By Claude Granveaud Vallat
In 1968, when the cobblestones were flying low in the Latin Quarter, far from the Parisian bazaar, the Besançon Golf Collection was born on the heights of La Chevillotte, in the heart of a 200-hectare property overlooking the capital of French watchmaking.
There, in the Franche-Comté region, the Englishman Michael Fenn was inspired to create this course, set between the woods of Clochetière and Sagette, where the vegetation was already flourishing. In the perspective of the oak and fir fairways, the layouts leave an illusion of narrowness but the fairways are wide enough to welcome the balls towards small elevated greens protected by about fifty well placed bunkers. The water hazards on the 10th, to the right of the drive chute and to the left of the green, are worth watching. On the outward leg, the doglegs – in play on 1, 2, 3, 5, 7 and 8 – accentuate the impression of forest density.
In this rural and quiet setting, the rare sounds come from the trees where the birds are king, the views of the Franc-Comtois forest are superb, especially in autumn when the color of the leaves changes every day in an infinite palette of shades. This is a season when the big animals also take courage on the course, in the evening, when the terrace of the club-house, facing the 18th green, is still full. A nice show, far from the birdies!
Golf de Besançon
Route du Golf
25620 Chevillotte
Tél. : 03 81 55 73 54.
Site : www.golfbesancon.com
18T, par 72, 6071 m
Création : 1968
Architecte : Michael Fenn
