@A. Crudo

Its population is said to have doubled during confinement. No, this is not the double bogey collectors and other skittish skiers who stroll on the fairways of Ableiges in all seasons, here as elsewhere. We are talking more about the hinds and deer which, at a reasonable distance and from the green of 1, seem to observe with fear the course of your swing. Unless these "little" animals are wild by nature ...

Bordered by the Viosne, a tributary of the Oise, this par 72 designed more than thirty years ago by Jean Garaïalde and Jeremy Pern is an almost permanent challenge. Enclosed in one of these valleys - which will have to be descended and ascended twice - populated by hundred-year-old trees of which the Vexin has the secret, this golf course has undoubtedly relief, in every sense of the word. Because ups and downs won't just be on your scorecard. The outward and return trips, which intersect, are the pretext for a peaceful stroll with the club in hand, only the 17 p.m. express sporadically disturbing the tranquility of the place, a railway line jostling with departures on the 42, 5 and the green of 15.

@DR

Beyond this communion with Mother Nature, Ableiges is above all a course which refuses monotony and oscillates between an abundant variety of slopes, uneven, narrow corridors but also wide green avenues where the supporters of a subtle golf and Sunday bombers will be able to give it their all, provided they choose the right hole for it. Because, as its director, Cyril Ferrand, points out, “ a successful golf course is a golf course that we remember'a maximum holes ". This is undoubtedly the case here.

After the pleasant warm-up lap on the first three fairways, rather wide if it weren't for that damn out of bounds all along on the 1 (on the left) and 3 (on the right), hole n ° 4 is a first blow of brilliance, a blow of heart, a blow of bamboo… which it is a question of taming in three strokes, that falls well. After a long walk worthy of Mao from the green of 3, this par 3 not like the others is suddenly revealed to your dazed eyes - the same as those of the deer discovering your swing - and seems straight out of the imagination of the writers of 'Indiana Jones and the Cursed Temple, the suspension bridge less.

The challenge is considerable and can be summed up as follows: from the top of the “cliff”, it is a question of landing on a piece of green located 200 meters below (roughly taking 20 meters for the yellows, 35 for the blues, and 55 for the reds), surrounded by a water hazard on the port side and an out of bounds, about fifteen meters on the starboard side. In short, the beast defends itself well and the shot is played in apnea, especially if we add to the table a total difference in height of a good sixty meters which would almost require having done Math Sup to determine which club we will have to sacrifice at the stake. It's crazy how, in these cases, the airstrip seems rickety and the metric system used refers less to meters than to nautical miles.

If you come out of the ordeal unscathed, the next two fairways, which lean sharply to starboard, need to find the right balance so as not to sink. We let go of the horses on the last hole of the first leg before heading back down the valley via a devilish funnel par 5, which narrows visibly, with the diffuse illusion of playing one of the second most important shots. of your career. The par 4 that follows, still downhill and as wide as an anorexic supermodel, should encourage you not to take out Inspector Harry's Magnum 44 for the first shot, a simple iron, or even a 5 wood for them. more daring doing more than enough.

@DR

The sequence of 13 to 15 and its water obstacles worthy of Claude Monet's garden in Giverny is a pretty postcard and the green of 16, which overlooks part of the course and offers a grandiose panorama is the astonishing opportunity to gasping while catching your breath. It must be said that this 16^e hole does not usurp its handicap 1 on the map: while uphill, the cramped fairway drips furiously to the right, like the slopes of the green. A ball on the track, two putts and a par is, here more than elsewhere, an excellent performance. And as we were just talking about panorama and postcard landscape, it should be noted that the golf course of Ableiges is located on the Route des Impressionnistes et d'Auvers-sur-Oise, land of Van Gogh, Sisley and so many other artists. This explains that.

Frank Crudo

* Ableiges is a course selected by the Guide to the Most Beautiful Golfs in France

https://lesplusbeauxgolfs.com/?lang=fr