#97: Chantilly, Le Vineuil

I was lucky enough to receive an invite to Chantilly thanks to Footjoy/Titleist. They were launching their new footwear and 2013 apparel to the media and as Equipment Editor for Golfalot, I was included in the list.  

I flew into Paris, and drove to my hotel 25 minutes away, nearby Chantilly. For the record, Chantilly is not pronounced as many Scots (including the one writing this article) would pronounce it. It is not Shan-tilly, rather Shaun-tee. Very french, and fun to say.

I played both courses, although only got 9 holes on the Longeres course. Hearing that the club was like the Sunningdale of France, it is safe to say I was looking forward to the days ahead. 

Anyone designing the layout of a golf resort so take a trip to Chantilly. The area is known for its horses and Chateau De Chantilly (very impressive by the way), and the golf club mirrors that country feel. You drive in via a long, straight, narrow road, that immediately inspires images of Magnolia Lane at Augusta. With the practice area on the right hand side, you park short of the old-styled clubhouse and walk up to the club.  

The two courses sit next to each other below the clubhouse and you can't help but take position on the back side of the clubhouse looking out over the links and take a deep, satisfying breath. 

The clubhouse, the facilities, the lockeroom, the bar and restaurant all have a very established, private and traditional feel.  

Before playing the more famous Le Vineuil course, we were warned of its challenges. Penal bunkering, hard firm fairways and thick, punishing rough. Apparently hitting the ball "long and straight" is the way to play the course(!). 

After hitting a few shots on the practice area through the rugby posts that sit in the middle of the range, I took off down the hill to the first tee and one of the best opening holes I have seen or played. 

Navigating away from the clubhouse, the first holes plays like a long corridor with small, but dense trees on the left and rough and deep bunkers down the right. The hole, like much of the course has a very square and geometrically inspired feel to it. Bunkers have bevelled square edges, greens a manicured with uniform ridges and the fairways bend and hug their way around the trees and thick rough. 

The opening four holes are all very different and present a tricky challenge. The short 300-yard second hole for example, tempts you to pull the driver, but rewards those who retreat to a 5-iron.  

The rest of the course bends around in an interesting, almost confusing layout, in and out of small pockets of forests and trees. It is easily to imagine that visitors without guidance could play 28 holes before releasing that they had teed on on the wrong hole, likely several times.  

Approach to 16

The course is tough, and demands consideration and quality off the tee. The approach shots are not overly demanding, but in the conditions we had (hot and dry), each shot required precise control.  

Chantilly Le Vineuil's finishing holes may be what players remember most about their day. The final 3 holes are pretty unforgettable. The tee shot on 16 sets you up to hit a mid to long approach between a gap in the trees over a gorge that must be 70 feet deep.  

Par-3 17th

17 is a 180 yard or so par-3 that plays back down away from the clubhouse into the gorge that continues from the 16th. Judging the correct club that will find the green 70 feet below you is the name of the game on this short hole. 

The final hole requires a certain degree of energy. Not because of its length or configuration, but rather because it requires a long, steep walk to the tee. While you might curse the walk on the way up, the hole deserves the view you gain from the higher tee, allowing you to see the hole in its entirety and see your ball land. A relatively tight tee shots, sets up a second shot that needs to carefully avoid several bunkers to find the large, tiered green.

Best Hole: 

1st. From its position below the clubhouse, to the challenging tee shot, long approach and intricate green design, it welcomes you to the challenge of Chantilly and takes no prisoners. The uniform look to the bunkers on the right of the hole, married with the straight-edged trees that border the left, it is a tee shot that inspires you to pure your first driver off the day.

Worst Hole:

2nd. To be perfectly honest, thinking of a weak hole isn't easy. I choose the second as it is a short, driveable par-4, but in my opinion it doesn't invite the same risk-reward aspect as it perhaps should. There is no bail out for a driver and the layout up isn't easy either. The green complex is testing and fun to play into, but the tee shot design was slightly disappointing.

Best Moment: 

Tee shot on 18. As noted above, you will be muttering under your breath as you walk a couple of hundred yards up the steep hill to get to the tee. But when you do, you will appreciate why. A glance at the view from the lower tee will tell you exactly why it is worth the climb. Plus, a strategically placed bench awaits the weary golfer for a temporary rest-bite before the demanding tee shot ensues.

Unique Feature:

Bomb Shelter/Water Stations. Positioned to the left of the 8th tee is a tiny building that sits primarily underground. Easily missed, the shelter houses two water coolers that offer hydration at a key stage of the round. The next two holes host the two par-5s of the front nine. It is recommended to take a moment to recharge at this point before going after the next couple of holes.

The day I was there, I visited the shelter 3 times to refill my water bottle. Several members of our party never saw the shelter and struggled round the four hours in 25 degree heat without water. Ouch.

Trivia:

Founded in 1909, Chantilly has hosted several notable tournaments including the French Open. In 1913, George Duncan won the first French Open at Chantilly, with a score of 304. The highest score in the competition's history. Some of the best players to play the game have played at Chantilly including Bobby Jones and Nick Faldo (who won the 1983 French Open here).

#26 - Royal St George's

It's one thing being able to play one of these courses once, but being offered the chance to play the same one 3 times... in 3 days... for free... well, that is a great opportunity.

 The unmistakable starter's huts by the 1st tee
  

Luckily I was granted that opportunity when my former high/senior school invited me to join the school's former-pupil team to compete in one of the longest running amateur events in the golfing calender, the Halford Hewitt. The Hewitt is a 4-day, 64 team knockout competition in which teams field 5 teams of foursomes (i.e. 10 players). The first rounds are split over Royal St. George's and Royal Cinque Ports (a fantastic links course in it's own merit and host to the 1909 and 1920 Open Championship), with the remaining 3 rounds taking place solely on the links at Deal (i.e. Royal Cinque Ports). 
 

 The iconic Royal St. George's flag with the clubhouse in the background
  

Getting to Royal St. George's is a challenge on it's own merit. In the far south-east of England, about 1.5 hours from London, the drive takes you past the White Cliffs of Dover and from that point on, you feel you have stepped back in history. The long, winding, single-lane roads that lead to Royal St. George's only add to your anticipation of the course and pulling into the club is like pulling into a countryside residence of the Royals. The clubhouse has a homely appearance and feel to it and it is not until you walk around the back of the clubhouse that you get your first glimpse of those English flags (Royal St. George's is the only course that use the Royal St. George's flag on its greens).
 

Tee shot on the 5th hole
  

As with many Open Championship courses I have played, you arrive expecting to marvel at the galleries of mounds surrounding the course and pick out holes from one vantage point. Royal St. George's is not like that, in fact few courses really are. Although this is probably the only part of the experience that borders on disappointment.


The course is quirky, bumpy, but a true test of golf. The course will test every shot in your bag by the time you stand on the 6th tee. Great mix of straight holes, slight doglegs and strategically challenge shots. A lot of people feel the humps and bumps make the course quite unplayable, which I can understand but as I enjoy creative, testing courses, I really enjoyed the challenge. 
 

 
Look down the long, tough 15th hole
  

Best Hole:

4th. Unfortunately, the best hole may also be the toughest hole. The 4th hole welcomes you to the tee by dropping a sand-filled crater directly in your eye line (recently named the deepest bunker in championship golf). A blind tee shot is required to carry this bunker that positions itself like a overweight, stubborn child trying to take pride of place in a family picture. Once you tee shot is away, the hole only just begins. The green complex is the most extreme on the course and will happily reject any shot not up to par. Out of bounds is 5 yards over the green, and short will leave you a putt that will make the Valley of Sin (St. Andrews Old Course) look like a minor pitch-mark on a green. Make par here and feel free to boast about it for the rest of the day!


Worst Hole:
5th. To be specific the second half of the 5th. After a dramatic and testing start, you are severely tested off the tee at the 5th to then be presented with a bland, blind, boring second shot. No real trouble protecting a relatively flat, square green. Walking to the green has the feel of a practice area. Slight let-down after the opening holes, but seen as it is really only half of one hole, I will forgive Dr. William Laidlaw Purves (RSG's course designer)


Best Moment:
Tee Shot on 14. Out of Bounds down the entire right side of the hole... deep rough left... typically a strong left to right wind. Do whatever you need to do to safely send you ball fairway bound.


Unique Feature:
Thatched huts. One of the first thing you notice and one of the staples of the course is the thatched roof starter huts (see above). As with the entire Royal St. George's experience, these huts give you a polite welcome and a glimpse at how golf was played in the early days. The hut on the 13th tee is like nothing I have ever seen. A room in the middle of nowhere, you walk into what must be a 6 metre-squared room that looks and feels like a 19th century pub. The smell of the freshly baked sausage rolls is enough to make you rush your putts on the 12th green, and the members typically choose to accompany this delicacy with a warm Bovril and Sherry. Of course they do!

 The race for sausage rolls on the 13th tee
  

Trivia:

- The 8th hole played as the hardest hole on Tour in 2003 when the Open was here. Play this behemoth into the wind, and you will understand exactly why that was.


- Ian Fleming, author of the James Bond books, was a member at Royal St. George's and until recently you could sit and read the first editions of his Bond books in the clubhouse. Following his death they were removed and put into a museum.

#11 - Pebble Beach

Unfortunately my reason for visiting the California coast was to attend my great-uncle's memorial service, following his passing earlier this year. My brother and I met in Los Angeles and made the trip to San Francisco from there. Planning the trip along the coast, we chose various sites to stop and see along the way (i.e. Hearst Castle, Big Sur, Santa Cruz etc) and that is when I realised there was a chance that we could maybe squeeze in a day at Pebble.
  

For those of you unaware, Pebble is not the cheapest or easiest place to get a tee time. Seen as we weren't staying in the resort hotel, we had one option: to call the morning before the day we wanted to play...and pray.
  

Our 7.10am tee time  

  

The phone lines opened at 6am. My alarm was set for 5.40am, and I began calling repeatadely on my mobile and the hotel room from 5.50am onwards. At 6.10am I finally got through and thought I may have missed my chance. To my delight, the lady on the other end of the phone said "We have two tee times available, second off at 7.10am or 3pm." They could not guarantee the 3pm tee time would get round, so it was going to be an early start for us, but the 7.10am tee time was ours.
  

Putting green at Pebble. Would have been happy spending the day just practicing here.

Driving to one of these courses is always an exciting time. The drive to Pebble something pretty special. For one, Monterey is a very wealthy area, with homes that look like hotels ushering you through tree-lined streets between some of the finest golf courses on the planet. 17-mile drive is worth doing regardless of your affliation with golf, and on this morning it was dark but still immensely impressive.

 

We arrived later than we should have and didn't have time for the range, and just enough time to drop more $500 each for our green fee at the pro shop, meet our playing partners (you will almost certainly be paired up at Pebble, lucky we had two brothers from New Jersey that were good fun to play well). I approached the starter, who appeared to be in the best mood possible (understandable considering his day job), and asked what tees we could play of. I had noticed the "US Open discs" at the very rear of the 1st tee. "What are you handicaps?" he asked. Viewing that question as a direct influence on my chance to play a US Open course, I said "Zero and 5". Although my brother plays to about a 10 normally, I estimated the cutoff for the back tees might be five. "You can start off the backs and see how you go". Permission granted!
  

The family of deer we had to wait for on the 1st tee

So Scott and I strided back to the back of the 1st tee, which in front of the 40 or so golfers, caddies and members of staff, felt like a walk to the plate at Fenway. Shortish par-4 that doglegs to the right. I had 3-wood in hand and my brother, who needed to hit a good shot to validate my lie to the starter, opted for a trusty 1-iron. We waited for a family of deer to vacate the fairway and were then announced onto the tee by our new best friend (who hadn't stop smiling since his alarm went off this morning by the looks of things). I took aim and sent a surprisingly good 3-wood down the right side of fairway. Scott teed his 1-iron low and I began thinking of what might be about to happen. Giant divot? Shank? Top towards our playing partners? I took a deep breath and squinted as he took his backswing. To my delight, Scott sent a stinging 1-iron about 50 feet off the ground right down the middle of the fairway, likely leaving all those in attendance to believe I was actually the 5 handicap. Regardless, we took off down the fairway with smiles that matched that of the starter whom we thanked for letting us play from the back tees.

The 1st green, gives you an idea of the size of the greens  

We spent the rest of the round playing from the US Open discs as often as possible, although on some holes (i.e. 3) they are too far back to walk to. The sun was out, the temperature was rising and we were at Pebble Beach. The occasion was enough to be happy with, which is a blessing as I decided to play like a beginner over the opening holes. A total of 4 double bogeys meant I stood on the 7th tee at 8 over par. There are few courses in the world that I could so easily accept being 8 over through 7, but the view you get a Pebble will make you forget about almost anything. You want to just take a seat and soak it up for a few minutes, hours, or days even. Unfortunately, the marshalls that herd people round the course make sure you don't waste your time. 110 yards, back left pin, and I took dead aim. A good shot, overdrawn slightly, found the left fringe, about 12 feet away. The putt missed but I enjoyed every step of the journey down what has to be one of the most iconic patches of land on the earth. I also had time to take on the caddy's challenge of trying to throw a hole-in-one.
   

  

Each hole at Pebble inspires a different emotion within and challenges from the tee shot to the approach. Growing up playing links golf, I was used to seeing an approach shot land close only to get up to the green and realise it was in fact 30 feet away. Pebble is the opposite. The greens are far smaller than you expect. I didn't hit many greens early on, but on nine I hit an seven-iron that I tried to draw back to the left pin, but left it out the right side of the green. An average shot, or so I though. We got to the green and I had a good look at birdie from about 15 feet?!
  

Scott soaking up the view on the 9th fairway

 

The routing of the holes at Pebble is genius. You begin in-tight around the clubhouse and pro-shop and head out through the first 3 holes, enjoying hitting shots from what looks like a billards table. Then on 4 you get a glimpse of the rugged coast line and it accompanies you for the next 6 holes, well and truly in play at each one of them.
  

The 4th green

 

From there you head back towards the clubhouse and more in-land, but still with great panoramic views of the coastline. With no easy holes, you try and survive your way around only to be met with the last two holes that can take pride of place on any course in the world. 17 is an incredibly tough par-3 that shoots back directly towards the ocean and simply sets the stage for 18. 
  

The view from the tee at 17, shame the weather wasn't better(!)   

Tighter than you expect, the tee shot on 18 is one to savour. I hope the photos tell the story, but I doubt they can truly convey the feeling you get standing at that point on the course. 
  

 The tee shot at 18   
  

The 18th hole feels like a walk of honour as you wrap back around to the clubhouse and impersonate all the famous shots that have been hit there. My drive came rest extremely close to where Tiger sliced a 3-wood onto the green in the 3rd round of the 2010 US Open. That shot may have looked good on tv, but I can tell you it looked a lot better from my position on the fairway a few months later on. I stood there in awe of the distance I was from the green (approx. 260y to the front). Add to that the tree overhanging in the way, and you can understand why I hit a 5-wood and laid-up about 100 yards short.
  

 Looking back down the 18th
  

I missed my 15 foot birdie putt, but walked off with a 34 on the back nine, for a round of 78, which felt like 68 considering my early doubles. Scott and I stood around the 18th green for a moment, capturing some photos and soaking up our last few moments on the course.
  

It is common knowledge that you will undoubtably spend as much in the Pebble Beach shop as you will playing the course. We can certainly attest to that. You quickly learn to not look at prices, and simply respond to each possible purchase with the phrase "When I am ever going to be back here?". Plus, a Pebble Beach polo shirt makes a pretty good gift! 
  

We headed to the clubhouse to chase down some lunch, but after seeing the catch-of-the-day was $100, decided we best get back to the working-class world. Which we did, with Pebble at our back and smiles on our faces.

Best Hole:  

  
I know what you're thinking, but I am going to say the 8th. Still with the emotions of the 7th fresh in your mind, you prepare yourself for a let-down on 8, only to be blown-away by what is one of the most intimidating and incredible second shots in golf. A blind tee shot simply sets the scene as you walk up and over the hill to see this (below). Usually from you 180-240 yards, the second shot is just a brute.
  

Photo taken from the end of the fairway on the 8th. "Gulp!"   
  

Pair that with probably the fastest green on the course and school of bunkers ready to impair your scorecard, and you have quite the golf hole. I hit a weak 2-iron off the tee and had to hit a 3-wood to this green. Not ideal, but saved par with a good flop shot and lightening fast downhill 5 footer.
  

A look back down the 8th 
    

Worst Hole:  

  
There really is no weak holes, but the second hole feels like it could be on any course. A straight-away par-5, with a runway of a fairway leading you to the biggest bunker on the course, it lacks the wow/Pebble factor. I may have chosen it simply because I made a 7 here (a la Dustin Johnson).

Safe option is to stay well away from this bunker on the 2nd  

Best Moment: 

Take your pick, standing on the 7th tee as you attempt to talk to God asking if you can redeem your lifelong allowance of one hole-in-one at that moment, or standing on the 18th tee just in awe of the best finishing holes in golf.
  

The caddy didn't do the best job of capturing the hole as well as us?
  

Unique Feature: 

As discussed above, the size of the greens. I didn't anticipate them being so small. You really have to hit precise approach shots to have any chance. And when they get them running fast (i.e. US Open), I honestly can't imagine how difficult it is to hold some of those approach shots (especially 14, below). The description of trying to stop a ball on the roof of a VW Beetle is a perfect description.
  

A look at the 14th green, that really doesn't do the underulation justice. 

Trivia:  
  

A few weeks after we visited Pebble, a bomb was found strapped to the rockwall that skirts the edge of the 9th green. A walker on the beach noticed it and alert authorties. Before you ask, no that was not my way of getting revenge on a poor personal performance on the front nine!
  

 

 This photo was actually taken at the neighboring course Monterey Penisula CC the day before we played Pebble, but I had to get a photo of Scotland's national flower growing on the west coast of California. 

Pebble Beach 7th Hole Challenge

Had to give this a try when my brother and I got the chance to play here in 2010. Apparently one of the caddies at Pebble Beach has thrown a hole-in-one 5 times, including one slam-dunk.

110 yards down hill, I threw a little fade to about 15 feet!