Le Vaudreuil

Fashioned by Fred Hawtree in the early 1960s, the course at Le Vaudreuil was acquired in 2008 by Jean-Claude Forestier, head of the Petit Forestier family business which specialises in the rental of refrigerated trucks and employs four thousand people with a turnover of more than €700million in 2018.

According to the owner, his vision for the property can be summarised as: “trying to make the estate a sort of small resort, with our small eight-room hotel telling the story of the Grand Slam. Beside, we now have villas dedicated to tourist golf accommodation, each also telling a great event.”

Working closely with PGA France, the club operates a Golf Court Academy that has all the latest technology and instrument analysis, along with a fitting workshop for putters and wedges. Outside, there are several putting greens, chipping greens and training bunkers.

Altus Performance Europe is a more recent development, welcoming young players through programs such as weekend camps and school holiday camps. Its main objective is to make golfers aware of all the different performance facets such as technical, tactical, physical, mental, lifestyle and equipment.

The course itself is laid out as two returning nines, the shorter outward half measuring 2907 metres and playing to a par of 35, whilst the longer inward half (featuring three par five holes) extends to 3,322 metres, with par rated at 37.

Highlight holes include the very short par three 5th (“Les Vikings”) and the 358-metre 9th (“Richard Coeur de Lion”) which plays to a pronounced back-to front sloping green. On the back nine, the par four 17th (“Famille Raoul Duval”) is a tough hole, with a centre-line bunker hampering the most direct route to the green.

The Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge on the Challenge Tour has been held here since 2013, becoming almost a permanent fixture on the men’s second-tier professional circuit in Europe.