Hossegor Golf Club

France’s answer to Little Aston. Laid out among mature trees with large but low-lipped bunkers dotted around lush parkland fairways, its greens are flawless, and notably receptive. You can score well if you can keep it straight off the tee here. The back nine sits on more sandy soil as it moves along a series of dog-legs and the 13th is especially good, with a sea of bunkers to avoid off the tee along with towering pines.

At this point Hossegor feels more heathland than parkland – a bit more Sherwood Forest than Little Aston – and that is especially the case if you are hitting from the pine floor after a wayward drive. The 15th turns in a semi-circle from right to further right and ends in a well-bunkered green with steep run-offs that nervous chippers will not relish.

The next houses the deepest bunker on the course and a green with subtle borrows while the closing par 3 is one of Hossegor’s best – a classy hole surrounded by trees with deep bunkers front left and back right into which balls are pushed by surrounding slopes à la Lytham. The clubhouse is itself a mini Lytham, cream and green wooden slats marking it out as one of the most comfortable and characterful in France.

Designed by John Morrison and Cabell B Robinson. Despite being well shy of 7,000 yards, you need your ‘A’ game here as numerous holes follow thin, straight, runway-type strips of fairway through the trees. Robinson’s redesign, making some bunkers more visible, has improved the track and made it a fairer test. 

A vintage woodland-heathland hybrid which was updated by Cabell Robinson, the American focusing mainly on the bunkering and the greens. This relatively short but tight course, which is laid out on sandy soil and boasts terrific turf, has lots of admirers and few critics.

Established in 1927, Hossegor Golf Club offers an 18 hole course designed by English golf architect John Morisson and built in 1930. Situated in a forest of Pine and Oak, on well-draining, sandy soil, the course features fairways lined with mature trees, and greens protected by strategically placed bunkers.

• Course does not have: Bar
• Course does not have: Buggy Hire
• Course does not have: Driving Range
• Course does not have: Practice Green
• Course does not have: Pro Shop
• Course does not have: Restaurant
• Course does not have: Trolley Hire
• Course does not have: Dress Code
• Course does not have: Club Hire
• Course does not have: Handicap