We’ve grouped the regions of Aquitaine, Limousin, Midi-Pyrénées and Poitou-Charentes to create the South West area of France, and it was here at Pau where golf à la française began in 1856. In fact, Pau Golf Club is the oldest club in continental Europe.

Toulouse is the South West region’s largest city, but there are few top golf courses within easy reach of Toulouse. To the north of the city, the Jeremy Pern-designed course at Albi Golf Club is worth a inspecting and if you are interested in art you’ll perhaps want to check out the home of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. To the north of Bordeaux you’ll find the Châteaux course at Golf du Médoc, Bill Coore’s third solo design and his first and only project in Europe.

The greatest collection of top golf courses in the South West lie in Basque territory to the north of Biarritz, along the Bay of Biscay. Robert von Hagge’s Seignosse is considered one of the most beautiful courses in France and with RTJ’s Moliets further north and two Golden Age classics at Hossegor and Chiberta to the south, we can safely say that Biarritz is one of the most engaging golfing destinations in the entire country.