15 March 2021

  • LeClub Golf Network
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Discover the network’s signature golf courses (part 2)

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On the occasion of the release of our new website, LeClub Golf launches a series of articles on its signature golf courses in partnership with Golf Planète. Today, the second part of this report that we will finish in 15 days with 6 new golf courses.

Discover the first part now by clicking here


Act 2. Valescure, Deauville, La Baule, La Bretesche, L’Ile Fleurie

The golfer, whether amateur or professional, always likes to recognise the architect’s hand in designing the golf course on which he or she plays. It’s a bit like finding out which chef made the wonderful dish you’re enjoying in a quality restaurant. This second article on the excellence of course design takes you this week to Valescure, Deauville, La Baule, La Bretesche and L’Ile Fleurie

Valescure: a British treasure signed Harry Colt

Designed in 1895 by British aristocrats, the Valescure golf course is “of an unsuspected richness” as it is written in the book dedicated to it.

A common phenomenon at the end of the 19th century throughout the Côte d’Azur, these British holidaymakers who came to Saint-Raphaël for the therapeutic virtues of the climate wanted to create a golf course there.

In 1909, Amédée de Guerville, the first French president, took the initiative of asking the world-renowned architect Harry Colt to extend the course from 9 to 18 holes, making it an obligatory place of pilgrimage for golfing architecture enthusiasts. Colt is the architect of Rye, Sunningdale, Royal Lytham St-Annes, Muirfield in Great Britain, Pine Valley in the United States, Toronto in Canada… But also of about fifteen courses in France.

With a length of 5,019 metres and a par of 68, its design by Harry Colt has the particularity of offering several relatively short holes, which, at first glance, may make it seem easy to negotiate. The impression is deceptive because in fact, the narrowness of the fairways, difficult rough, numerous water hazards and rather small greens are all elements that require constant reflection and wisdom in the choice of clubs. You have to know how to sacrifice length for precision..

In a golfer’s career, the Valescure golf course will remain an unforgettable stopover: apart from Colt’s touch, one will remember that “there is no more beautiful site” as the magazine Tennis et Golf wrote in 1936.

Green-fee from 64 euros
20 to 50% discount with LeClub Golf cards

Deauville: Two courses designed by the great Tom Simpson

Created in 1929, at the request of François André, founder of the Barrière Group, the Barrière Deauville Golf Club (formerly the New Golf Club) was one of the beautiful creations of the immense Tom Simpson, architect of Morfontaine, Chantilly, Fontainebleau, Hardelot, Chiberta…

Located on the heights of Deauville, offering some magnificent sea views, these 27 holes are divided into 2 courses: the Diane Barrière 18T par 71 of 5968 metres and the Lucien Barrière 9T par 36 of 2823 metres. Two courses that will provide full satisfaction to golfers looking for an English-style layout.
Suitable for all levels of play, this course defends itself in particular with a magnificent finish facing the Hôtel du Golf which dominates the course. The holes are straightforward, the greens well defended by bunkers.

It should be noted that this Simpson course, with its rich history, has twice hosted the French Open and the Ebel Match Play.

Green fees from only 49 euros.
20 to 50% discount with LeClub Golf cards

Information et reservation online : click here 

La Baule: 45 holes designed by Peter Aliss and Dave Thomas and revisited by Michel Gayon in the heart of 220 hectares

A few kilometres from the Atlantic Ocean, the Barrière La Baule International Golf Course extends over more than 220 hectares, on the edge of the Brière Regional Park… Opened 45 years ago, the golf course was designed by Peter Alliss and Dave Thomas in 1976 and then revisited by Michel Gayon in 1994 and 2000.

In a unique and untamed setting, you will discover routes with technical subtleties that give it its trademark.

Here are the three courses that await you in La Baule:

  • South: 18 holes RED COURSE named after Lucien Barrière – 6055 metres. PAR 72 – THE REFERENCE. Widely undulating, the holes take place in a wooded park of oaks and pines. The undergrowth is very clean. The greens are flat, often surrounded by bumps, and the bunkers shallow. The few water hazards on this course make attacking the greens very tricky.
  • To the North: 18 holes BLUE COURSE named after Diane Barrière-Desseigne – 6308 metres. PAR 72 – THE CHALLENGE. The contrast of styles is blatant between the holes favouring spaces and those winding around a 5 hectare lake. Relatively flat, the holes develop in an open space where water obstacles are more in play. The bunkers are large and deep, the greens vast and tormented. A course less protected by trees and therefore more windy.
  • To the West: 9 holes GREEN COURSE named after François André – 2973 metres. PAR 36 – THE PLEASURE. In a privileged natural area, this course is accessible to everyone while respecting the criteria of difficulty of a modern golf course. A 9-hole course where everyone will find something to suit them, from beginners to good players. Variety in the shots to be made. Plenty of space, water obstacles present in the game but which can be bypassed. Limited but penalizing bunkers, and vast and slightly shaped greens.

Initiate yourself to the pleasures of golf or improve your skills at the training centre designed by Jack Nicklaus and run all year round by the Barrière La Baule International Golf Academy (3 teachers), the benchmark for training centres.
You will find everything you need to train: 55 posts on natural or synthetic turf, 10 covered boxes, a coaching studio, etc.

All these facilities enable the Barrière La Baule International Golf Club to position itself as one of the largest golfing centres in France and allow 750 members to practice in the best conditions.

20 to 50% discount with LeClub Golf cards

Infos : click here

La Bretesche: One of the few courses in France designed by Henry Cotton

The Golf de la Bretesche is one of the rare courses in France designed by Henry Cotton, three times winner of the British Open (1934, 1937 and 1948). It was built in 1967, in the park and forest of the Château de la Bretesche, the former property of the Marquis de Montaigu and the Barons de la Roche-Bernard.

Perfectly integrated into the natural environment, this par 72 of 6015 m winds between the hundred-year-old forest, the park and the pond of the historic castle: it is a magnificent garden.

The fairways are lined with centuries-old oaks and over 90 species of trees; the layout must be precise. The tee boxes are decorated with roses, hydrangeas and rhododendrons.
The English-style greens are of classic size, but they are all elevated (especially holes 2, 6, 9 and 16) and well protected on the sides: the prudent golfer will therefore play rather short.

Hole 9 is one of the most beautiful holes on the course with its breathtaking view of the medieval castle and to finish the round, 17 is an impressive par 3 with an “island green”, it is the signature hole of the course, followed by a challenge at the start of 18, a par 4: driver for the bravest or iron for the best.
The course designed by the English champion has been respected: only a few water hazards have been added as they were imagined on the original plans.

It is not long but can be tricky when you are lulled by the beauty of the trees or the flowered areas that adorn the tee boxes.
The La Bretesche golf course is therefore open to players of all levels thanks to the variety of its tees and a very diversified layout.

In the heart of the estate, the Golf de la Bretesche Academy is a golf teaching structure accessible to beginners and experienced players.
Ideally located in the commune of Missillac, at the gateway to Brittany, halfway between Nantes and Vannes, 20 minutes from Redon TGV station and 50 minutes from Nantes TGV station or Nantes international airport, the golf course is a haven of peace in the countryside, with a Relais & Châteaux hotel in the outbuildings and cottages nestled in the forest.

Regularly ranked among the best French golf resorts and certainly one of the most remarkable by its vegetation, the course will host in 2021 the Open des Derby Golf de la Brière (federal competition on 3 courses of the Regional Park of Brière).

Minimum price for an 18 hole green fee : From 56 € onwards

Green-fee after 16:30: 39 €.

Getaway package: lunch + green fee: from €68

20 to 50% discount with LeClub GolfInfos cards: click here

L’Ile Fleurie: a little jewel imagined by Martin Hawtree on the banks of the Seine

The Ile Fleurie golf course is located near Paris, exactly in Chatou, on the banks of the Seine. Technically, the course designed in 1989 by Martin Hawtree (Les Aisses, Lahinch, Birkdale etc.) consists of 8 par 3s and a small par 4.

Par 3s are played from the 8-iron to the 5-iron for experienced players with small greens at the landing, which requires a lot of precision on the attack of the greens knowing that the approaches are often made of mounds which send the ball in delicate positions.

There is a water hazard on hole 9, one of the most difficult holes: if you are not careful, the slope of the course automatically takes you into the water, into the Seine which awaits you with open arms beyond the green.

The course can be played quickly (1h30): the smallest golfers and beginners will appreciate it, but also the experienced players pressed for time.
The Ile Fleurie course is renowned for the quality of its greens, which are almost irreproachable all year round!

Easy access for beginners, after a learning period, they can play their first competitions and improve their ranking without any problem. For the best players, the technical design of the course and its reduced playing time (1h30) constitute an ideal training.
The 9-hole, par 28, 1,480-metre course, designed by British architect Martin Hawtree, is set in a bucolic setting on the banks of the Seine. The calm and the environment make you forget that we are only 10 minutes from Paris.

Minimum green fee: from €27 to €39
20 to 50% discount with LeClub Golf cards

Information and online booking : click here


For your online green fee reservations via LeClub Golf 

© Jean Lagarde

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