TRAVEL

With the coming, is putting its best golfing foot forward. BY RAY TENNENBAUM

hether you’ve given par a beating or your ego has sus- was often chauffeured in his silver Rolls the golf traveler is, how much game has Left to right: Surfing in view of the lighthouse; the looms over the Royce to golf construction sites and wrote France got? Green Course at Golf de Saint-Cloud; culinary beauty at Chateau la Cheneviere; Chateau tained a few bruises, when you walk off the sixteenth his own obituary. Quite a lot, and it’s very, very good. This Monbadon in Aquitaine; the Louvre lighting up the night. green of the Vineuil course at Golf de Chantilly an hour Your visit to Chantilly offers plenty more beautiful, civilized country offers the traveler middle class, and what we think of as a few miles from Chantilly), are inaccessible north of , you are greeted by an uncanny and inspir- to take in, from the drive past the world- the opportunity to enjoy an unrivaled food upscale, semi-private clubs sprung up all unless a member is willing to take you, while W famous racetrack with its massive, ornate and wine culture, interspersed with some over France. Big-name designers were hired many others offer a courteous welcome to ing par-3 set in a quiet tree-lined hollow, its putting stables – built by an 18th-century Bourbon superb and highly diverting links. In France, to make the most of the country’s fertile, visitors at a reasonable green fee as long as surface 210 yards downhill from the tips. Coming as it does near the end of prince who believed he would be reincar- proud of its supremacy in all manner of varied landscape. The results are on abun- you give them enough notice. Exclusive as the round, the 17th is not so much Vineuil’s signature hole as its complimen- nated as a horse, and directed his architect pleasure-finding, the golf club is yet another dant display in three of the most popular many of them are, the culture at these finer la bonne vie. tary closing, architect Tom Simpson’s “Affectionately yours.” to build stables befitting his rank – and a pathway of regions for travelers. clubs is simple and unpretentious – in the magnificent Château that houses a large Forty years ago, French golf was strictly Centered around Paris, the Île-de-France words of David Lawday, a longtime Paris If it’s a measure of great golf courses that here were won by Nick Faldo in 1989 and and renowned collection of fine art second old-money – aristocrats whose families – literally “island of France” – is home to resident and former correspondent for The they spur you with difficulty and console 1990). A par 71 at nearly 7000 yards with only to the Louvre’s. played on courses laid out by the great more golf courses than anywhere else, Economist, “What makes some of these more you with scenery, the Vineuil course ranks fast greens and plenty of rough, it is a well- As France rolls out the carpet for the British architects of the 19th and early 20th including a handful of distinguished, exclusive clubs different – Chantilly and with the best. Built in 1909, it hosted the maintained monument to the genius of Tom next fall, it is also seeking century. Starting in the early 1980s, the game historic tracts. Some, like the ultra-private Fontainebleau among them – is they have a French Open 11 times (the last two held Simpson, a brilliant, eccentric architect who to welcome golfers, and so the question for became popular among the prosperous Morfontaine (another great Simpson course sort of utter disdain for ostentation and

74 THE MET GOLFER • APRIL/MAY 2017 WWW.MGAGOLF.ORG WWW.MGAGOLF.ORG THE MET GOLFER • APRIL/MAY 2017 75 show. Their class is in their disdain for all that frippery. There are no jackets and ties required; the dining rooms are very simple, but with excellent food.... It gives them a sort of dignity.” On weekends, Parisians head to Fontainebleau, an hour’s drive southeast of the city, to enjoy the expansive pine and oak forest and visit the fabulous Château de Fontainebleau, famously enjoyed by a long line of rulers including Napoleon. A stone’s throw from the palace is Golf de Fontainebleau, the favorite of many: evoking British heathland courses, with rock outcroppings providing décor and hazards, it’s another Simpson gem. Golf de On a summer weekday, you can get onto The house and gardens of Claude Monet are Saint-Germain, 40 minutes northwest of Golf de Saint-Cloud, not far from the Bois preserved and maintained and open to the city, is a superbly-maintained Harry de Boulogne, which boasts some of the visitors in Giverny. Colt design reminiscent of the architect’s most remarkable urban views of any golf the flower garden and arboretum that great British parkland courses Sunningdale course. Lawday – whose first marriage was Claude Monet created in Giverny have been and Swinley Forest. to Anne Turnesa, daughter of amateur golf painstakingly replanted and restored – great Willie Turnesa (two-time U.S. Amateur you’ll recognize many views of his careful- An International Feast winner, British Amateur champ, Walker ly-planned garden from his paintings, and Cup standout, and onetime president of the the colorful décor inside his house is also The Ryder Cup, which will be held at Le Golf National on September 25-30, 2018, isn’t the MGA) – remembers that his father-in-law remarkable. only international competition heading to “used to rave about Saint-Cloud. It’s on a Proceeding northwest, the countryside France next year. The French American wooded slope, and it has this terraced look starts getting hillier and greener, bringing Challenge for Fred’s Cup, contested since over Paris: from several holes, you have an into view the legacy of an enterprising 1990, pits teams of men and women amateurs from the MGA/WMGA and the Ligue de Paris. almost birds-eye view of the Eiffel Tower, agricultural past carefully preserved and It will take place at around the same time, and you feel as though you can almost touch it.” perfected: terraced apple orchards, half- intrepid golf travelers will be able to enjoy both And then there’s the Ryder Cup venue, timbered barns and farmhouses, hand- the drama of the Ryder Cup and the intimacy of the French American Challenge in a single trip. Le Golf National’s Albatros Course, 20 miles painted bottle-shaped signs. If you’re The Albatros course at Le Golf National was west of the city center. Designed by the curious about what’s brewing, stop to fortify built in the late 1980s and was engineered to American architect Robert van Hagge, it has yourself at the Boulard distillery for a host big-time tournaments, with stadium seating been nudged and tweaked into champi- sampling of the delicate, robust apple throughout and water coming into play on many holes. This is only the second time the onship shape through its hosting of all but brandy known as Calvados, the traditional Ryder Cup has taken place on European soil, two French Opens since 1990, and had Norman spirit. Cool coastal conditions are and the crowds will be large and boisterous as improved drainage and irrigation systems ideally suited for cultivating dozens of vari- the home team tries to take back the Cup. Registration for tickets has begun at installed once it was awarded the Cup. eties of apples, and since antiquity farmers www.rydercup.com, and it’s advisable to plan There’s an audacious peculiarity to some of have fermented cidre for imbibing – and well ahead if you’re going to attend. the holes, which should lend themselves for distilling Calvados. The French American Challenge presents a nicely to match play. The crescent-shaped Americans will always associate Nor- much more intimate atmosphere for spirited if quieter competition; there are no gallery ropes, par-5 ninth, nearly 600 yards, plays into the mandy with the D-Day invasion that turned and spectators can walk close enough to the wind and culminates in a sunken green the tide of World War II. Odd as it may seem, players to hear their conversations. The Ligue complex with a tiny, bean-shaped raised it is not difficult to combine a visit to the de Paris has dominated the event, though the putting surface: under the right conditions landing site with a round of golf – once you 2016 edition came down to the final hole of the final match. The MGA has never won in it will be difficult to hold even with a wedge. get used to the notion of a planted France, but a strong Met Area cheering Several greens feature dramatic breaks, atop this consecrated battleground. contingent could turn the tide. Watch the MGA which may well come into play should the There is a certain makeshift quality to website, www.mgagolf.org, for information on the scheduling and venue, and make plans to Euros decide to cut them quick; while the the Golf Omaha Beach clubhouse, which be there for great golf in glorious surroundings. most recent touch-up shaved some of the features a photograph of Dwight Eisenhower’s incline off the large green of the par-3 16th, son John at the course’s opening. The general it has the potential to push approaches who commanded the bold and perilous towards a watery exit, stage left. assault on the Normandy coast became a • • • • • president whose name was practically syn- The administrative district of Normandy, onymous with golf; and there, beyond the to the northwest of Île-de-France along the cliffs past the 6th green, is the goosebump- Atlantic coast, is another escape for city inducing sight of the artillery bunkers and dwellers. Forty-five miles outside the city, the remains of the artificial port through

76 THE MET GOLFER • APRIL/MAY 2017 WWW.MGAGOLF.ORG Golf a la Française Cost: French golf is remarkably affordable. is that once in a rare while you may encounter Green fees around the country are seldom over a player who has no business playing from the 120 (~$128); an annual membership at Golf back tees vainly hitting wayward drives from de Moliets is 1750, regarded as high. them, but such is the exception and hardly the rule. Handicapping: Evidently the prevailing golf sin in France is the vanity handicap: you won’t Tee to green: Caddies are hard to find find many sandbaggers, at least among the except at the fancier clubs; golf carts are almost double digits. The golfer is not required to input impossible to rent, except at the very hilliest every score, and may not enter the score of any courses. Pull-carts are the rule here. While last round played solo. Thus Jacques might report summer’s drought in France took its toll on a the single round he played under 90, even if he few tracks, generally speaking you will find never broke 97 in his other five or six rounds. good lies in the fairway and healthy greens – in (Clearly, wagering doesn’t play much of a role part, no doubt, because green speeds are kept in matches here.) The unfortunate consequence well under 10 at most courses.

Golf de Chantilly

which massive amounts of materiel poured the French caper film “Bob the Gambler.” in the victory over the Axis. The holes are The Hôtel du Golf Barrière Deauville sits in named for Allied generals, and a pro-am is the hills above the city: rooms offer views of held every year on the anniversaryof D-Day. the golf courses surrounding the hotel, Ronald Reagan’s 1984 speech at the U.S. framed by the blue Channel beyond. Its Ranger Monument on the occasion of the three nines are designated by the French 40th anniversary of D-Day here kicked off tricolor: the Red and White nines were tourism development, and now a steady originally laid out by Simpson in the late stream of visitors comes to see and pay 1920s, then touched up by Henry Cotton tribute. The terrain still bears the marks of when he added the Blue nine forty years the epic battle: bullet-scarred German later. It’s a genteel and tactful challenge, with fortifications and pillboxes constructed so just enough difficulty to engage your imag- durably that many are still largely intact, and ination and skill. bomb craters left from aerial attacks and Château La Chenevière makes for a very Naval artillery shells. A mile or two down convenient stay: less than a mile from Omaha the coast is the Normandy American Ceme- Beach, luxurious, elegant, comprehensive tery, where the somber pattern of thousands (tennis court, heated pool, stately grounds, of seaside grave markers weaves a noble whirlpool en suite). This 18th-century man- tapestry. The memorial to the fallen in battle sion was completely renovated in 1988; it has been fashioned with a monumental served as German officers’ headquarters economy of decoration and faultless taste – during the war until the night before D-Day, elegant chapels and a reflecting pool deco- when local Resistance fighters destroyed its rate this landscape of liberation with communications lines. Now La Chenevière somber grace. does a brisk trade hosting well-to-do The chic beachfront city of Deauville – tourists, particularly Americans. a sort of Gallic Sag Harbor – draws an affluent Be prepared to enjoy a gastronomic crowd for its annual thoroughbred yearling dinner, that uniquely French dining ritual auctions and summertime races – and in so intrinsic to the national identity that it is September, the prestigious American Film recognized by Unesco as an “Intangible Festival. Scattered among the traditional Cultural Heritage.” Come as you are, half-timbered Norman houses are elegant because the formality belongs alone to the boutiques and cafes, and in the middle of servers: dinner is a performance conducted town the grand old Casino made famous by by the chef, with your waiter and the battery

WWW.MGAGOLF.ORG THE MET GOLFER • APRIL/MAY 2017 77 of servants acting as stagehands. Their started a makeover: building a tram, washing restaurant on the main floor. Wander a few brisk, cheerful efficiency allows guests to buildings of centuries of black soot, and blocks off the touristy avenues and you will enjoy not only the food but one another’s razing the old warehouses and rusting find clusters of cheery bistros and taverns company. Thanks to the lasting influence of cranes along the Garonne River to clear the offering excellent local cuisine at reasonable the nouvelle cuisinemovement, serving sizes views. The rediscovered vitality of Aquitaine’s prices. have shrunk, and the rich, heavy sauces and capital, now a bustling hub for tourism, is To the north of Bordeaux is Saint-Émilion, dressings have been largely set aside in favor embodied in its brand-new multimedia with a winemaking tradition dating back to of intense tastes and textures delivered by museum of wine, La Cité du Vin (“Wine Roman times – and a brand-new Tom Doak- the spoonful. On a cool October evening we City”), an informative and engaging shrine designed course at Grand Saint-Emilion- savored a fillet of monkfish steamed amid to oenology and viticulture, with genuinely nais Golf Club. This idyllic, engaging walk several different preparations of fennel, innovative interactive presentations – a in the woods combines forgiving fairways dripped with a wine sauce and permeated bank of scents for you to nose, clever 3-D and approaches demanding careful strategic with the mellow spice of local chorizo sprin- video depictions of the history of wine in decisions. Don’t expect fast greens here; kled throughout – a taste of early autumn. religion and politics, even a playful tribute these small putting surfaces are slow, but • • • • • to the hangover. pitched as steeply as the Pyrenees. The region of Aquitaine extends along Several magnificent 18th- and 19th-cen- Golf du Médoc, 90 minutes away, has the Atlantic down the southwest corner of tury residences have been converted to two 18s: the Châteaux course, built in 1989, France, bordering Spain to the south. The luxury hotels: smack in the middle of town one of Bill Coore’s early efforts, and the city of Bordeaux, center of the country’s across a busy plaza from the Opera House 1991 Vignes, designed by Rod Whitman of most famous wine-producing region, was is the grand InterContinental Bordeaux, a Cabot Links fame. Laid out over a scrubby, long regarded as a dull industry town; start- palatial hostelry with two floors of a spa, a relatively flat heathland, Médoc provides ing in the early 2000s, mayor Alain Juppé rooftop bar and sun deck, a Gordon Ramsay an amiable resort course experience, with generous fairways and receptive greens; The 17th hole at Golf de Chantilly’s Vineuil course; an aerial view of Chateau La Cheneviere in when the Atlantic sea breeze picks up, your Normandy; the course at Omaha Beach overlooks Port en Bessin’s fishing village; Place de la shotmaking skills need to kick up a notch. Concorde, the most famous square in Paris; a seaside setting at Golf de Moliets in Aquitaine. Its beaches have made the swank resort friendly, easygoing membership –Biarritz Bilbao, Spain. city of Biarritz, lying on the Atlantic coast is an old-fashioned club in the best sense. Chef Jean is a member of the unpreten- in Basque country, a popular resort desti- The recently-renovated Maria Regina hotel tious Golf de Moliets, an excellent modern nation – “the surfing capital of Europe,” nearby has one of the greatest lobbies you’ll golf course that can stand with all but a few thanks to big swells and mild temperatures ever find, resembling the interior of a grand American semi-private courses of the last – and the sandy soil helped germinate a opera house. thirty years. Built by Robert Trent Jones in handful of remarkable golf courses. Willie That evening, I made my way to Magescq the mid-1980s, Moliets offers a pleasing Park would probably not recognize what’s for a gastronomic dinner at the Relais de la rhythm and scenic variety, highlighted by a left of the course he built at Golf de Biarritz- Poste, a two-star Michelin restaurant in this glorious linksy stretch along the beach, Le Phare in 1888; Park’s original par-3 small town northwest of Biarritz. Afterward where the smooth inviting undulations go “Chasm” hole, featuring a green scored with I got to enjoy a drink of local armagnac with well with the surf – which wasn’t up on the a deep, traversing channel that lent the Chef Jean Coussau and his wife Annick, day of my visit, maybe why board legend name “Biarritz” to its many descendants, who runs the business end of the restaurant Kelly Slater showed up to play 18 late in the was rerouted out of existence in the early along with the chef’s brother, Jacques. Chef afternoon. I missed seeing him, since I had 20th century. (Architecture fans will be glad Jean is an ardent golfer – his wary expression to drive back to Bordeaux to make the train to hear plans are underway to restore it.) turns warm at the mention of the game. to Paris the next morning. Compact but not cramped, superbly With Annick kindly translating, he chatted I wasn’t too disappointed about depart- conditioned, with fluffy bunkers and post- about the annual late-autumn golf vacation ing, though; I know I’ll return to France. So card views of the Pyrenees, the club has a they take a few hours down the road in will you. ■

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