The green of 4 (White course) in Fourqueux. @ A. Crudo

It is a little gem that weaves its way between alders, oaks, cedars or cypresses. The list is far from exhaustive because the Fourqueux golf course is first and foremost an arboretum of more than 26000 trees planted when the site was inaugurated in 1963. In the spring, the three 9-hole courses (Blue , White and Red) are adorned with their finery and the decor is magical. The chestnut trees, the beds of azaleas, lilacs, obiers, rhododendrons and rosebushes perfume the fairways while in autumn, the gold of the ginkgo trees, the copper and the purple of the liquidambars, the scarlet of the parrotia, the red of the dogwoods and the orange of the Tupélo offer a flamboyant shade.

The perfectly maintained greens of this five-star golf course are closely watched by unique trees: immense sequoias sempervirens, a catalpa, a Spanish fir on the White; a ginkgo biloba or a bald cypress on the Blue; a sequoiadendron or a cedar of Lebanon on the Rouge. The longest course of the three, the wide fairways of the Blue course are embellished with an araucaria (on the path going to 4) and a Himalayan pine (to the right of the 135 m of 4). More technical, like the first three very narrow holes, the many doglegs of the White course meander around junipers (on the hill at 5) and a Korean fir (to the right of 7). Finally the short Red course, its ponds and its judiciously placed bunkers, sees the start of its first two holes decorated with a weeping ornamental then a magnolia before being able to admire the glutinous alders which border the water lily pond of the 6.

The green of 8 (White course). @ A. Crudo

In Fourqueux, on almost half of the holes, your camera will be much more useful than your driver. In season, cherries, quince apples, plums, pears, walnuts and hazelnuts are close at hand. As long as you are quicker than the red squirrels who keep company with wild ducks and gray herons. “We want to cultivate the spirit of a golf course where No.s 700 members are like in their country house ”, underlines the general secretary of the club, Suzon Nadot. In addition to its 27 holes, the site includes two pretty carpet tennis courts, a swimming pool, billiards and a playground for children. Without forgetting the restaurant, its large terrace bathed in the sun and its thatched roof built on an old farmhouse.

Hole n ° 4 (Red course). @ A. Crudo

Built on the land of an old golf course abandoned since the Occupation, the course was designed in the early 60s by Fred Hawtree and Lou Petitt, who notably used nearly 450 m² of backfill from the construction sites of construction of the Defense. A great lover of trees and nature, François Mitterrand loved to walk there with his golf bag. One day, he allegedly asked Jacques Ehrsam - one of the club's five founding members - what other players thought of him. “Tricky question, Mr. President. What do you think the qualities of a golfer? ", in turn questioned his interlocutor. "Patience, skill, flexibility, perseverance, the art of getting out of difficult situations", would have replied the President after a short reflection. And Jacques Ehrsam to conclude: “Well Mr. President, you have just listed some of the qualities that are recognized! "

Frank Crudo

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