The dream started 25 years ago, before Lydia Ko, Brooke Henderson, Nelly Korda, Lexi Thompson and Nasa Hataoka were born. From its beginnings as a Ladies European Tour stop, the Evian Championship has had name changes, date changes and course changes, evolving into a shining jewel of women’s golf and one of the LPGA’s five majors.
What has never changed is the dedication and commitment of the two men behind the tournament, Franck Riboud, the honorary chairman of Danone, the parent company of Evian, and Jacques Bungert, vice chairman of the Evian Championship. They’ve made the dream a reality and have kept its mission on course while growing the event.
Riboud and Bungert have set a standard of excellence in terms of prize money, player amenities and tournament presentation that was way ahead of its time in the women’s game. Evian led the pursuit for higher pay for women, inspiring other tournaments to fatten their purses. This year’s prize pool is $4.1 million.
On Wednesday at the Evian Resort Golf Club, Riboud and Bungert led a champagne toast to 25 years of the Evian Championship. Then current players, joined by LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan, surprised the two men with the Evian water shower received each year by the winner on the 18th green.
“I am not a person who seeks attention, but I am really impressed with what we did, Jacques and the team,” Riboud said. “Every year we were thinking about the future. Today it is very fashionable to support ladies sports, with the Women’s World Cup soccer in France, but you go back 25 years and we had no one to help us.”
Riboud, who in 18 years as CEO and Chairman of Danone oversaw significant revenue growth as the company expanded it global markets, envisioned a marriage of his company’s brand with women’s golf that would be a win-win situation. His position within the company gave him the power to make a critical decision that turned out to be brilliant for Evian and beneficial for players.
“What brings me the greatest satisfaction is that we have maintained the spirit of the tournament,” Riboud said. “It is about family – the tours, the players, the caddies, the media, the maintenance staff, the volunteers – and we will keep that family spirit. When we became a major people said, ‘That’s it. Evian will lose it’s special feeling.’ We have proven that wrong.”
Working with Bungert, Riboud created a tournament that runs with the precision of a Rolex watch and brings with it the same look and feel of luxury of the timepiece. Long before other tournaments raised their events to anywhere near this level, the Evian Championship made players feel special.
“Because they deserve it,” Bungert says when asked why Evian has supported the women’s game so vigorously. “They are fantastic champions, performing as great athletes, but they also create a very special and convivial atmosphere with the sponsors and their guests. It is part of the development of the game of golf. You build a sport through its champions.”
Evian, which became an LPGA event in 2000 and a major in 2013, was also out front in realizing the impact the LPGA, the LET and women’s sports could have on it’s product. Just as Evian inspired other tournaments to raise their game, it also taught sponsors the value in allying with women’s golf.
“For us it has been an amazing benefit both for the Evian brand, which has its unique source and home here, and for the Danone Group, to which the brand and the resort belong,” Bungert said at the resort, not far from the Evian spring overlooking Lake Geneva in the foothills of the French Alps.
“It has helped the Royal resort to be on the map of the golfers of the world,” Bungert said. “Definitely our awareness in the world community is now high, which means new businesses and partnerships throughout the world."
Evian has used its relationship with the LPGA and LET “to promote our ecological values since golf is probably one the most advanced sports in the world in that respect,” Bungert said, adding that “to promote women’s sport values have totally irrigated the DNA of the group.”
Evian is also a strong advocate for junior golf, supporting a number of international competitions, clinics and instruction camps. What began as a bold idea not without its risks is now a reality and a centerpiece of the LPGA and LET.
“Twenty-five years is a long time, but in the history of the game of golf it is a very short period,” Bungert said. “You cannot buy time and it takes time to build a legend,” he said.
“Franck and I are very proud to have been chosen to become the first major in the history of golf out of the Anglo-Saxon world,” he said. “To hear players talk about us so nicely as a unique place and moment in their season is also a pride.”
The marketing slogan of Evian is “I Wanna #LiveYoung” encouraging an active approach to life. Long before that became the company’s message the Evian Championship was preaching it.
Now 25 years old, the tournament has the energy of youth and the wisdom of experience. Thanks to Riboud and Bungert, the Evian Championship has a vision that remains forever young and a reality that keeps getting better.