Part of the Golfy chain, so quality/class/enjoyment are part of the parcel. 2 golf courses to choose from: Le Breuil (the longest & most challenging/technical) and Le Montaplan slightly easier. The complex houses a hotel & restaurant in the ancient Chateau, situated some 40km from Lyon (3rd largest French city where I studied for 9 years). This is marshland region, water hazards are present throughout, yes it is "lake land", flat and easy to walk with many ancient trees to avoid along the way of this testing course.
Today,Tuesday 25th Nov. 2015, I had a complimentary round as a guest of my twin cousin & his friends, we played LE BREUIL. It was a typical Autumn misty/foggy day adding mystery, intrigue & surprise to the golf game. It certainly is an ideal landscape too for artists/painters/photographers with lots of wildlife around. The course is well maintained, well presented, nice defined paths to next tee box, each tee has its own diagram, washer/towel. All very posh.
The starter point is a computerised screen showing your Tee time and your names. All the latest technology applied here.
As said earlier, a very technical course, suits the thinker & long hitter as a lot of long carry & narrow approaches. When one looks at the course planner all you see is vast expanse of blue and its accompanying white areas of sand, the fairways and the trees keeping it together. I could describe every hole, but 4 will do. Here we go:
9th, Par 4, dog leg to the left contouring a large lake, an astronomical bunker by the lake, left of the green. This particular bunker could accommodate 3 or 4 families for a picnic if it was not on the golf course.
There are 2 other bunkers very strategically placed for your approach.
14th, Par 4, WOW what a challenge....: very narrow teeing section between 2 lakes, dog leg right with water all the way to the narrow green sloping to the right too. The left hand side of the fairway is full of mature trees with some down slopes. Very tight approach. A regular & accurate player may get a Par, but no guarantee as the wind can creates havoc too.
15th, Par 5: another dog leg to the right, but not so narrow approach, but lakes on either side, mid approach to the raised green, water present at the back too.
16th,a dinky little Par 3 but nightmare for a lot of players, teeing on a narrow strip between 2 lakes, a carry over another huge lake to a sloping green with not a lot of fringe. Another beauty.
A very pleasant place for golf, with a large car park, warm reception in a well presented Proshop, the usual smart clothing that one finds in France, a huge building houses the members' trolleys/golf clubs/shoes etc. and the buggies and most likely machinery at the back. The tall/ancient trees hide the building.
The old Chateau houses the Clubhouse/restaurant, hotel.
Friendly, welcoming staff, excellent coffee served with a delicate macaroon. Nice seating areas with old fashioned leather chairs. Terrace for the warm days too with nice vegetation on display. Non golfers can enjoy the fine local food on offer. Very friendly & professional staff.
There seem to be groups of students around, learning/observing/studying the natural flora/vegetation/wildlife etc. in this 575 acres of outstanding natural beauty.
Must mention the floating driving range, with distance flags/markers etc. Sort of thing I have seen previously in France @ the nearby Golf du Clou which I played last week, also at Nampont-St-Martin in Northern France. A great idea a an easy way to collect the practice balls with retractable net etc.....
I can only recommend this GOLFY golf course, you will enjoy the beauty & the challenge when in this part of France.
THE END......
Date Thursday, 01, January 2015
