Golf De Hardelot - France

English golfers popularized golf at many of the fashionable French seaside resorts, but this was particularly true of the coast along the Pas de Calais and Picardy, which is home to Wimereux, Le Touquet, and Hardelot. Hardelot owes its birth to Sir John Whitley, who recognized the potential for golf of the dunescape along the stretch of coast from Berck to Cape Gris Nez, christened the "Opal Coast" by the painter Leveque. Whitley walked the entire length of the coast looking for an ideal site, and came across an old castle that had been restored in Gothic style by Sir John Hare in 1849. It was here that he founded the original nine-hole Hardelot course in the early 1900s, designed by Harry Vardon. The course that exists today, known as Hardelot Les Pins, was designed by the English architect Tom Simpson. Rebuilt after World War II, the course weaves its way through the sandy soil of the old pine forest.

 

Golf D'Etretat - France

Golf flourished in France at the turn of the 20th century at the famous seaside resorts of Normandy-Dieppe, Etretat, Cabourg, Grandville, and Deauville. Golf d'Etretat lies atop the spectacular white limestone cliffs that make this France's ''Alabaster Coast." Like many of the courses along the Channel Coast, Etretat was started by visiting British golfers. Founded in 1908, the course was laid out by Monsieur Chantepie, the designer of La Boulie outside Paris, with advice from Arnaud Massy, the only French golfer ever to win the British Open (he did it in 1907). The white cliffs of Etretat and its harbor attracted many of the great Impressionist and landscape artists, including Corot, Boudin, and Monet. At the far end of the cliffs from the course is the monument to the aviators Charles Nungesser and Franyois Coli, who were last seen over Etretat in 1927 during their unsuccessful attempt to fly from Paris to New York in their biplane "The White Bird."