Golf is growing in popularity in France, and the French Atlantic coast region of south-west France is no exception to this. There are currently no fewer than 70 golf courses in the French Atlantic coast region, stretching from Le Croisic and La Baule in the north to Biarritz and Saint-Jean-de-Luz in the south.

This means there are plenty of courses to choose from if you fancy playing a round of golf while on your summer holiday. Moreover, with so many airports now scattered around the region, France’s Atlantic coast region has also become a good destination for golfing short breaks and golf holidays.

It’s probably no surprise that the French Atlantic region is so popular for French and visiting golfers alike. Though golf is a fast-growing sport in France, it also has a long history in this country stretching back to the 19th century. Pau Golf Club was the first golf club in France (and indeed the whole of continental Europe) , opening in 1856 thanks largely to expat Scots in the area. Then in 1888 it was the turn of the golf club in Biarritz to open.

The region’s golf courses and clubs are known for the welcome they give to visiting players and holidaymakers and are generally sited in stunning locations throughout the varied landscape of this beautiful region. They also place a great deal of emphasis on the ’19th hole’ and there is usually a good restaurant or bar at each golf course. Not all golf course are the full 18 holes – some are nine holers. But some have more than 18 holes, and one even claims 45!

Golfing vocabulary

Golfer: le joueur/la joueuse de golf, le golfeur/la golfeuse; golf course: un golf/ terrain / parcours de golf; green fee: le droit de jeu; driving range: le terrain d’exercice; fairway: l’allée grass; bunker: la fosse d’herbe; sand trap: la fosse de sable; waste bunker: la fosse naturelle; water hazard: l’obstacle d’eau; green: le vert; hole: le trou; golf bag: le sac de golf; caddie: le cadet/ a cadette; cart: le chariot/la voiturette de golf; golf ball: la balle de golf; iron: le fer ; putter: le fer droit; tee: le té; handicap: le handicap; golf stroke: le coup de golf; swing: l’élan; backswing: la montée; half swing: le demi-élan; chip: l’approche roulé; pitch: l’approche lobé; divot: le motte de gazon; par: le normale; birdie: l’oiselet; bogey: le boguey; double bogey: le boguey double; eagle: l’aigle; double eagle: l’albatros; hole in one: le trou d’un coup.

Photo 1 by Terre et Côte Basques / CC BY 2.0 image cropped