Watch the impressive golf facility in this aerial video – ©Golf de Roquebrune
Golf de Roquebrune
The golf facility in Roquebrune-sur-Argens is situated between the bustling and glamorous cities of Saint-Tropez and Cannes on the French Riviera.
However, one quickly discovers that life here also offers a calm and relaxing natural experience, abundant at this resort. Plus, enjoy a great meal at La Table de Louis restaurant after 18 challenging holes of golf.
Make a golf vacation on the Riviera
Additionally, Golf de Roquebrune offers the opportunity for a multi-day stay, as the club has several rental rooms with a spa area. And you don’t have to play golf to stay at the 5-star resort close to many other vacation experiences in Southern France.
The facility presented itself beautifully when my golf partner and I visited the course in April. It was adorned in a light green spring dress with blooming, violet Judas trees along the fairway.
The temperature was pleasant, but we still were glad to have a buggy available. The course is hilly with many elevation changes, playing both uphill and downhill.
Suitable difficulty for everyone
Conversely, the layout of the course was manageable, and most French players challenged themselves by walking with their equipment on a trolley. The course is quite new and therefore one of the longer ones in the area, measuring just under 6,000 meters with a par of 71.
The original course was designed by Dutch course architect Udo Barth and opened in 1988. However, it faced financial difficulties for several years until the turn of the millennium, and parts of the course were closed.
Then the Delli-Zotti family stepped in with new capital and significant local engagement in the development of both winemaking, golf and tourism.
Course architect Michel Guyon redesigned the 18 holes, which reopened in 2009. In 2022, the club entered into a partnership with Resonance Golf Collection who covers 13 golf courses in France.
This collaboration includes fantastic courses like Golf de la Grande Bastide and Opio-Valbonne Golf Resort on the Riviera, as well as 20 other golf courses in Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.
Ups and downs
But enough about the club’s history – we came to play golf, and so we did. First, we warmed up our swings at a good driving range near the clubhouse and 1st tee. Then we quickly made our way to the western end of the facility with 3 par 4 holes, where we had to adjust to the relatively large differences in elevation, making club selection difficult and the golf experience great.
Hole 4 is the course’s first par 3 hole, and the main challenge was the length of 202 meters, making a bogey a satisfying score.
From the tees, it could be difficult to see the fairway on several holes if you’re not familiar with the course. Therefore, two medium-sized cypress trees, standing approximately 150 meters out on the course on either side of the fairway, marked the optimal direction for the first shot to the ball. The long drive, which unfortunately didn’t always surpass the “Aiming Cypresses”, as they were quickly nicknamed.
Fantastic panoramic views
From the western part of the course, we returned to the clubhouse at hole 9, and halfway through, we noticed that the morning dew had completely disappeared, and the well-designed greens had become considerably faster.
At the same time, from many of the holes, we could enjoy magnificent views of the Esterel cliffs and the bay of Fréjus and Saint Raphaël, making it quite difficult to focus on the game itself.
Nevertheless, we made our way around the eastern part of the facility on the back-9, where several water hazards provided new challenges to hitting the ball in the right direction and length.
Golf de Roquebrune is surrounded by beautiful vegetation with many different trees, and on hole 17, a mighty umbrella pine is used as an additional obstacle. The par 4 hole features a right dogleg, and the pine is placed well in the bend.
If the ball isn’t hit far enough from the tee, the approach shot to the green is very difficult and will likely end up in the crown of the pine tree.
Challenges abound until the last hole
We passed hole 17 and could finish a lovely round of golf with the final challenge in front of the clubhouse. Hole 18 is a par 3 hole at a manageable 165 meters from the back tee, but with a large lake along the way. It must necessarily be crossed in the first shot, unless you want to ruin a good score on the very last hole.
There are several sculptures around the course, and in the lake at hole 18 lies a small island where the day’s final artwork dances ballet with the clubhouse terrace in the background.
We naturally enjoyed a moment on the terrace with a good lunch and refreshing drinks to replenish our fluids while being entertained by golfers who, in a continuous stream, arrived at hole 18 on a well-visited course in the heart of Provence.
Visit the golf club’s website: Golf de Roquebrune
By Mikael Mortensen – 2024
