Jean-Louis Guépy (born 25 May 1967) is a French professional golfer from New Caledonia. Guépy was originally a tennis pro but abruptly quit at the age of 20. Despite having no background in golf he then trained to be a professional golfer. Within years of picking up the game Guépy earned membership on the PGA Tour of Australasia and European Tour. Though he never won on either tour, he recorded runner-up finishes in three prominent international events, including to world #1 Greg Norman at the 1996 Ford South Australian Open.
Early life
Guépy was born and raised in New Caledonia, a French territory in the Pacific. He originally wanted to be a tennis professional. The game was part of the family as his father, George, was a local tennis president in New Caledonia. As a young adult, Guépy peaked within the top ten of France and Australia's amateur tennis rankings. He defeated Australian pro Jason Stoltenberg at an event in Europe. He reached the low #200s in the professional rankings. He quit playing tennis at the age of 20, however. "Tennis was no more fun for me," he stated later in life. He did not play golf at all until he was 20 years old.
Professional career
Guépy declared himself to be a professional golfer at the age of 24. Soon afterwards, he was conscripted into the French National Service. His service lasted two years.
Shortly thereafter, he joined the Challenge Tour, the European Tour's developmental tour. He played in 11 events in 1992, making the cut in all of them, including a top-10 performance. He finished 73rd on the Order of Merit. The following season, he played full-time on the Challenge Tour. He finished in the top-10 in 11 of 20 tournaments entered. He won his first professional event, the Open de Vittel, and finished second on the Order of Merit to earn full playing rights on the European Tour.
Guépy had a difficult transition to the main tour, missing the cut in four of his first six events. However he played excellently in his next event, the Heineken Open Catalonia. In second round, he shot a 30 (−6) on the front nine to take a four shot lead. With strong winds in his face, he came back poorly with a 38 (+2) to lose two strokes to the field. His round included eight birdies, four pars, four bogeys, one eagle, and one double bogey. He stated afterwards, "It was a real crazy round." Guépy held a two stroke lead entering the weekend. In the third round, he shot an even-par-72 but lost ground to the field as most challengers shot under par. Argentina's José Cóceres took the lead. In the final round, Guépy played in the final group with Cóceres. Though he shot a one-under-par 71, he was outplayed by Cóceres's 69. Guépy finished in solo second, three back. Despite the disappointing weekend, this was easily the best finish of his European Tour career. Guépy was not able to advance on this good performance, however. In his remaining 15 events, he missed the cut, withdrew, or was disqualified from twelve of them. However, his high finish in Catalonia helped him finish 112th on the Order of Merit. He maintained full status on the European Tour.
Later in the year, he played in the Dunhill Cup. France played Australia in its first round of the tournament and Guépy defeated Steve Elkington in his first round match. However, France did not win its group to advance to the knock-out bracket.
In 1995, Guépy made "impressive progress" on the European Tour. In the first 10 events, he did not have much success, only completing two of them. In the summer, he began to turn it around. In early July, at the BMW International Open he shot rounds of 65–68 (−11) on the weekend to finish in a tie for fourth. Later in the summer, he recorded another top-5, finishing T-5 at the Czech Open, recording four straight rounds in the 60s. In September, he tied the course record at the Trophée Lancôme with a 62 (-8). Also in September, he held the joint first round lead of the British Masters. Overall, Guépy won £117,535 and finished 50th on the Order of Merit.
After the season ended, he played in the World Cup of Golf in Shenzhen, China. He and teammate Jean van de Velde finished at 561, in a tie for 6th with Ireland.