It is hard to say which is the best driving range on the continent; Valderrama would have a robust claim for that title, with pyramids of shining white balls waiting to be hit down a slope to a perfectly manicured fairway. Monte Rei would be another contender while PGA Catalunya, Terre Blanche and Bro Hof Slott would have their proponents. Morfontaine wouldn’t be among them. Here, you hike through woodland to hit the most rag-tag selection of balls you have ever seen. Off mats. With no way to stand a tee up.
But Morfontaine doesn’t need to deliver Disneyland golf to impress. Instead, it has – categorically – the finest course in Continental Europe to do that for it. The journey here is appropriately quirky, in keeping with what follows when you arrive.
The greens are as good as anything in Continental Europe; fast and true, sometimes with obvious breaks, but sometimes very subtle ones.
You follow winding country roads that take you into a secluded forested area north-east of Paris (yet just 30 minutes north of Charles de Gaulle airport) before you announce your arrival at the club’s imposing gate with a discreet intercom for entry.
Pass that test, and you make your way up the kilometre-long driveway that passes many of the holes and whets the appetite for what is to come.
There is, already, a welcome feeling of stepping back in time, to somewhere pretty special. That is exactly what the course delivers. This is a heathland, with a lot of heather flanking the fairways even if it is rarely brutally punishing.
The greens are as good as anything in Continental Europe; fast and true, sometimes with obvious breaks, but sometimes very subtle ones.
Rain can be biblical here the day before and the day of play and yet because the course is built on a sandy base, the drainage is phenomenal and there will not be a puddle in sight.
Morfontaine is actually home to two courses, both by Englishman Tom Simpson – the nine-hole Valliere, also in our Continental Top 100, and the Grand Parcours.
The ‘Big Course’ opened in 1927 and isn’t hugely long. It plays around 6,400 yards from the white tees, although it is a par 70.
Higher handicappers could play off the yellow tees but even following rain, the ball runs well here and, on the front nine, only the 1st is what you could describe as a long par 4. The fairways are fairly wide and there is often a ‘side’ to miss them on.
As long as you aren’t too wild off the tee, balls are generally able to be found – the sort of place where mid-handicappers will be having a very bad day if they lose more than one ball.
Yet it is far from a pushover. It is definitely a second-shot course. Taking note of where the pins were on every hole is key – there are no pin sheets here, indeed no information beyond the hole number on every tee – so a range finder is invaluable for visitors who don’t like relying on their eyes and feel.
Some greens are probably as much as four club’s difference depending on the pin position and many pins can be perched at the top of false fronts which have serious consequences if you come up short. So, positioning approach shots is vital.
The bunkering around the greens is tremendous. It has a very ‘natural’ feel to it – nothing overly manicured, with the bunkers often just running into the fairway with no solid demarcation.
Calling out particular holes feels unnecessary as they are almost all great holes. And but for some gentle work by Kyle Phillips, it remains much as Simpson left it nearly 100 years ago.
The early par 3s play much longer than on the card thanks to a combination of pin positions and conditions, yet you never feel anything is beyond your reach with a good shot.
Rated highly by architecture luminaries such as Geoff Shackelford and Mike Clayton, what makes it so special is the unrelenting quality of the holes.
The course is, happily, not without its quirks – a tree in the middle of the short 13th or the ‘frog’ rock on the 16th. But they don’t irritate here, simply add charm and memorability. Rated highly by architecture luminaries such as Geoff Shackelford and Mike Clayton, what makes it so special is the unrelenting quality of the holes.
They all make you think, make you admire and make you smile; is there much more you can ask of a course?
It makes no difference whatsoever to our ranking of a course, but it would be remiss not to at least make mention of the ambience of this special place.
It is famously exclusive and really a course just for the members and their guests. However, resourceful visitors can find their way on.
It would be hard to describe the building where you check in as a ‘clubhouse’ because as soon as you enter you know this is something very different.
Our host described it as like going into someone’s house – there is a nice living room with a small bar, a large bathroom to get changed in and a pleasant dining room. And that’s about it. It’s about as far away from the excesses of the great country clubs of the US or the resort courses of Europe as you can imagine.
There is no pro shop here, rather a converted cupboard which has a handful of items to purchase should you really need them – buying a Morfontaine logoed jumper requires the club Directeur’s agreement, as it isn’t handed out to all.
Lunch here, meanwhile, is extraordinarily good.
The dining room is a simple affair – the terrace is a great spot on a nice day – but you know you are in the world centre of gastronomy when the food arrives; chicken terrine, lamb and finally pear tartin and plate of cheese, all accompanied by a bottle of Pouilly Fume. Heaven.
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