Golfing holidays in France

Take a golfing holiday and test your skill on one of France’s many courses

France boasts a number of excellent golf courses designed by some of the world's leading course architects who have taken advantage of the wonderful French countryside to demonstrate their design skills in creating world class parkland, heathland, mountain and links courses.

Underlining the quality of golf in France is the recent announcement that the 2018 Ryder Cup will be contested at the Le Golf National near Versailles! To provide some ideas for your golfing holiday we have set out below our selection of favourite French golf courses and have also listed below the events which will be contested on the European PGA schedule during 2012.

Do let us know the names of your favourite course as we set out compiling our list for next year.

Our Pick of Golf Courses in France

In no particular order, these courses have been selected as an illustration of the challenge and diversity of golf courses across France. We have included those courses that will accept visitors – there are other superb courses which are only accessible to members and guests. Do let us know your favourite courses by Twitter or Facebook.

• Golf Moliet  - A 6173m, par 72, Robert Trent Jones Sr course winding through pine forest set near the Atlantic coast .
• Pau Golf Club - Founded in 1856 and designed by Willie Dunn this is the oldest golf club in continental Europe.
• Seignosse - A delightful and testing 6129m, par 72 course designed by Robert van Hagge.
• Les Chateaux course, Golf du Medoc - A links style course that hosted the French Open in 1999.
• Golf de Chantilly - A beautiful and historic course established in 1909 and designed by Tom Simpson.
• Golf international de Grenoble - Designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr this is a beautiful par 73, 6201m.
• Pont Royal - Designed by the late Seve Ballesteros this is a 6303m Par 72, set in undulating countryside in the foothills of the Alps.
• Golf de Fontainebleau - A Tom Simpson designed course, opened in 1909, which is set amongst forest and heathers.
• Golf de Chiberta - Another great course designed by Tom Simpson, at the behest of the Duke of Windsor in 1927.
• Orleans Limere - A beautiful parkland 6221m, Par 72, course featuring some splendid lakes designed by Cabell B. Robinson in 1992.
• Soulliac Golf and Country Club - Designed by Jeremy Pern this course winds through scenic oak forest.

Selected PGA Golf events in France

May 10th - 13th 2012 - ALLIANZ Challenge de France, European Challenge Tour, Golf Disneyland

June 14th - 17th 2012 - Saint Omer Open presented by Neuflize OBC, European Tour, Aa Saint Omer GC

July 5th -  8th 2012 - Alstom Open de France, European Tour, Le Golf National, Paris

July 26th - 29th 2012 - Evian Masters, Haute-Savoie

August 30th - Sept 2nd 2012 - ALLIANZ Open De Strasbourg, European Challenge Tour, Golf du Klemperhof Plobsheim

Sept 20th- 23rd 2012 - ALLIANZ Golf Open Grand Toulouse, European Challenge Tour, Golf de Toulouse-Seilh

October 4th - 7th 2012 - ALLIANZ Open de Lyon, European Challenge Tour, Golf do Gouveneur, Monthieux

Golfing holidays in Paris and the Ile de France region

 There are 68 golf courses here in wonderful settings. The course are tucked away between the most beautiful sites of the Region and most are accessible whatever your handicap. Why not combine your trip with some sightseeing in around Paris? Visit the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, Montmartre, Notre-Dame cathedral and the Châteaux and gardens of Versailles and Fontainebleau. When you need a break, sit and have a drink in a typical French café and watch the world go by. 

Golf Holidays in Western France

There are 120 golf courses between the beaches of Normandy and Brittany and the Châteaux of the Loire. Normandy and Brittany have always been popular destinations for holidaymakers from the UK and the golf courses here are a delight. Green fees are ridiculously cheap - and so is the wine!

Further south, the golf courses are swept by pleasant Atlantic breezes. On the banks of the Loire, the many Châteaux tell the History of France, so why not play some royal golf and then sample the wines of Touraine in the clubhouse? Away from the fairways, you must find the time to visit Mont-Saint-Michel, the D-Day Landing beaches, Brittany’s Pink Granite coast, Côte Sauvage and of course the Châteaux of the Loire.

Golf Holidays in South West France

Here, amongst the great wine-growing regions there are 98 golf courses in completely natural surroundings.

The South West offers you the chance to combine golf with both gastronomy and culture. Visit the potteries of Limoges, the distilleries of Cognac, famous Bordeaux vineyards, the châteaux of Périgord and the beaches of Biarritz - a surfers’ paradise. And how can anyone resist the charm of Toulouse?  Its small, 18-century Old Quarter is a maze of narrow lanes and plazas in which to get happily lost. Stumble across grand churches, fine art and handsome 16th-century mansions.

Golf Holidays in South East France

Golfers are spoilt for choice in this idyllic region. There are 128 golf courses here between the sun of the coast and snow of the mountains.

With spectacular views of the year-round snows of Mont Blanc, the heady aroma of lavender and the rhythmic song of cicadas, this is the perfect setting for a golf holiday, based in one of our self-catering rural retreats.

For sightseeing there are many choices ranging from Bullfighting in Nîmes, the Flamingos and white horses of the Camargue. The golden shores of the Côte d’Azur, from star-studded Saint-Tropez to the Promenade des Anglais in Nice. Further inland you will find the ancient extinct volcanoes and the impregnable castles of the Auvergne. . Not to be missed: Collioure and Saint-Cyprien, The citadel of Aigues-Mortes, Palais des Papes in Avignon, Pont du Gard, and the spa waters of Vichy.