Golf de Biarritz le Phare

The verdict

Few courses carry as much golfing history as Biarritz le Phare. The British set founded it in 1888, when expatriates created an eighteen hole course for gentlemen along with tennis, cricket and croquet, and it remains the third oldest club on the continent after Pau and Dinard, both also in France. Tom and Willie Dunn laid out the original holes, and decades later Harry Colt added bunkers and length, giving the course much of the shape it carries today. It is a par 69 of about 5,402 meters in the heart of the resort.

This is not a long or modern test, and you should not come expecting one. You come for the atmosphere, the sense of playing where the game first took hold in France, and for a charming, walkable round a short stroll from the beach and the lighthouse that gives the course its name. The original Biarritz course also gave golf one of its most copied design ideas, the Biarritz green, a piece of architectural heritage in its own right. See our best of France ranking and the golf in France guide.

The holes worth the trip

Biarritz le Phare plays across open, gently rolling ground in the middle of the resort, hemmed by villas and tamarisk rather than dunes, and that townscape setting is part of its appeal. It is a course of position and touch, where keeping the ball below the hole and finding the right side of the fairway matters far more than raw distance off the tee.

Harry Colt's later work shows in the bunkering, which frames the lines and asks honest questions on a layout that might otherwise feel benign, while the greens reward a soft, well judged approach. There is nothing tricked up about it, just a sequence of fair, walkable holes that flatter a thoughtful round and punish carelessness in the old fashioned way.

What lingers is the sense of place. To tee it up here is to play in the footsteps of the Victorian and Edwardian pioneers who brought golf to the Atlantic coast, a few minutes from the lighthouse, the surf and the cafes of one of France's most stylish seaside towns. For a Basque coast golf trip it is a round you take for the history as much as the golf.

Where to stay nearby

Biarritz needs little introduction, a glamorous Atlantic resort of grand hotels, surf beaches and Belle Epoque architecture, with the golf course right in town. Stay in the center and you can walk to the first tee, the beach and dinner, which makes it one of the most enjoyable golf bases in France.

The course sits naturally on a Basque coast golf tour alongside the links at Chiberta nearby and the parkland of Chantaco at Saint-Jean-de-Luz. See our golf in France guide for how to combine them.

Looking for a base? See our recommended hotels and resorts in Biarritz and the Basque coast.