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
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
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
Visitors welcome
Dijon
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
Tom Simpson (Rouge course - 1929) and Sir Henry Cotton (Bleu and Vert courses - 1964).
Visitors welcome
Le Havre
Willie Park Jr.
Wkends restrictd
St Malo
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
Visitors welcome
Paris
Jean-Marie Poellot
Weekdays only
Paris
(Closed in 2009)
Paris
Visitors welcome
Nantes
Visitors welcome
Marseille
(Closed in 2010)
Orleans
(Closed in 2010)
Orleans
Visitors welcome
Paris
Visitors welcome
Paris
Visitors welcome
Lyon
Visitors welcome
Lyon
Visitors welcome
Cannes
Visitors welcome
Bordeaux
Tom Doak
Visitors welcome
St Malo
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
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
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
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
Visitors welcome
Le Mans
July/Aug only
Paris
Visitors welcome
Montpellier
Visitors welcome
Cannes
Robert Trent Jones II (lead designer Kyle Phillips).
Visitors welcome
Marseille
Visitors welcome
Cannes
Visitors welcome
Cannes
Weekdays only
Paris
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
Weekdays only
Strasbourg
Visitors welcome
Cannes
On application
Cannes
Rsrt guests only
Cannes
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:
2021 Opens: whether by accident or design, four of the top five mens’ Open Championships played in the British Isles occupy consecutive weeks in July: the Irish Open (1-4), Scottish Open (8-11), The Open (15-18) and Wales Open (22-25). The recently relaunched English Open is scheduled for early-August.
Hoag Classic: Ernie Els defends his title in this prestigious PGA Tour Champions event, played since 1991 at the Newport Beach Country Club, CA (Mar 5-7).
Who's Who:
Brooks Koepka: won his second Phoenix Open title, with a chip-in eagle at TPC Scottsdale’s short par-4 17th included in his final round.
Annika Sörenstam: the legendary Swede makes a return to the LPGA Tour in the Gainbridge LPGA, to be played at Lake Nona, her home club (Feb 25-28).
New course opens for play at Barnbougle
Bill Coore designs 14-hole layout with “sporty” holes on dune ridge above Lost Farm.
New links course planned for Scottish Highlands. Landowner aims to appoint a ‘world-class architect’ to work on site next to Cromarty Firth.
New Faldo Design layout in Vietnam set for summer completion. Nine holes of the course at Thanh Lanh are routed across a the lake peninsula.
Dundonald Links Scotland: Construction work is in progress on new practice facilities and course changes at Dundonald Links in Irvine, Scotland, as part of a £25 million investment by new owners Darwin Escapes that also includes the construction of a new clubhouse with rooms, plus eighteen lodges. Read more ...
R&A submits planning application for new golf facility in Glasgow.
Look up the Top Golf Courses in Scotland.
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