Rating: 5 out of 5.

Rating 5/5

Review of Terre Blanche Golf ‘Le Château’

Set within the sprawling estate of Terre Blanche, a five star luxury resort in southern France, is Le Château course, one of two top-class 18-hole golf courses onsite. The resort itself has in the past been voted the best golf resort in continental Europe, no mean feat when you consider some of the competition it’s up against. 

Going some way to aid this accolade, is the superb Chateau course, which has received numerous awards and recognition of its own having been voted one of France’s top 10 golf courses and comfortably sits within the Top 50 of Europe’s best golf courses.

Like it’s sister course Le Riou, the Chateau course is visually stunning but also incredibly challenging. This is not a course for beginners or inexperienced golfers. Stretching across miles of undulating Provencal countryside, plotting your way around requires hard graft, some great ball-striking and luck.  

At over 7,000 yards long, if you’re not hitting some decent drives off the tee, you’re going to be up against it from the off. Even if you are managing to get close to the greens without too many lost shots, they’re well protected, incredibly fast and often multi-tiered. 

This really is championship golf of the highest level, and you can be assured the course will be in fantastic condition nearly all year round. So much so, it hosts the ‘French Riviera Masters’, a European Tour Senior event every year.

Some of the stand out holes include the sublime third hole, a 466 yard par 4 with an elevated tee box facing down a narrow tree lined fairway. Being on the right side of the fairway is absolutely key to being able to take on the long second to the well protected green. Let’s be honest, the wise choice is to lay up on your second but it’s no wonder this is considered the hardest hole on the course.

The fifth hole is a 560 yard par 5 which lulls you into a false sense of security with its wide fairway. But the green is setback over water and is only accessible in two by the most accomplished golfers. Even laying up with my second, I still found the water!

There really are so many outstanding holes. The one thing that is as consistent as the challenge posed, is the beauty of the site. It’s a weird juxtaposition of this brutal testing golf course, which meanders through this beautiful scenic landscape.

When you’ve belatedly finished your round, you get to relax in the luxury surroundings of the exquisite resort. So no matter how much you get beaten up on the course, there is always something to look forward to off it. Be it a massage for a couple of hundred Euros in the world-class spa, or just a humble cold glass of beer, it will be worth it.

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