark his fourth start at his national open as continental Europe's oldest open returns to Le Golf National following renovations to the home of the 2018 Ryder Cup and 2024 Olympic Games golf competitions.
Despite the added attention that comes with performing on home soil, Guillamoundeguy is staying relaxed - in keeping with his jovial demeanour - as he goes in search of a first DP World Tour title.
"The French Open is the same as the other tournaments, it's just that we're playing in front of French crowds," he says.
"So, it's a really important week for me because I want to do well, but I don't need to add pressure and I'll just be trying to do my best.
"It's one of my favourite golf courses that I play. It's a really tough golf course and I love when it's tough.
"Friends, family are coming as well, so it's going to be an enjoyable week."
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After undergoing significant renovations, Le Golf National is back in golf's global spotlight at the FedEx Open de France.