Cannes Mandelieu Golf Club - France

Golf was introduced to the French Riviera by Grand Duke Michael of Russia, who founded Cannes Golf Club in 1891, making it the fourth-oldest club in France. Grand Duke Michael's own introduction to the game came while on a partridge shoot in Scotland, when his curiosity was aroused by distant sightings of  golfers on the Old Course at St. Andrews. The Grand Duke and his wife, Countess Sophie de Turbie, granddaughter of the poet Pushkin, had been exiled from Russia by Czar Alexander III and had taken up residence in Cannes. Having cultivated an enthusiastic band of fellow golfers, the Grand Duke inaugurated a nine-hole course through the parasol pines. The course was subsequently expanded to 18 holes, with Harry Colt having a hand in the redesign, but the esplanades of parasol pines remain the overriding feature. The River Siagne runs through the course, with a little ferry transporting golfers between the second and third and 12th and 13th holes. The rustic, half-timbered clubhouse was originally a hunting lodge.

Monte Carlo Golf Club - France

The Monte Carlo Golf Club at Mont Agel in La Turbie, France, is a showstopper, its fairways teetering on the mountainside plateau overlooking the Principality of Monaco. Indeed, at times the course can be shrouded in clouds, but on a typical clear day there are giddy views of Monte Carlo out to San Tropez and across the cerulean Mediterranean all the way to the outline of Corsica on the horizon. The first 11 holes unfold with unspoiled views of the mountains, while the final seven overlook the sea. The course has undergone substantial revisions in recent years, but was laid out by William Parker in 1911 at the request of the Societe des 13ains de Mer. Not surprisingly, the course is steep but the fairways are generous and clustered with elegant cypress. Prince Rainier has played the course reg­ularly and the Monte Carlo Open, a European Tour event, was held here from 1984 to 1992.