FRANCE
Sophia Antipolis, golf science in science park
The
French science park of Sophia Antipolis in South-eastern France
has adopted international standards even for golf practice
at Saint-Philippe.
Sophia Antipolis February 2005 - Sophia Antipolis, on the sunny green hills between Nice and
Cannes in France, is an international science research park.
Its creation in the 1970s has been inspired to the French
scientist Pierre Lafitte by the success of Silicon Valley
(California) and Route 128 near Boston (Massachusetts) and
its development as well has been influenced by academia, industry,
and government. Nowadays more than 25000 people from multiple
nationalities are working in about 1500 companies, universities,
research centres settled on the 2500 hectares of this “green” park.
In fact, to manage a high quality of life to foster creativity
and productivity, an environmental charter imposes to Sophia
Antipolis Park that 2/3 of the land have to be conserved as
green belt and no building can exceed the height of the highest
point of the hills around Sophia.
In such an environment and following the old Roman wise and
wealthy precept “mens sana in corpore sano”, it
became obviously natural to develop different sport equipments.
And, even if it takes much more space than tennis courts or
gym centres, a golf course was to be designed would it only
be for the short breaks in the scientists’ very busy
agendas. And that is the way the St-Philippe Golf Club and
Academy has been conceived in the heart of Sophia Antipolis,
in line with the dynamic scientific and technological environment.
The
claw of the golden bear
The
St-Philippe Golf Club is located on a top hill at The Templiers
sector of Sophia Antipolis in a typical Mediterranean landscape
with exceptional view points to the pre-alps mountains. It
is not an usual golf club but, more a leisure and training
centre for golfers who like to practice their favourite sport
during their break times while others improve their skill
on a vast training zone or beginners get their first golf
lessons in a golf academy.
The St-Philippe course
meanders up and down the hills through the pines and green
oaks, shrubs and flowers, with large undulated greens and
each hole has its own identity, the whole course featuring
a large range of difficulties to make the play enjoyable and
diverse even for confirmed golfers.
Even
it is only a nine hole par-34, the course has been initiated
by the Golden Bear Cy, Jack Nicklaus’ golf architects
structure, and has been designed by Michel Niebdala. Jack
Nicklaus is a cherished name in the sport of golf and the
genesis of the Golden Bear can be traced to late 1961 when
an Australian journalist wrote about the powerful American
star Jack Nicklaus: "He looks like a big, cuddly golden
bear." It is now a golden brand.
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Click the map to enlarge it.
In a scientific environment
dynamic practice
and difficult equation
View
from green #3
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