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From Omaha Beach to Deauville : Greens in flower

Deauville June 2001
The seafaring Normans did not play golf. The proof : the Bayeux tapestry said to be sewn by Queen Mathilde, who was Princess of Flanders. Apparently her fellow country women did not take part in making this unique document. It is more or less sure that the tapestry was sewn in England, otherwise we would have seen characters hitting balls with sticks as Brueghel and other Flemish masters painted in popular scenes later on !

England was never invaded again and the English I know do not talk about this period of their history very easily. But the opposite happened with the arrival of an enormous Armada commanded by an inveterate golfing American, General Eisenhower, on the Normandy coast almost nine centuries later. The occupying German was chased from the bunkers and blockhouses where he has gone to ground. Ma Eisenhower did not think it was worth, or did not have either the courage or the patience, to sew the 'Overlord Operation' or her husband's achievements on canvas.

However, Ally and German cemeteries, the ruins of the Atlantic Wall fortifications, numerous museums and commemorative monuments are there to remind us of the steps that were taken on the Bessin coast on 6th June 1944, D-Day, and the days that followed. Omaha Beach, which is between Vierville and Saint Laurent, was given the name in memory of the soldiers of the 5th Division of the 1st American Army, where so many fell during the assault.

It is also the name that the Dupont family chose for the golfing complex which they created on their property of the farm of Saint Sauveur at Huppin in 1986, of which a part occupies the plateau overlooking Port en Bassin.

Omaha will soon have 36 holes.

Yves Bureau, the brilliant landscape architect from Nantes, was the creator of the golf course at Saint Jean de Monts, and has more recently designed the charming public golf course of, 27 holes on 130 hectares at Vire-la-Dathée. The first section of nine holes is called " Parcours de l'Etang " and is 2,875 meters (par 35) ; immediately followed by 18 holes, 3,097 meters (par 36), going in one direction has been given the name of 'Parcours de la Mer', and the 'Parcours du Bocage', also 3,097 meters (par 36) for the home run. Each hole is dedicated to a personality was attached to the Victory. The first hole, 496 meters (par 5), is General Eisenhower ; the second, a very pretty 133 meters, par 3, of which the green overhangs Port-en-Bessin, is called Sir Winston Churchill ; the third, 304 meters, par 4, General de Gaulle ; and so on.

Another asset is the size of the reception and accommodation amenities. The promoters have obtained a franchise from the Accor group for a 'Mercure' hotel with a swimming pool, sauna and health spa on the golf site. The S.C.S. company, who run them, opened a 46 bedroom hotel and a restaurant, which serves as a club house, two years after the golf course was inaugurated. Since last month, Yves Bureau has started the construction of a further 9 holes on the grounds of a farm which they bought.

Marc Eve, the manager, thinks that the opening of two 18 hole courses will make the whole site, which will then be called 'The Omaha Beach Resort' the most important one on the French Channel coast. The complex. This is our starting point for a golfing stroll which will take us to Deauville and Honfleur.