France
Founded in 1856, Pau is the oldest golf club in France and in continental Europe. Its history goes back to the Napoleonic wars and the Battle of Orthez in February 1814, when some regiments of Wellington's army were quartered in Pau. Great course architects like Willy Dunn considered that France with its amazing variety of landscapes was the ideal country for developing golf. Paris and the Ile de France have some of the country's finer courses including the Golf National, home of the French Open. The traditional top courses – often to be found around the larger cities – sometimes admit visitors especially during the week and in the summer but they never really advertise the fact. With a letter of introduction from your club you can try your luck at some of the most highly reputed courses like Chantilly, Saint-Germain, Fontainebleau, Saint-Nom-La-Bretèche, Paris International, Joyenval and la Boulie.
Visitors welcome
Boulogne
Joan Dudok van Heel
Visitors welcome
Reims
Michel Gayon
Visitors welcome
Toulouse
Visitors welcome
Paris
John Jacobs
Visitors welcome
Bordeaux
Cecil R. Blandford and Pierre Hirigoyen
Visitors welcome
Biarritz
Ronald (Ron) Fream
Visitors welcome
Lille
Jean-Claude Cornillot
Visitors welcome
Lorient
Visitors welcome
Marseille
Father/son team of Pete & P.B. Dye
Weekdays only
Basel
(Closed in 2013)
Paris
Visitors welcome
Boulogne
French designer Jean-Manuel Rossi
Visitors welcome
Paris
Bernhard Langer
Visitors welcome
Biarritz
Original design by Tom Dunn, with input from his younger brother Willie Dunn Jr. Later modifications and stronger bunkering designed by Harry Colt (1920).
Visitors welcome
Strasbourg
Visitors welcome
Lille
Fred Hawtree
Visitors welcome
Lille
Robert Trent Jones Sr.
Weekdays only
Geneve
Robert Trent Jones Jr.
Visitors welcome
Brest
Wkends restrictd
Lille
Bill Baker
Visitors welcome
Cannes
Visitors welcome
Cannes
Peter Alliss & Dave Thomas
Visitors welcome
Montpellier
Ronald (Ron) Fream
Visitors welcome
Paris
Marc Adam and Patrick Fromanger
Visitors welcome
Geneve
Original nine-hole layout (1934), extended to 18-holes by Robert Trent Jones Sr (1982).
Visitors welcome
Biarritz
Harry Colt
Weekdays only
Paris
Original 18-hole Longeres course designed in the 1920s by Tom Simpson, when he also redesigned the original 9-hole Vineuil course (extending it from 9 to 18 holes). The Longeres suffered badly during WW2, and most of it was abandoned after the war. In the 1980s English architect David Steel brought five original Longeres holes back into play, together with 13 new holes which he designed.
Weekdays only
Paris
Current layout designed by Tom Simpson in 1920.
Visitors welcome
Paris
Robert Trent Jones Jr.
Visitors welcome
Orleans
Olivier Dongradi
Visitors welcome
Dijon
French design team of Thierry Sprecher & Géry Watine.
Visitors welcome
Luxembourg
Visitors welcome
Bordeaux
Donald Steel
Visitors welcome
Paris
Visitors welcome
Biarritz
Tom Simpson
Visitors welcome
Cannes
Visitors welcome
Paris
Visitors welcome
Paris
Visitors welcome
Paris
Wkends restrictd
Paris
Robert von Hagge
Wkends restrictd
Paris
Robert von Hagge
Visitors welcome
Paris
Vignoly course: Arnold Palmer Design Company (2009).
Montpichet course: A. D'Ormesson (1987).
Visitors welcome
Le Havre
Original layout of the first 18 holes (maybe 27 holes) by Tom Simpson (1929). Improvements made by Sir Henry Cotton (1964).
Visitors welcome
Le Havre
Willie Park Jr.
Wkends restrictd
St Malo
Tom Dunn
Visitors welcome
Paris
Visitors welcome
Geneve
Visitors welcome
Nantes
Weekdays only
Geneve
Visitors welcome
Cannes
Robert Trent Jones Sr.
Visitors welcome
Paris
Visitors welcome
Le Havre
Julien Chantepie, assisted by Arnaud Massy, laid out the original 13 holes. The course was revised by Didier Fruchet (1992).
Visitors welcome
Geneve
In 1989 Cabell Robinson undertook a major redesign of the course, which was originally established in 1904.
Visitors welcome
Paris
Jean-Marie Poellot
Weekdays only
Paris
Original design by Julien Chantepie (1909); redesigned by Tom Simpson (1920) and later lengthened and modified by Fred Hawtree (1963).
(Closed in 2009)
Paris
Visitors welcome
Nantes
Visitors welcome
Marseille
Ronald (Ron) Fream
(Closed in 2010)
Orleans
(Closed in 2010)
Orleans
Visitors welcome
Paris
Hubert Chesneau
Visitors welcome
Paris
Robert von Hagge & Rick Baril (of von Hagge Design Associates), with input from French Golf Federation project manager Hubert Chesneau.
Visitors welcome
Lyon
Visitors welcome
Lyon
Visitors welcome
Cannes
Visitors welcome
Bordeaux
Tom Doak
Visitors welcome
St Malo
Harry Colt, with revisions in 1992 by Martin Hawtree.
Visitors welcome
Grenoble
Visitors welcome
Grenoble
Robert Trent Jones Jr.
Visitors welcome
Bordeaux
Alain Prat
Visitors welcome
Boulogne
French designer Jean-Claude Cornillot with Baron Paul Rolin (Belgium).
Visitors welcome
Boulogne
Original design by Tom Simpson (1931); significant renovation by Frank Pont & Patrice Boissonnas (2013).
Visitors welcome
Biarritz
Original design by English golf course architect John S.F. Morrison (of Colt, Alison & Morrison), assisted by Arnaud Massy (1927). Updated by Cabell B. Robinson (2003).
Visitors welcome
Paris
Private club
Paris
Robert Trent Jones Sr.
Visitors welcome
Strasbourg
Robert von Hagge
Visitors welcome
Nantes
Michel Gayon & Jacques Lebreton
Visitors welcome
Nantes
Peter Alliss and Dave Thomas (with a major revision by Michel Gayon which inserted new holes from the 5th to the 13th).
Weekdays only
Paris
Weekdays only
Paris
Visitors welcome
Lyon
Visitors welcome
Nantes
Visitors welcome
Bordeaux
John Harris
Visitors welcome
Montpellier
Robert Trent Jones Sr.
Visitors welcome
St Malo
Visitors welcome
Orleans
Original design by Olivier Brizon (1992); revamped by Martin Hawtree (2010).
Visitors welcome
Geneve
Private club
Orleans
Gil Hanse
Private club
Orleans
Robert von Hagge
Visitors welcome
Boulogne
Horace Hutchinson
Visitors welcome
Boulogne
Harry Colt
Visitors welcome
Orleans
Cabell Robinson
Visitors welcome
Lyon
Fred Hawtree laid out Les Brocards in 1962.
Visitors welcome
Lyon
Hughes Lambert
Weekdays only
Geneve
Visitors welcome
Biarritz
Rocky Roquemore
Visitors welcome
Bordeaux
Bill Coore of North Carolina, USA; supported by Rod Whitman (who designed the Vignes course at Golf du Médoc). This was Coore's third solo course design.
Visitors welcome
Bordeaux
Canadian designer Rod Whitman (who also worked with Bill Coore on Golf du Médoc's Châteaux course).
Visitors welcome
Geneve
Visitors welcome
Lille
Michel Gayon designed all three nines: Val de Marque (opened 2008), La Valutte (2010) and Rupilly (2014).
Visitors welcome
Biarritz
Robert Trent Jones Sr.
Visitors welcome
Geneve
Visitors welcome
Cannes
Visitors welcome
Montpellier
Visitors welcome
Montpellier
Private club
Paris
Tom Simpson
Visitors welcome
Boulogne
Thomas Chatterton
Visitors welcome
Montpellier
Leonard Morandi & Donald Harradine
Visitors welcome
Le Havre
Visitors welcome
Le Havre
Visitors welcome
Cannes
Visitors welcome
Paris
Sir Henry Cotton
Visitors welcome
Toulouse
Private club
Paris
Jack Nicklaus
Visitors welcome
Biarritz
Various architects have played their part in Pau's design, including Willie Dunn of Scotland.
Visitors welcome
St Malo
Alain Prat
Visitors welcome
Lorient
Visitors welcome
Marseille
Visitors welcome
Nantes
Weekdays only
Paris
Fred Hawtree
Visitors welcome
Paris
Patrice Leglise
Visitors welcome
Paris
Visitors welcome
Reims
Visitors welcome
Cannes
Visitors welcome
Paris
Ronald (Ron) Fream
Visitors welcome
Paris
Visitors welcome
Orleans
Wkends restrictd
St Malo
Wkends restrictd
St Malo
Visitors welcome
Cannes
Robert von Hagge
Visitors welcome
Le Mans
July/Aug only
Paris
Vert/Green course: designed by Harry Colt (1913).
Jaune/Yellow course: designed by Harry Colt and his partner John S.F. Morrison (1930).
Visitors welcome
Montpellier
Visitors welcome
Cannes
Robert Trent Jones II (lead designer Kyle Phillips).
Visitors welcome
Marseille
Robert Berthet
Visitors welcome
Cannes
Visitors welcome
Cannes
Michel Gayon
Weekdays only
Paris
Harry Colt
Visitors welcome
Nantes
Visitors welcome
Lorient
Michael Fenn (18-hole course) and Yves Bureau (9-hole course)
Private club
Paris
Fred Hawtree (Red and Blue courses)
Rsrt guests only
Cannes
Visitors welcome
Nantes
Visitors welcome
Biarritz
Robert von Hagge
Visitors welcome
Marseille
Visitors welcome
Strasbourg
Bernhard Langer
Visitors welcome
Corsica
Robert Trent Jones Sr.
Weekdays only
Strasbourg
Visitors welcome
Cannes
Gary Player
On application
Cannes
Dave Thomas
Rsrt guests only
Cannes
Dave Thomas
Visitors welcome
Toulouse
Jeremy Pern & Jean Garaïalde
Visitors welcome
Geneve
Visitors welcome
Lorient
Visitors welcome
Paris
Visitors welcome
Rouen
Frederick W. "Fred" Hawtree
Private club
Cannes
Designed by father/son team of Robert Trent Jones Sr and Jr. With Jones Sr aged in his 90s, he probably let son "Bobby" do most of the work!
Visitors welcome
Lyon
Visitors welcome
Strasbourg
Visitors welcome
Boulogne
Current layout by English architects Cecil K. Hutchison & Sir Guy Campbell (1920s).
Tournaments:
PGA Championship: the year’s second men’s major championship is hosted by Southern Hills CC, Tulsa, Oklahoma, amidst doubt as to whether reigning champion Phil Mickelson will defend his title (May 19-22).
Soudal Open: Belgium’s return to European Tour golf sees 36-hole Rinkven International GC host the Soudal Open, the country’s national open championship (May 12-15).
Who's Who:
Scottie Scheffler: bags the 2022 Masters Tournament title, and with it a fourth win in six starts on the PGA Tour and his first major championship victory.
Stephen Dodd: took the European Senior Tour’s 2021 Order of Merit honours following the abandonment due to rain of the season’s final event, the MCB Tour Championship – Mauritius (April 1-3, 2022).
Golf World Top 100: Best Golf Courses in Europe. From France to Spain to the Netherlands and Norway, the Golf World Top 100 panel reveals the places you have to play (published 20 October 2021).
New 27-hole golf complex to be built in southern Belgium
A new golf complex in southern Belgium, close to the border with Luxembourg, will start construction in June 2021.
Marco Simone Golf & Country Club "makes its tournament debut with the hosting of the Italian Open on the European Tour" by Richard Humphreys
Gamble Sands opens short course:
David McLay Kidd’s 14-hole QuickSands short course has opened for play at Gamble Sands in Brewster, Washington.
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