Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Rating 4.5/5

Review of Golf du Médoc ‘Les Châteaux’

This superb course just 25 minutes from Bordeaux and right in the heat of the French wine district, hosted the French Open back in 1999, won by wine loving South-African Retief Goosen.

Although the course is considered an inland links, there are distinct heathland elements reminiscent of Walton Heath. Bunkers which meld seamlessly into the fairways, surrounded by out-growings of heather are typical Colt and Simpson designs traits – stereotypically English but nearer the Spanish border than the Surrey and Berkshire border.

Add to the ‘Open de France’ in 1999, the course has also hosted numerous other competitions including the final of the Challenge Tour and has been graced by the footsteps of many famous golfers including Seve Ballesteros, Mark Calcavechia, Ben Crenshaw, Ian Woosnam, Jose Maria Olazabal and many more.

Although on the whole, relatively flat, the course is for thinking golfers and not necessarily big hitters. Take the first hole for example, a 410 yard Par 4…easy on the face of things. However, with a double fairway, do you go for the wider fairway on the left but with a tricky approach shot, or the narrow fairway to the right, but with a substantially easier 2nd shot? 

These decisions follow you around the course including on the first Par 3 of the day, 170 yards over water; do you go with a long iron and attack the green, or take into account the prevailing wind and play safe to the narrow fairway? 

However you end up confronting the course, you can be sure to have an enjoyable round. Every hole is named after a different Chateau, and with a sprawling terrace overlooking the 18th green, it would be remiss not to enjoy a glass of wine. 

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