Minty Clinch discovers a range of quality courses set among beautiful woodland and lakes in French wine country.
GOLF DU MEDOC
Where is it? 16km north-west of Bordeaux
What’s it like? The star facility in the immediate Bordeaux area wastes no time throwing down its marker by offering magnums with legendary labels alongside the tees and course planners on the pro-shop sales counter.
The luxury 20-year-old hotel is impeccably but informally run by Henry Martinet, an Anglophile whose eye for detail never wavers. Many will enjoy the invitation to pick their wine from the tantalising vintages in the walk-in display cabinet in the gourmet restaurant, whereas others will appreciate the state-of-the-art spa. Both are typical of the hotel’s trademark convenience – what’s not to love about a 50-metre walk through the bar from bed to first tee?
The two quality courses pre-date the hotel. Les Châteaux, a one-time venue for the French Open, celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. Look out over flat land on a damp morning – not that rare in Médoc – and it’s easy to believe you’re in Scotland facing gorse and bunkers fringed with heather. Ditches evoke St Andrews or Carnoustie, although the purity of the links concept is slightly compromised by an intrusive lake on three holes. Les Vignes, which came along two years later, is a little shorter and less technical, but its wide woodland fairways are more than offset by savagely contoured greens. Three putts – who’s counting?
Address Chemin de Courmateau, Le Pian-Médoc
Contact Tel +33 556 701 190; golf-du-medoc.com
Price 18 holes €45 low season, €66 high season; under 25s €22-33; twilight €30-45; both courses €67-99; buggies €25-35.
Club hire €25
Club hours 8am-8pm Apr-Oct, 8.30am-6.30pm Nov-Mar
Minimum handicap 36, no certificate required
Facilities Two 18-hole courses: Les Châteaux (par 71, 6,316m) and Les Vignes (par 71, 6,220m); a covered and grass range; a pitching green; two putting greens.
After the golf The timber and glass Clubhouse sits in the middle of the courses and is a great spot to relax after a game. Meals and drinks are also available in restaurant La Table du Médoc, overlooking the 18th green of Les Châteaux, and in La Salon Bar Bibliotèque.
GUJAN GOLF CLUB
Where is it? 55km south-west of Bordeaux
What’s it like? Life’s a simulated beach at this brash real-estate-led development. The fairway bunkers are huge stretches of gritty sand and the lakes are surrounded by hostile rocks, designed perhaps to evoke sea walls. The design is rewardingly forgiving, with wide fairways accessing huge greens.
Address Route de Sanguinet, Gujan-Mestras
Contact Tel +33 557 527 373; bluegreen.com
Price 18 holes €35-52 depending on season; twilight/early morning €25-37; buggy hire €30.
Club hire Half sets, various makes, €10
Club hours 8am-7pm
Minimum handicap No certificate required
Facilities 18-hole course: Le Lac (par 72, 6,225m); nine-hole course: Les Pins (par 35, 2,635m); covered and grass driving range; four teaching holes; pitching area; putting green.
After the golf Rest those weary legs and refuel at the 60-seat clubhouse restaurant, which has a large summer terrace overlooking the lake and is open from 12-4pm for à la carte meals from €16. The pro shop is open daily.
CHATEAU DES VIGIERS
Where is it? 80km east of Bordeaux
What’s it like? Built in 1597 by Jean Vigier, a local judge, this is a magical château set in an expansive park with mature trees and impressive lakes. Twenty years ago, Swedish container tycoon Lars Petersson took time out from his family holiday to buy it as a ruin. Subsequently, he harnessed it to his passion for golf by cutting swathes through orchards, eliminating unprofitable vineyards (although the boundary is close, this is Bergerac, not Bordeaux) and refurbishing the château as a niche hotel.
The resulting 27 holes are named for their dominant characteristics. La Vallée is the longest, hilliest and newest, but the best 18-hole combination is Les Vignes, set among fruit trees, and Le Lac, by the lake. Both nines finish with tricky approach shots on to raised greens in front of the château, against a backdrop of the pigeonnier (dovecote) built in defiance of early 17th-century planning regulations by Vigier’s forceful daughter, Marguerite.
If you have some chill-out time, check into the château, dine on oysters and truffles in the Champagne room, drink wines from the estate and finish up with snooker on a full-sized table. Golf du Médoc and Château des Vigiers offer joint holidays that tick all the boxes. If you don’t believe me, try them for yourself.
Address Monestier, Dordogne
Contact Tel +33 553 615 000; vigiers.com
Price Nine holes €35-45 depending on season; daily rate (unlimited golf on 27 holes) €55-75; twilight €35-55; six-hole academy course €20-30; buggy hire €45 per day.
Club hire Cobra, €39
Club hours 7.30am-7.30pm
Minimum handicap No certificate required
Facilities Three nine-hole loops: Le Lac (par 35, 2,937m), Les Vignes (par 36, 3,083m) and La Vallée (par 36, 3,112m). They can be linked to make three 18-hole courses. Six-hole academy course, driving range, pitching, chipping and putting greens.
After the golf Brasserie Le Chai is open from midday until 11.30pm, and offers a three-course lunch from €25 and dinner from €35, while Les Fresques is a gourmet eatery open for dinner Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. Visit the website for packages such as four nights’ accommodation for the price of three, with breakfast, unlimited golf, dinner and use of the spa for €585.
GOLF INTERNATIONAL DE LACANAU OCEAN
Where is it? 50km west of Bordeaux
What’s it like? As at Gujan, the sea is close but out of sight, as this course cuts through a pine forest. The terrain is rolling but the narrow fairways have no bite owing to the absence of rough. They are interrupted randomly by oval stretches of sand, too shallow to be called bunkers and too easy to hit out of to constitute hazards, but irritatingly in need of raking by all who land in them.
The water features are similarly unobtrusive, making for a pleasant but bland outing. Anyone looking for a real challenge should tackle the impressive surf on neighbouring Lacanau Ocean beach. As for Lacanau’s on-sight golf hotel, don’t go there – it is among the ugliest on the planet.
Address Domaine de l’Ardilouse, Lacanau
Contact Tel +33 556 039 298; golflacanau.com
Price 18 holes €38-56 depending on season; nine holes €25-€36; buggy hire for nine holes €25 or for 18 holes €33.
Club hire Cobra, €20
Club hours 7.30am-7pm
Minimum handicap No certificate required
Facilities 18-hole course (par 72, 5,934m), covered and grass practice range, pitching green and two putting greens.
After the golf The simple wooden clubhouse (open 9am-6.30pm) serves traditional hot lunches such as blanquette de veau and boeuf bourguignon from €10 (11.45am-3pm), and a two-course menu du jour for €15 until 2pm.
Getting there
LD Lines runs a twice-daily Portsmouth-Le Havre ferry service from £47.50 one way for two passengers and a car. Tel +44 (0)844 576 8836; ldlines.com. BA serves Bordeaux twice a day from London Gatwick, and Easyjet flies there once a day from London Luton.
