Let yourself go: Golf the French way

Fun on the fairways? Jeans on the greens? Cuisine in the clubhouse? Whatever next? Clive Agran drives a nine iron through tradition and discovers that golf in France just isn't cricket.

There is much to admire about France. It's not crowded, the roads are excellent, the scenery is delightful and the weather is generally quite a bit better than in the UK. The food is delicious and the wine is plentiful and comparatively inexpensive. France also has some outstanding golf courses - which is somewhat surprising since the French don't appear to embrace golf with the same passion with which they embrace, for example, 8 each other. They're fanatical about football, crazy about cycling and titillated by tennis, whereas golf is barely more popular in France than petanque is in the UK.

And the few French who do play the game give every impression of being ridiculously naive. They simply don't seem to understand that plus fours are the height of fashion and golf clubs are sort of secular cathedrals. Worse still, they have this crazy notion that the principal reason for partaking in the sacred game is to enjoy yourself!

A wide range of courses

France has about 500 courses and, as you will have surmised by now, an altogether more relaxed attitude to the game and its traditions. Whether or not you approve will depend on whether you are more inclined to the old school or the progressive wing of life. If the sight of jeans on a golf course induces an apoplectic fit, and watching young children frolicking on the fairways sends you spluttering into your gin and tonic, then it might be as well when in France that you concentrate on the food and drink and avoid golf altogether.

If, however, you believe that golf is fun and should not be the exclusive preserve of the staid and stuffy, then put on your shorts, throw away those ridiculous long socks and that hideous striped tie, hum the Marseillaise and go native. Who knows, feeling less constrained, your swing might relax and your scoring might improve!

The other very marked contrast between British and French golf is in the kitchen. Bar snacks, chicken and chips in a basket and other culinary abominations are eschewed by the French in favour of beautifully-prepared food and proper cuisine. For the few French who play it, the twin appeal of golf is that it fills up the downtime between meals as well as sharpening their appetite. So a three-and-a-half hour round can be followed by a lunch or dinner of almost equal length - and best done in this order if you want the balls, and not your score, to do the soaring. And whatever you might think of their approach to our beloved game, the French are all off single figures when it comes to eating and drinking afterwards.

Why there are so many beautiful courses in France when the French are seemingly so unenthusiastic about the game is something of a mystery. Maybe they are like the Eiffel Tower - simply there to attract tourists. Or, since avoiding tax is a national pastime, there is possibly some way of offsetting bunkers against earnings.

Take Brittany. Like Scotland, Ireland, Wales and Cornwall it is blessed with that mystical Celtic mix of rugged terrain, pounding surf and wild weather - elements which create some of the most appealing golfing opportunities anywhere in France. On its southern coast, just to the west of L'Orient, is Ploemeur Océan - not strictly an authentic links course, but with many of the characteristics you'd expect to find among the dunes. The wind off the Bay of Biscay rarely relents, making this pretty layout even more of a challenge. A sprinkling of ponds and lakes adds to the interest. Along the water's edge, a few delightful holes compensate for the unwelcome presence of an adjacent sand and gravel quarry.

A few miles inland, right in the heart of Breton countryside and set amongst the rolling hills of the Scorff Valley, is Val Quéven - an exceptionally pretty parkland course popular with British golfers. Open, inviting fairways promise and deliver uninterrupted enjoyment from the first tee to the 18th green.

Saint Laurent

To the south-east, and heading back towards the coast, there's lovely Saint Laurent. It hosted the French professional championship more than once in the late 1980s, as well as the National Open in 1995, and asks a few questions. The fairways - though generous - weave through a rather menacing oak and pine forest which at least keeps the wind off you. On a couple of tighter holes the trees encroach sufficiently to persuade you to put the driver back in the bag and opt for something a little less risky. Possibly rather flattered by its selection in a French golf magazine as one of the nation's top 40 courses, Saint Laurent is extremely enjoyable and genuinely suits players of all standards. And there is a 9-hole course as well.

Golf de Baden

Less than 20 km further along the coast, just before Vannes, is Baden - a seaside course full of interest and offering frequent glimpses of the River Auray's pretty estuary. The sloping terrain makes it rather more challenging than it might at first appear, and the flourishing gorse is rightly regarded as the golfer's enemy, rendering even a cursory look for a lost ball a pretty fruitless exercise. And then there's the howling wind, which rapidly - and not infrequently - morphs the course into something of a beast. Another thing you shouldn't take at face value is the clubhouse. Beyond its dreary exterior is banquet of brilliant food.

...a venue promising all manner of golfing delights

Moving on, the name Golf International Barriere La Baule rolls off the tongue rather less quickly than a downhill putt at Augusta National - yet here is a venue promising all manner of golfing delights.

Three courses, 45 holes, and plenty for any golfer to sink his, or her, seven iron into. More specifically, fine trees, asplattering of water hazards and elevated tees and greens - a rich golfing experience. The French Open has been staged here and action photos of Seve Ballesteros and Nick Faldo hang in the clubhouse to commemorate that fact.

Adjacent is the hotel which played host to David Beckham and England's 1998 World Cup football team. If only they'd spent their time here focusing on the bigger ball and practising penalties, they might have seen off Argentina. Crossing over the Loire estuary just west of Nantes, and heading south along the coast for an hour or so, brings you to one of the greatest golfing pleasures to be found anywhere in France - Saint Jean de Monts. This is really two courses rolled into one, weaving through a forest of maritime pine and oak before eventually emerging near the beach as a glorious links challenge. The first half is rather tight, the emphasis on precision rather than power. And when you emerge from the forest, blinking in the sudden show of bright light and space of the seaside, there follows an exhilarating romp along the dunes.

Sables-Solesmes - a hidden gem

Since it's not practical to continue down the coast indefinitely, from here it's time to head inland in the general direction of the Channel coast. Going north-west past the beautiful city of Angers, towards Le Mans, you'll find Sable-Solesmes - a 27-hole complex that can be described justifiably as a hidden gem. Warmly welcoming, gloriously uncrowded and superbly maintained, it's a real pleasure. The three nines have been christened Forest, River and Waterfall. Sadly, there wasn't time to play the Waterfall but I managed the other two. The Forest skirts the adjacent woods, and the many pretty ponds and lakes posed a greater threat than the trees, mostly saplings that in time will become a bigger challenge.

The River nine has several scenic holes, in particular a nervy downhill par three over a lake and a par four that requires a second shot to what appears to be an island green. Having dropped down dramatically to the banks of La Sarthe (a tributary of the mighty Loire) and run along the river's edge, the course climbs back up the bluff and finishes with two mercifully water-free holes. Surprisingly, Sable-Solesmes has fewer than 200 members - good news for visitors looking for a quiet round on a beautiful course in a most delightful setting.

Champ de Bataille

Continuing north-east past Le Mans and Alencon, and just before Rouen, you'll find the rather aggressively named Champ de Bataille. Originally the clubhouse was in the impressive château but it's now in the converted stables - more convenient for the first tee. Carved through the woods with plenty of water hazards, the course is both beautiful and testing without ever being too severe. The 17th is a particularly memorable par three over a deep gulley, though the final hole is something of an anti-climax.

Golf de Deauville

On to the Channel coast now, where close to Le Havre is the popular resort of Deauville. Although more famous for horseracing than for golf, it has one of the very best courses in the area. New Golf Deauville has 27 holes and is very much in the British style, Sir Henry Cotton having made definite improvements in the 1960s to Tom Simpson's 1929 design. Although quite clearly aimed at holidaymakers, the course also appeals to more serious golfers who appreciate its undoubted quality.

Heading west past Caen, you arrive at the beaches which staged the 1944 Normandy landings. Christened with codenames such as Sword, Juno, Utah and Omaha, today they are visited by a few surviving Second World War veterans as well as those interested in battlefields. Omaha was the most heavily fortified of all the beaches and consequently the Americans sustained terrible losses when capturing it.

All of which sets a rather sombre tone as you tee off. At Omaha Beach, playing the few holes that run along the bluffs overlooking the beaches, you can appreciate the big advantage defenders had over their adversaries below.

Thankfully today you can enjoy the spectacular views out to sea without worrying about incoming shells or sniper fire. And losing a ball here is of absolutely no consequence compared with the atrocious losses which this place witnessed in those dark, dark days.

How lucky we are to be able to enjoy good golf in such beautiful and peaceful surroundings - even the way the French play it!