Golf de Moliets

The verdict

Golf de Moliets sits on the Landes coast of southwest France, in the small resort of Moliets-et-Maa between the great pine forest and the Atlantic surf. Robert Trent Jones Sr., the most prolific course architect of the twentieth century, laid out the 18 hole Foret et Ocean course and it opened in 1989. It has been a fixture of every list of the best resort courses in France ever since.

What makes it memorable is the journey. Most of the round threads through quiet corridors of maritime pine, generous off the tee but framed tightly enough to reward a shaped drive, then the land opens dramatically as the course reaches the coast and the holes run among the sand dunes within sight and sound of the ocean. At about 6,286 metres it is a fair par 72 rather than a brute, and a separate nine hole course called l'Airial gives a softer option for families or a quick loop. For a golf and beach trip on the Atlantic, Moliets is the easy centrepiece.

The holes worth the trip

Moliets is built around a contrast. For long stretches you play through the Landes pines on rolling, sandy ground, with doglegs that ask you to favour one side of the fairway and approaches into greens tucked among the trees. It is sheltered, scented and quiet, the sort of golf that lets you find a rhythm before the course shows its hand.

Then come the dune holes. The most talked about stretch carries you out toward the Atlantic, where the par 3s play over and through the sand hills with the surf as a backdrop and the wind suddenly a factor it never was in the trees. These are the photographs everyone takes home, and they lift Moliets from a good resort course to a genuinely memorable one. The greens throughout carry the gentle Trent Jones movement, large and receptive but defended by smart bunkering, so a round here is testing without ever feeling unfair.

For the visiting golfer it is the perfect coastal counterpoint to the forest test at nearby Seignosse and the links at Hossegor, immaculately kept and built for an enjoyable, scenic day.

Where to stay nearby

Moliets itself is a low key beach resort with apartments and small hotels a short walk from the first tee, ideal if you want golf and the ocean on the doorstep. For more choice, Hossegor and Capbreton are half an hour south, stylish twin towns full of good hotels, seafood and the famous surf beaches, while Bordeaux to the north adds a city base with the wine country attached.

Moliets pairs naturally with the other great courses of the southwest, from the forest test at Seignosse to the links at Hossegor and the historic layouts around Biarritz. Tell us when you want to play and we will build the trip around it, golf, surf and the good life of the Landes.

Looking for a base? See our recommended hotels and resorts near Golf de Moliets.