Almost 90 years ago, the concomitant birth of two legendary courses, La Mer au Touquet and Les Pins à Hardelot, ushered in the first golden age of golf on the Opal Coast, on the edge of the English Channel. Today, following meticulous restoration work, the two routes are experiencing a real renaissance, which has just been hailed by a spectacular rise in the classification of the 100 best courses in Europe. A new prosperous period opens in the north of France.

The sea course Hole 16 - Touquet Golf Resort - Photo: DR

These two great classic courses, La Mer, designed by the architects Harry Colt and Charles Alison, and Les Pins, designed by Tom Simpson, opened a few months apart in 1931. In those crazy years of the inter-war period , Le Touquet was already one of the trendiest seaside resort in Europe, a privileged playground for the jet set.

Separated by less than 20 km, the two courses benefit from the same spectacular environment of the Opal Coast, between dunes and pine forests. Today they are the two jewels of the Touquet Golf Resort and the Hardelot Golfs.

Their charm and their technical layout have always earned them glowing reviews. Since the superb renovations carried out by the architects Patrice Boissonnas and Frank Pont., The satisfaction of golfers has reached a new milestone. In the latest edition of the ranking of the 100 best courses in Europe from the influential site top100golfcourses.com, Les Pins and La Mer, the leading links in France, posted strong progress.

The route from La Mer to Le Touquet climbed 21 places, now pointing to 35th position and joins the French top 10. As for the Pins to Hardelot course, it made the strongest progression of the prize list to finish in 23rd place after a jump of 36 places, and also ranks 7th best course in France.

Hardelot Les Pins Hole 15 - Photo: DR

According to Brian Ward, who recently visited both courses for top100golfcourses.com: “The original route from Tom Simpson to Hardelot was recreated with love and talent by Frank Pont and Patrice Boissonnas. The perfectly renovated bunkers and the meticulous pruning of the somewhat invasive trees have given the Pins course its rightful place among the best in continental Europe ”.

“At Le Touquet, the magnificent renovation of La Mer by Frank Pont and Patrice Boissonnas, including the reintroduction of four Colt and Alison holes from the 30s, not only restored its original links character, but also added interest to the layout. It is a course that all golfers will appreciate. "

According to Laurent Boissonnas, owner and operator of the Touquet Golf Resort and the Golfs d'Hardelot: “We set ourselves the goal of contributing to a new golden age of golf in this magnificent coastal region of northern France. We wanted to restore golf to its reputation in the region and make it one of the best golfing destinations in Europe. "

Le Touquet Golf Resort and Golfs d'Hardelot, which are part of the Open Golf Club group, are easily accessible from the UK, Belgium, the Netherlands and the rest of France, by road and railway. They are less than an hour's drive south of the Eurotunnel terminus on the A16 motorway. They are also very close to Calais-Fréthun train station, served by Eurostar and TGV.

For more information on Le Touquet Golf Resort, visit www.opengolfclub.com/Golf-du-Touquet. For the Golf d'Hardelot, go to www.hardelotgolfclub.com