Golf a la Française

Above: Golf de Moliets

Helpful hints for your trip:

Cost: French golf is remarkably affordable. Green fees around the country are seldom over 120 (~$128); an annual membership at Golf de Moliets is  €1750, regarded as high.

Handicapping: Evidently the prevailing golf sin in France is the vanity handicap: you won’t find many sandbaggers, at least among the double digits. The golfer is not required to input every score, and may not enter the score of any round played solo. Thus Jacques might report the single round he played under 90, even if he never broke 97 in his other five or six rounds.(Clearly, wagering doesn’t play much of a role in matches here.) The unfortunate consequence is that once in a rare while you may encounter a player who has no business playing from the back tees vainly hitting wayward drives from them, but such is the exception and hardly the rule.

Tee to green: Caddies are hard to find except at the fancier clubs; golf carts are almost impossible to rent, except at the very hilliest courses. Pull-carts are the rule here. While last summer’s drought in France took its toll on a few tracks, generally speaking you will find good lies in the fairway and healthy greens – in part, no doubt, because green speeds are kept well under 10 at most courses.
 

Above: Golf Barriere Deauville, near Normandy

 

Extracted from the April/May 2017 Met Golfer Article "Vive Le Golf!" by Ray Tennenbaum