Château de la Tournette (American)

Golf Château de la Tournette sits less than an hour’s drive south of the capital, close to the town of Nivelles, with 45 holes of golf in play: the 18-hole American course (designed by American architect Bill Amick); the 18-hole English course (laid out by Martin Hawtree and later revised by Clive Clark); and the 9-hole Orival Course, a compact 9-hole layout.

Set out as two returning nines in the early 1990s, the American course was later revised by Peter Alliss then, more recently, by Belgian architect Bruno Steensels. Nowadays, the layout extends to 6,176 metres from the back markers, with par set at 72, and it’s matured into one of the nation’s premier parkland offerings.

All of the par three holes are demanding – three of these short holes (#4, #7 and #16) mandate a full tee shot carry over water to the green – and any of them might be regarded as the “signature hole.” The most difficult hole on the card is undoubtedly the 380-metre 17th, requiring a tee shot over water before the fairway then doglegs right to an offset green.