From Omaha Beach to Deauville : Greens in
flower
by Alain Rougeot
 Where to play ?
Informations
 Last but not least : the New Golf.
 Deauville will
always be Deauville, proud to be it and wishing to stay so,
as Madam Anne d'Ornano, the mayor, would like to say, paraphrasing
General de Gaulle in another Normandy town. There was a golf
course at Deauville in the low part of the town at the beginning
of the last century. Traces of it can still be found near
the Clairefontaine racecourse with an avenue that is called
'Avenue du Golf'. Eugene Cornuché, who was the managing director
of the Hotels and Casinos Association, had the famous Promenade
des Planches constructed in rare exotic wood on the beach
in 1923. The idea behind this was to make sure that his businesses
had a world wide reputation so that the aristocrat, the social
lady, the celebrity, as we would say today, would be seen
there. Artists like Van Dongen, Jean Gabriel Domergue or the
photographer Jacques Henri Lartigue have all been witnesses
and memorialists of this period. This most brilliant resort
idea was thought up by the Duc de Morny and his friends, an
English doctor and a French banker in 1861.
François André, a former managing director of the
Hotels and Casinos Association, came up with the idea that 'In order to bring a large
number of people to the green baize at night, we must give them the turf of the same
colour during the day.' Thus an international class golf course was to be used for this
purpose and was constructed on the old Lassay estate, at Mont Canisy in 1929, two years
before the hotel. Tom Simpson was commissioned to produce the 27 holes. He arranged 9
holes in three loops, each leading back to the club house. This was completely unheard of
in England at the time. However, he did respect the site and carried out what he
considered to be correct, in other words fairly tricky. There wasn't any water on Mont
Canisy, so Simpson didn't put any, and there still isn't any. There are three courses
which make up the New Golf : the Rouge (2,871 meters), which runs along an urban road ;
the Blanc (3,080 meters, par 36) which goes round the ruins of the Château de Lassay ;
and the Bleu (actually 3,035 meters, par 36) overlapping the previous one which has the
longest hole, the 8th (50 meters, par 5).
 From the plateau,
that is dominated by the Hotel du Golf, there are some magnificent
views to be seen while playing rather long holes ; beautiful
villas on the slopes, some thatched ; further away the River
Touques, the sea and the Seine valley. You can find lovely
greens protected by impressive and always wisely placed bunkers
between the few remaining flowering apple-trees in Spring.
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Elisabeth de
Gramont wrote the following about the new golf she had just visited, 'The NEW golf,' as
she called it, 'is one befitting champions. The length of the course, the design of the
greens, the bend of the dog-legs, the unexpected obstacles, large trees, even an arch in
ruins must put the players in to a wonderful state of euphoria. Mediocre players are not
excluded from this paradise. The starts are placed according to the player's capacity.
Everything has been said. In seventy years' time, you won't have to change even a comma in
this text. The New Golf at Deauville is what some would informally call a 'blockbuster'.'
It is a course that has 600 permanent members (annual fees being 14,000 Francs) and tots
up more than 20,000 green fees per annum, of which 40% are foreigners. A green-keeper is
employed among the twelve or so staff.
Obviously, the New Golf at
Deauville, part of the 'Barrière Resorts Hotels et Casinos'
chain, is a cut above the others that we have looked at earlier
on.
OMAHA BEACH
Golf Club La Ferme St Sauveur
14520 PORT EN BESSIN
Tél. : 02 31 21 72 94
GOLF
DE CAEN
Le Vallon - 14112 BIEVILLE-BEUVILLE
Tél. : 02 31 94 72 09
GOLF
DE CABOURG LE HOME
Le Home Varaville - 14390 CABOURG
Tél. : 02 31 91 25 56
GOLF
PUBLIC DE CABOURG
Avenue de l'Hippodrome - 14390 CABOURG
Tél. : 02 31 91 70 53
GOLF
BLUE GREEN D'HOULGATE
14510 - GONNEVILLE/MER
Tél. : 02 31 24 80 49
GOLF
DE ST JULIEN PONT L'EVEQUE
14130 ST JULIEN SUR CALONNE
Tél. : 02 31 64 30 30
GOLF DE DEAUVILLE ST GATIEN
14130 ST GATIEN DES BOIS
Tél. : 02 31 65 19 99
GOLF
DE L'AMIRAUTE
Tourgeville - 14800 DEAUVILLE
Tél. : 02 31 14 42 00
NEW
GOLF DE DEAUVILLE
14800 SAINT ARNOULT
Tél. : 02 31 88 20 53
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