10 minutes from the famous seaside resort, the international Barrière de la Baule golf course spans three municipalities and has three courses (two 18-hole and one 9-hole), all perfectly manicured. For three times the pleasure.

  • La Baule, the principality of golf
    Barrière de la Baule international golf course - © Hôtel Barrière La Baule

"With 220 hectares, we are bigger than Monaco, which has only 202", underlines Mark Vickery, the director of the golf course of La Baule. Emerged from the ground in 1976 in Saint-André-des-Eaux, this beautiful setting of the Barrière group is one of five sites in France with 45 holes. Initially designed by the British Peter Aliss and Dave Thomas on 60 hectares, the golf course took on another dimension in the year 2000 with 36 holes, then 45 a year later.

"Our three courses are all different and very varied, but they are identical in terms of quality", says Mark Vickery. Neither too greasy nor too wet, whatever the time of year, the golf course of La Baule is undeniably distinguished by the maintenance of its fairways. Narrower, the red course is a delicate undulating promenade in the middle of often hundred-year-old trees, with par 3 rather difficult to negotiate. The last holes help to accelerate the heartbeat - in every sense of the word - of players like the 15, a formidable par 4 in left dodleg with a green nestled on a small hill. Or the par 3 of 17, a steep fortress defended by bunkers and a piece of water that must have made many hands shake and zigzag many scorecards in its history.

Longer and wider, the blue course defends itself thanks to more penalizing bunkers and wider greens, but also more sloping. The middle of the course, often windy and adorned with ponds, looks like an American golf course. As for the 9 holes of the green course, they are in the general opinion of the same ilk as its big brothers and have nothing to envy to many of the 18 holes. Far from being a simple annex or training course, its slightly shorter holes on average offer a real golf challenge, such as the 7 (par 4) and 8 (par 5), flanked by a water obstacle. side all the way and a pocket green as a treat.

Host of many major competitions among professionals and amateurs, the golf of La Baule hosted the 1978 French Open, won by Dale Hayes, and could organize the Gounouilhou Trophy next year. Equipped with a training center, from the start of the school year, it will be the training ground for the brand new golf sport-study, led, in particular, by Thomas Levet. *

Frank Crudo

*https://www.golfsup.fr/formation-golf

  • © Barrière Hotels

WHERE TO STAY? Owner of the Baule golf course, the Barrière group also offers an exceptional hotel offer, with no less than three palaces in the seaside resort of the Bay of Biscay. Built in 1926, Hermitage houses large Edwardian-style rooms, a gourmet restaurant with terrace, two saltwater swimming pools (outdoor and indoor) and has direct access to the sea, once used by Winston Churchill, Sacha Guitry and Maurice Chevalier.

More intimate, Castel Marie-Louise is a delightful Belle-Epoque mansion, surrounded by a wooded park from where you can enjoy refined gastronomic cuisine and taste sophisticated cocktails.

Finally, near the casino, the Royal is the ideal place for a thalasso or a moment of relaxation in the Diane Barrière spa: a space where well-being is king with its 10 massage cabins equipped with a shower and its 2 VIP cabins of 35m2 equipped with a spa bath. The pleasures of the table are also in the spotlight at Fouquet's and its menu created by Pierre Gagnaire.