On the majestic cliffs of Normandy visited by tourists from all over the world, playing at Etretat is a unique golfing experience. Visit of a course more than a hundred years old and really like no other.

Photo: DR

Magical, dizzying, breathtaking. Qualifiers are missing when you put your ball on the tee of 10, undoubtedly one of the most beautiful starts that can exist on our planet. Erected on one of the famous cliffs of Normandy, caressed by the west wind, your ball is about to make a great plunge towards the fairway at sea level. The many onlookers who stroll on the tourist trails along this hole will not hesitate to applaud, with kindness, the least of your double bogeys. Because on the 10, in addition to the dreamlike setting, each of your shots is scrutinized by dozens of prying eyes: for a few minutes, you are in the shoes of Tiger Woods supported by the public.

18 holes with sea view

“Here on the cliff, some 200 feet above the sea, stretches the most perfect of golf links. From the clubhouse, one overlooks the endless horizon of the English Channel… ”, written in 1924 Miss Mitchell, in her summer chronicles of Daily Mail. All is said. Playing in Etretat, on one of the most beautiful sites offered by our coast, has something exhilarating and gives you emotions that you rarely feel with clubs in hand. This is perhaps what we call the intoxication of the summits.

Other holes are also worth the detour, like the 4, whose perfectly manicured green gives the impression of being thrown into the sea from the top of the cliffs. Or the start of the 14th, which requires stepping over the precipice. Scratches and tops not recommended. The 18 holes also offer a unique view of the Alabaster coast and the English Channel. We will just regret, just to be choosy, too penalizing roughs while the course, often slapped by the whims of Aeolus, is already defending itself very well ...

Franck Crudo, author of the article, at putting hole no 9 - © Franck Crudo

Between history and geography

Built in 1908, on the initiative of the British in particular (like other golf courses by the sea such as Wimereux, Dinard, Dieppe or Biarritz), the course has only 13 holes originally and is designed by Julien Chantepie (architect of the Boulie golf course) in collaboration with a certain Arnaud Massy. The only French winner of a Grand Slam tournament (the British Open 1907) will teach and will end his life in Etretat, in 1950.

During the interwar period, the golf course reached 18 holes and a clubhouse with a majestic view of the sea was built, overlooking the Dormy House hotel. But the Second World War will partly devastate the golf course, just like the city for that matter. Infested with mines, the course was "cleaned" at the Liberation by German prisoners of war.

Between history and geography, Etretat is today a golf course apart, which you must have played at least once in your life. One of those we do not forget. An almost ineffable feeling of a driver on a postcard ...

Frank Crudo