On the banks of the Eure, 50 minutes from Paris, nestles one of the most beautiful and varied 18 holes in France. The Robert Hersant Golf Park or America near you.

  • Golf Parc Robert Hersant, a course of thunder
    Photo: DR

A postcard decor. This is what is striking at first glance - and more precisely from the 2e hole - players who have the chance to walk the fairways of this 18-hole, unlike any other, opened in 1998. Redwoods from Oregon, gingko biloba from Japan, tulip trees from Virginia, firs, beeches… this are in total no less than 15000 trees of 80 different varieties that were planted twenty years ago and give a unique flamboyant hue to the course. “In autumn, yellow, red and orange are the dominant colors. It feels like Canada ”, says Antoine Doynel, the deputy director. A true golfing marvel that we owe to the passion and stubbornness of Robert Hersant who, it seems, did not hesitate to rebuild a hole simply to add a few more meters.

An incredible diversity

Besides the beauty of the site, the golf course combines the great variety of the landscape with that of the route. Not one hole is like another. Flat start, left dodleg, dome-shaped par 3 surrounded by bunkers, long par 4 with an island hole, wide and uphill fairways, big descent with a breathtaking panoramic view, par 5 then par 3 protected by water hazards all the way and a narrow bean-shaped green, par 4 straight through forest, short par 4 then short par 5 that turns 90 degrees, water, more water, then again a narrow fairways framed by variegated trees, steep slope, then uphill, flat green then as steep as in Augusta… each of the 18 holes tells a different story. A real American-style golf course, fun, with many ponds, “target” greens and the almost compulsory use of golf carts, given the long distances between the departures.

James Bond 5 minutes from the course

The course is ideally placed, 30 minutes from Mantes-la-Jolie, 40 minutes from Évreux and the gardens of Giverny, 50 minutes from the west of Paris… but also 5 minutes from Anet castle. For cinephiles, this is where the legendary opening sequence ofThunderball, where James Bond played by Sean Connery escapes his enemies by taking off thanks to a jetpark to his famous Aston Martin. You can go back to the scene, nothing has really changed in half a century. Even if the Aston Martin is no longer there ...

Frank Crudo

To know more : legolfparc.com