TEEING OFF OLD MEETS NEW
TEEING OFF OLD MEETS NEW IN THE LOIRE The new golf course at Les Bordes is one of France’s most anticipated openings—and it’s just the beginning of development on the storied estate.// By Farhad Heydari 48 NetJets
GREEN HEAVEN The 7th hole on the New Course at Les Bordes. WHEN IT COMES to naming Continental Europe’s golfing lotuslands—those instantly recognizable courses steeped in legend and lore—most 36-a-day types can only manage but a handful. They’ll name resort courses (they’ve either played or have seen played) in Spain and Portugal, while giving France a pass altogether. What they won’t know, however, is that four of the top ten courses in the continent’s top 100 are of a Gallic variety. Among these standouts is the Old Course at Les Bordes: A gated 1,300-acre hunting estate in the Loire Valley where, under diktat from the erstwhile owner, Baron Marcel Bich (of Bic Biro fame), Texas-based architect Robert von Hagge created his chef-d’oeuvre in 1986, by turning a tract on this secluded and wooded domain just 90 minutes from Paris in what is colloquially known as the Garden of France, into a championship opus that is roundly considered in the highest echelons of the global golfing firmament—on par, in some eyes, with Augusta National. With its watery panorama of lakes, ponds, and streams, which come into play on no fewer than a dozen holes, all framed by ancient oak forest, this 7,044-yard Bonsaiperfect track would be enough of a draw for most. However, the current owners of this vast estate decided that the original 18-hole NetJets 49
