The Olympic men’s and women’s golf matches this year will be played on the Le Golf National golf course just outside Paris. Good luck to the golfers trying to win the gold, silver and bonze medals. (see course photos) We went to France in 1992 on a barge trip from Paris towards Lyon playing golf along the way. Playing golf in France was beautiful, the courses were great as well as the weather. After playing in England, Ireland and Scotland where the weather was sometimes awful it was wonderful playing in France (or so we thought). The courses were usually on large estates with the manor homes now converted to clubhouses. When you finished the front nine they would have set up tables and chairs where they supplied wonderful food and wine for the players. You didn’t hold up play as at that time only 7% of the French population played golf. We played some wonderful courses around Paris, Golf de Saint-Nom-Breteche home of the Lacome Trophy and sometimes the French Open, Fountainebleau GC, Golf du Roncemay GC and Le Golf National, home of the French Open and the 2018 Ryder Cup. We were in our room the night before we were going to play Le Golf National when the weather forecaster came on and said there was a freak storm going across England at it would be in France the next day. The next day we played in a cold wind storm like you’ve never seen, at least a 2 or 3 club wind on a very dry fast and difficult golf course that is fairly open to the wind. It also had very difficult rough, large greens and lots of water in play on some holes. There were no yardage markers on the course except ones that said 75, I assumed it was in meters and added 10% for the yardage but still couldn’t get to the greens. I found out later they were 75 meter markers but measured to the front of the greens, nothing would have helped that day anyway. I staggered off the course after shooting a 93. They had good weather for the Ryder Cup in 2018, I wish they would have had to play one day in the conditions we played in. We ended our trip further south and played Chateau de Chailly GC a couple of times, again no one on the course except our groups. Overall we had a great time playing golf in France, Mike & Sandie
