Joyenval (Marly) - North East France - France

Joyenval is located a mere 25 kilometres to the west of Paris but the setting could not be further removed from the city. Golf de Joyenval is in the heart of the 1,000-acre forest of Marly-le-Roi which dates back to the 7th century becoming the famous private hunting estate of French kings.

Today the biggest challenge for the club is to decide whether or not it is private or open to visitors. Joyenval shuns publicity and the Marly course, designed by the late Robert Trent Jones, quietly opened for play in 1992 along with its sibling, the Retz.

The club is however used to playing host to European Tour events and the Marly course was the venue for the French Seniors Open in 2000 won by England’s Nick Job. The following year a Challenge Tour event was played over the Marly course and another Englander, Kenneth Ferrie, won the event. In 2010, the inaugural Vivendi Cup was hosted at the club and yet another Englander, John Parry, won this new European Tour event with an impressive score of 17-under-par.

Marly measures a little less than 6,973 yards from the championship tees and is a classic Trent Jones design with plenty of bunkers and large undulating greens. Despite its forest setting, the layout is fairly links-like in appearance but Joyenval will firmly sit in the parkland bracket by nature.