The RGV Tour de France has officially reached the midway point on its journey. With 15 courses golfed in just 10 days, the tour would be on pace to play 547 golf courses over the course of one year. However, the tour is only on the road for a month and would still fall short of the 580 golf course mark.
Here is the run down of the middle leg of the Tour de France. Just like the bike race, this is where the winners are separated from the losers. I take on some heavy hitters as I dodged the scattered showers like a seasoned professional.
I got a great sunset and a special sunrise at Pléneuf and the photos flowed freely for this little golf adventure. Most notabe was the triple green situation that yielded some spectacular results. This course is scenic, scoreable and fun to play.
On the 11th hole you will find one of the most dramatic tee shots in France. You climb a small mountain to get to the tee box and fire one down to the coastal fairway. It must be a 15 meter free fall. A good drive will give you a chance to putt for eagle on the green pictured below.
There are 2 golf courses at La Baule. Originally, I was only scheduled to play the red course but the tour pulled into the parking lot with about 2 hours of light left in the day and there was certainly enough time to golf the blue. I sped around the course like a man possessed and even managed to avoid all seven of the bunkers below.
After taking on the red course the next morning, I returned to find that the battery in the RGV had completely died. I managed to articulate my predicament in the clubhouse and the maintenance team jumped my ride. The folks over at La Baule reached new high score levels in the helpfulness and friendliness categories.
After a quick morning round on the red course at La Baule, I headed across town to take on Guerande. I zipped around in record time and managed to beat the incoming rain. This course only measures 5206 meters (5693 yards) but it will give you all sorts of fits if you take it for granted. My only wish was that I would have had a little more time and light with this little beauty.
The rain began to fall as I pulled into the parking lot of Saint Jean de Monts later on that evening. I checked the weather and another full day of rain was on the calendar. “Son of a bitch!” I grumbled as I poured myself a heaping pile of Lion cereal for dinner. Lion cereal is pretty much what I have been existing on the past several days. One could say that the chocolatey goodness fuels my golf furnace.
The good news is that forecast, like every other forecast from Apple Weather, was complete horse shit. The next day I was treated to a spectacular day of golf and a glorious sunset.
Golf de Saint Jean de Monts starts out in the forest on the front nine and works its way back onto the links land by the sea for the back nine. The golf course is a glorious little mix of two different worlds. I wrongly assumed that I would strongly prefer the ocean side holes, but several of the inland holes did manage to win me over.
After my spectacular sunset at Saint Jean de Monts, I headed on down the road to Bourgenay and found a cozy little spot in the back of the parking lot. Just like the previous night, the rain began to fall again. I would not be so lucky with the golf in the morning. I managed to snap several photos during breaks in the rain to capture the vibes.
The highlight of the day was when I would play through a friendly French foursome that spoke no English at all. I pumped one down the middle with a perfect little draw. It was particularly awesome and my new French friends came out with a bunch of French exclamations that I did not understand. I made it a point to remember one phrase in particular “putain de merde.” Once I made it clear and onto the green, I used google translate to learn that it meant “Holy crap.” That made me smile.
Over the past several years, I have made it a point to circle anything that starts with the name Cabot. Needless to say, I was looking forward to this visit for some time. Cabot Bordeaux is the 6th location in Cabot’s growing portfolio of high end golf destinations. I was bummed to arrive with overcast skies but headed out onto the golf course to check things out. Just as I was about to give up, the sun popped through the clouds and gave me about 5 seconds of sun. Fortunately, Pete Fly was there to capture the moment.
There are 2 18 hole golf courses at Cabot Bordeaux with the most notable being the solo Bill Coore design. As is typical with Coore designs, the golf course takes advantage of the natural terrain and nothing feels forced at all. It is a tremendous test of championship golf with beautiful and sometimes penal bunkers and natural areas.
The highlight of the visit was my playing partners Margaux and Louise. Margaux is a +2 handicap, Louise is a 1 handicap and I am also a 1 handicap. According to my math, 1+1=2 so Louise and I had no choice but to team up against her. Margaux from Bordeaux held her own, but Louise and I were just too much for her and we triumphed 1 up after 18 holes.
The Des Vignes course plays over slightly different terrain and incorporates a back nine that winds its way through the forest. The rain tried to blast me off of the course several times, but I stood strong with my camera to capture the several glorious moments of sunshine.
It was a short drive down the road and out to the coast for Moliets. The wind was angry that day my friend. Not just like 2 clubs angry, but 4-5 clubs angry. In fact, you better just punch your 4 iron down the entirety of the back nine type angry. The course culminates next to the sea on holes 13-15. The wind and rain also culminated at about the exact same time and sent me scampering inland after several fortunate pars. These holes would normally be spectacular as the sun sets over the ocean, but on this day I was hustling to get out of the rain.
Fortunately, I escaped with my some photographs and only a mild soaking. I headed out of the parking lot and down the road towards my next destination.
At this point in time, I am getting quite used to the sound of rain pattering on my roof as I fall asleep and the parking lot at Seignosse was no different. Fortunately when I woke up, the rain would be gone and it would stay gone for at least 3 holes. Throughout the course of this round it would stop and start raining 6 different times.
I was paired up with a French fellow who spoke a little bit of English. However, he was versed in the language of golf, so we hit it off immediately. We golfed hard as the rain came and went. Sadly, he had to go “travail” (work) at noon so I lost him after the splendid little 10th hole. I finished up my round of golf alone as the rain came and went about 3 more times. After the round I met up with the general manger, Christophe in the clubhouse for some veal. The veal was good but Christophe was better.
After Seignosse, I had officially golfed 25 courses in the first 17 days of The RGV Tour de France and crested the halfway point with style and finesse. Stay tuned as the tour speeds towards the finish line.