Par excellence
Planning a European golfing holiday? I bet you haven't considered France. That lack of recognition has plagued the country's golf sector for years - and it is unwarranted: France's golf history dates back longer than that of anywhere else in continental Europe.
The first club opened in 1856 in Pau, in the southwest (Basque country), servicing the winter needs of wealthy Victorian gentry escaping the English cold. Today, there are about 560 courses in the country. While the game was largely the preserve of the rich during its first 120 years in France, the construction of more than 300 layouts since the early 1980s has made golf accessible to the country's masses. Unfortunately, the country's masses have never quite taken to it. So a relatively small golfing population - about 320,000 regulars - enjoys a wide selection of empty world-class courses.
From the links venues of Brittany to the luxury clubs of the Riviera, France delivers when it comes to memorable golf - and can keep all travelling parties happy, including those not wielding a club. Some of the world's best hotels, spas and restaurants are on tap; wine-appreciation courses, cooking classes, painting workshops and the sights and shopping delights of Paris - more than 70 courses ring the capital - beckon.
Since 2000, Francois Bras has been trying to put his homeland on golfing tourists' radar. His company, France Golf Tours, offers custom-made stay-and-play trips. Every detail is taken care of in advance to let the golfing visitor concentrate on business: getting to grips with some of the best courses in Europe.
'You can find any type of golf course here,' says Bras. 'If you want authentic links courses, go along the [English Channel] or to Brittany. For parkland courses, there is Domaine de Belesbat, near Paris, which features a 17th-century chateau; at Royal Mougins you are in the heart of the Cote d'Azur, a short drive from Cannes and Nice. And there are mountain courses like Chamonix or Evian, where you can see the highest mountain in [Western] Europe, Mont Blanc, when you play.'
Perhaps one of the reasons France remains a relative golf backwater is the lack of a highly visible champion. Scotland has a steady stream of tourists making pilgrimages to the home of the game; Portugal's Algarve is a hot golfing destination in more ways than one; and Spain arrived on the golfing map with Seve Ballesteros' five major titles in the 70s and 80s.
French golf's current big name is Jean van de Velde, who famously blew a three-stroke lead on the last hole of the 1999 British Open, losing the championship to Paul Lawrie in a play-off. Van de Velde, also runner-up at last year's French Open and a frequent visitor to Hong Kong and the mainland, believes France is shouldering its way to the front of the golfing pack.
'Wherever you go in the country you can play golf,' he says. 'From Strasbourg to Lille to Brittany to Provence, it's all there. We have 75 million people coming to France annually, but they don't associate it with golf, although they are slowly becoming more aware - about the game, the facilities and the hotels.'
Because France is a large country, Bras recommends visitors decide where and when they want to visit before boarding the plane. On the French Riviera and down south, in the Basque country, the weather is almost always agreeable. In Paris, December and January are just about the only months when it is too cold to play. A week with France Golf Tours costs Euro2,500 ($23,500) to Euro3,000, says Bras, and that includes seven nights' bed-and-breakfast accommodation in a five-star hotel, four or five rounds of golf, transport and a couple of dinners.
The 70 or so courses on Bras' roster are all among the country's best. Le Golf National and Chantilly, both near Paris, have hosted the French Open on several occasions; a few hours' drive south is Les Bordes International, among the top five courses in Europe; nearby is Domaine de Belesbat, a unique walled course whose chateau has housed guests as diverse as Voltaire and rocker Iggy Pop. And word is already out about the new Four Seasons Resort Provence at Terre Blanche, with its 36-hole layout.
The numbers may still have room to grow, but according to Bras, France is slowly being discovered by Asian golfing visitors ... and their credit-card wielding partners. 'A lot of women visitors don't play golf and we have to keep them busy,' he says. And for help in that department, the country can rely on star names such as Hermes, Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Cartier, Lancome and Yves Saint Laurent. 'France can keep everyone happy,' adds Bras. 'And it has so many options for entertaining sophisticated ladies.'
