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Thursday, 20 November 2008 |
Even the experienced golfer will find a sizeable challenge at the Château-Les-Merles course.
John Paton hits the green to find out all the inside tricks.
Château-Les-Merles is a
beautiful 17th century
chateau on the edge of the
village of Tuilières near
Mouleydier and just off the D660,
the main road from Bergerac to
Sarlat. Renowned as a charming
hotel and very popular as a stylish
restaurant, Les Merles also boasts
an interesting and challenging
nine-hole golf course. The
compact, par 35 course meanders
through rolling hills, valleys and
wooden areas and features a
number of sand and water
hazards that will test the
experienced golfer, while offering
a friendly knock for hotel visitors
and club members alike.
You will either love or hate the
first hole. A nine iron tee shot is
not to everyone’s liking but this
230-metre downhill hole with a
green that is both shallow and
well protected by water in front
and to the left should not be
treated lightly. A blind drive could
easily make the distance but
approaching from the level ledge
about half way down the fairway
offers a good view and a better
bet for a par.
The course then proceeds
through a straightforward par 3
and a dog-leg left par 4 where an
approach that cannot be seen
from the fairway, slightly left of
the green, will mostly likely
bounce into the lake. The fourth
hole is only 100 metres or so, but
this is all carry over water so be
sure of your short iron distances.
It is a bit of a climb up from
the fourth green to the fifth tee,
but you are then rewarded with a
drivable par 4, which requires
some shape on the shot to avoid
the large tree just left of the
middle of the fairway. The danger
on the par 4 sixth is the bunker on
the right, which might catch your
drive and then under clubbing
and seeing your approach roll
back off the bank in front of the
green.
The par 5 seventh can be
reached in two but requires two
good strikes, and some help may
be available from the banking on
the right that may kick a pushed
shot back into the middle. The par
4 eighth plays longer than it
appears as it is all uphill.
My favourite hole is the ninth,
which can be played as a dog-leg
right or, like me, you may imagine
you are on the 17th at Saint
Andrews and assess how much of
the corner you can cut off and
drive over the allotments and
vineyard.
Château-Les-Merles offers
good practice facilities including a
driving range, practice bunker and
putting green, but make sure you
make time to enjoy a coffee
before your round or a cold drink
and a snack afterwards on the
beautiful terrace.
In the table below, the playing of each hole starts from
a teeing area (TEE), colour-coded based on the
proficiency of the golfer – white for category 1 men,
yellow for other men, blue for category 1 ladies and
red for other ladies. LENGTH is total distance for the
18 holes played from each tee; the Standard Scratch
Score (SSS) is the score a scratch golfer (professional)
should achieve; and SLOPE is the degree of difficulty
based on a formula provided
by the French Golf Federation.
| TEE |
White |
Yellow |
Blue |
Red |
| Length (m) |
5098 |
5098 |
4580 |
4580
|
| SSS |
67.3 |
67.3 |
69.8 |
69.8
|
| Slope |
121
|
121 |
123 |
123 |
|
