Golf courses in Hauts-de-France

The reputation of Links type golf courses in the North region. Happiness for all golf lovers

It is as close as possible to the English coast that the Irish links were drawn between the high sand dunes. Every weekend, the British cross the Channel with their clubs for very “British” rounds of golf. In a breeze to delight a pure Scottish man.

From the roof of the blockhouse, transformed into the rear departure of hole n ° 12 of the Wimereux golf course, the English coasts stand out from the horizon. THE'England is only thirty kilometers away. Yesterday, only ferries provided daily connections between Calais and the English ports of Dover, Folkestone and Ramsgate. Today, tourists use the Channel Tunnel, thirty kilometers of submarine hoses. France is now only a two and a half hour drive from London. And, on weekends, the English come to the continent to play the great links of the Pas-de-Calais and the Picardy coast: Wiméreux, the Touquet, Hardelot, Beautiful Dune. In couples or between men. Recognizable by their windbreakers and their woolen caps as uniforms. A real homecoming for these English people who delight in these Links built by their ancestors.

The most British region of France 

Named Whitley, Stoneham, Argyll, these subjects of the British Empire are not only golfers, they are builders. With their fertile imaginations, they transformed the desolate Heath into a state-of-the-art seaside resort. At the end of the 1910th century, Sir John Whitley discovered the dune massifs which stretched from Cap Griz Nez to the mouth of the Authie. Under the spell of these wild landscapes beaten by the winds, this businessman takes it into his head to create a city from scratch which he has already baptized Mayville, a French-English name dedicated to Princess May of Teck, wife of future Georges V who will reign over Great Britain and the Indian Empire from 1936 to XNUMX. This somewhat crazy project will never succeed. At the same time, he created the Touquet Syndicale Ltd in association with one of his compatriots, Allan Stoneham, and walked his gaiters along the coast in search of the ideal site.

The Hardelot golf course a legendary course 

History 

About thirty kilometers north of Le Touquet, Whitley fell under the spell of a castle restored by Sir John Hare who "revamped" it in 1849 in the purest neo-Gothic style. This castle, whose ramparts date from the 1th century, will be the founding “stone” of Hardelot-Plage, a seaside resort with an international vocation. One of his laps will even be tee n ° 9 of the XNUMX holes designed at the beginning of the century by the English champion, Harry Vardon, record holder of the British Open with six victories. 

Almost nothing remains of this primitive 9-hole course. Only three holes of the current Pines course, the 13, 14 and 16, find their origin in this first course ofHardelot and a few yellowed photos add their historic touch to the green fabric walls of the clubhouse bar.

Passed to 18 holes in 1930 under the brilliant design of Tom Simpson, Hardelot golf course does not resist the massive bombarments of the Allied air force responsible for crushing the German defenses of the Second World War. Hardelot-Plage is in ruins. Only eight villas remain intact! In such a context, golf is obviously not the priority and its reopening is only possible in 1953. Fortunately, the original design by Tom Simpson, architect of Chiberta, Whipped Cream, Fontainebleau …, Is preserved. 

The course 

Traced in a forest where the oldest trees took roots in the time of Louis XIII, the Hardelot course is straightforward even if its bunkers are judiciously placed. Tom Simpson is always fair in his designs and demands finesse and technique from golfers. Faced with the enthusiasm for golf on the Opal Coast (name given to the portion of the coast between Berck and Cap Gris Nez by the painter Levêque at the beginning of the century), the Lesur family, who presides over the destinies of golf and development of the city of Hardelot-Plage for three generations, opened a new 18-hole course in 1990 which found refuge in the dunes of Mont Saint-Frieux. More than a kilometer from the first route. Designed by the Belgian architect, Paul Rollin, the 18-hole Dunes is more rugged, there are many doglegs and the water features underline its modernity. Despite everything, the Dunes course is criticized by French golfers for its few blind starts.

Arguments that make Ken Strachan jump from his directorial chair. This Scotsman then quotes Gleneagles, Augusta, Lahinch. "Yes criticize the blind holes of these legendary courses? Did Tiger Woods complain about the blind drive at hole 11 in the Masters? The subject bristles Ken Strachan, former pro player. Rain or shine, English players never complain. Too happy to play another round of golf with office buddies. Because the wind has never stopped either a subject of Her Majesty the Queen, or the golfer of the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region. 

To the passing Parisian who is already bending under the yoke of a force 3 wind, we retort that Wimeureux or in Hardelot, golf in the Opal Coast is not starts to get interesting as you advance on the half-folded fairways and the umbrellas turn, broken whales. In any case, Wimereux is not a true golf course without wind. According to the members of this club which comes closest in its conception of the first Scottish golf courses. Pure and hard. And, when the rough grows, it's “Wimerough”. And the course becomes a monster.

The Touquet 

On the immense sandy beach of Le Touquet, speed-sails with colorful sails slip by in the wind. At low tide, there are kilometers of playgrounds for these daredevils sitting in these funny machines, half sailboat, half car. In the dunes, it's the bikers who put the gas on the sandy tracks to prepare for the roaring annual race, the Enduro du Touquet, which brings together hundreds of competitors from all over Europe.

Between the dunes, it is the peaceful golfers who tackle one of the great and noble French courses, that of the Mer du Touquet golf course . However, the "Sea" is not the first course of Le Touquet because it was not inaugurated until 1931. Twenty-seven years earlier, Lord Balfour, British Prime Minister inaugurates the course of the Forest! A shame. But, Le Touquet is an atypical town, created only at the end of the 1882th century. The first houses were not built until 1888, followed by the opening of hotels and shops. In XNUMX, Le Touquet took on the appellation of Paris-Plage. Despite everything, the station did not take off and John Whitley, the creator of Hardelot, associated with Allen Stonehom, acquired XNUMX unsold hectares of the estate. The dynamism of these English people is legendary.

Under their guidance, a palace, casino, racetrack and golf course emerge from the earth or rather the sand. Before the war, Le Touquet is the only French golf course with forty-five holes, even continental Europe. The members of this club are spoiled. Blessed be Stonehom! Moreover, his grateful family has erected a stele to the right of the green of the 18 of the course of the Forest to commemorate this great man, founder of the Touquet golf course.

During the Second World War, two thousand bombs exploded on Le Touquet. After the liberation of the city, on September 4, 1944, demining operations began. They are long, dangerous and tedious. The city is rife with them. Deminers will number a hundred thousand! Golf will be reborn by portion of 9 holes. Since the chain's acquisition Open Golf Club, the course of the Sea has returned to the same. As the English architect Harry Colt, creator of Saint Cloud, Muirfield ou Wentworth. Paradox of this course, the sea is never seen from its fairways. You have to wait until you are on the starting tee of 18 to see, turning your back to the course, the sea between two immense dunes covered with marmalade.

Between modernism and tradition, The birth of sumptuous golf courses

With the proliferation in the years 85-95 of American-style courses, building a links could seem the height of the past for a golf architect. Because at that time, new golfers demanded courses full of water obstacles, island greens and bunkers as large as a Breton cove! Yet two French architects took up the challenge. Yves Bureau at Saint-Jean-de-Monts, riding a Vendée, and Jean-Manuel Rossi, at Belle Dune on the Picardy Coast. The latter was also hailed as one of the most beautiful French courses built in the 90s. 

Belle Dune golf course 

Created by the Syndicat de la Côte Picarde, the Belle Dune golf course, in Fort-Mahon-Plage, is an example of the successful marriage between ecology and golf. Because, it took two years of work for researchers to provide solutions to the problems posed by the construction of this golf course in the largest dune massif in Europe. To fix the dunes, more than a million marigolds were planted by hand, to stabilize the grass, topsoil was spread over the sand, to guide the water from the irrigation, a waterproof film was laid at forty centimeters underground. Since its creation, Beautiful Dune is still under the supervision of researchers. Only rabbits that are subject to a beat every Friday of the winter months are not invited to the table for respect for the environment.

Unlike other links which may seem monotonous, Belle Dune invites you to a three-part walk. The first of holes 1 to 11 crosses a forest of pines and birches, the second of 12 to 14 penetrates into the dune massif. The break is then striking with these green greens surrounded by the thousands of blond marmosets which undulate in waves in the wind. For ecological reasons, Jean-Manuel Rossi did not hesitate to separate holes 12 and 13 by several hundred meters and to build wooden bridges in order to leave nature untouched. Finally from the 15th to the 18th, the pines come back to line the fairways to end at the clubhouse, a charming wooden house whose slates and bow windows underline the Picardy style.

Some anecdotes on the golf courses of the North region. Did you know ?

• In Touquet, the sea route is traced in the dunes. It is a pure links, like those found in Ecosse
• When the rough pushes in Wimereux, connoisseurs nickname it “Wimerough”.
• The course of the Mer du Touquet is the most frequented French links of the English. Here, they don't feel out of place
• English architect Tom Simpson signed to Hardelot one of his most beautiful French achievements: the course of the Pines.
• On the course of Dunes d'Hardelot a few people complain of blind departures. A critic who makes the director jump from his chair.
• Inspired by Robert Trent Jones, the architect of the Hardelot Dunes had fun with target greens.
• The Hardelot Dunes course is the work of the Belgian architect, Paul Rolin
• The first holes of Belle Dune meander through the forest before plunging into the largest dune massif in Europe.
• Thousands of marrams have been planted to stabilize the high mounds of sand on the Belle Dune course.