Seignosse

The architect Robert von Hagge was a strong player himself and believed courses should reward the long games of skilled golfers.

This theory manifested itself in his designs and as a result he has a reputation for creating demanding courses that are verging on too tough.

This course in the south-west of France could well be Exhibit A. Opened in 1989, it is usually spoken of in fearful tones.

One of the collection of outstanding courses in the Aquitaine region, it soothes the golfer with its beauty among mature trees and natural water features, but it also pains with its unrelenting challenge.

There is certainly no need to play it off anything like the back tees to feel its force; the 6,100-yard yellow tees are quite sufficient for all but single-figure players and the whites at nearly 6,500 are in my view for golfers closer to scratch than nine.

This woodland-heathland hybrid simply doesn’t need length to challenge, and although the grass is distinctly different, its design elements remind you of those more often seen on a sporty links.

On a stellar front nine there are characterful, short par 4s such as the downhill 2nd; there are mounds and hollows reminiscent of Perranporth on the 6th; there are intriguing dog-legs such as the 9th, finishing on a seriously-elevated green.

Coming home the par-5 11th oozes class and the thunderous, narrow 18th ends the round as it has been for the most part; unremittingly demanding.

Then on the back nine there is the brilliant sporty par-4 14th. Its fewer than 340 yards off the whites but your approach has to travel over water to find the slim, tiered green within a cool green complex hidden in a corner of the site.

These shorter holes are absolutely essential among the longer, tougher ones but in truth the latter dominate the former in number. Von Hagge designed Seignosse to make you work, and that it does.

Coming home the par-5 11th oozes class and the thunderous, narrow 18th ends the round as it has been for the most part; unremittingly demanding but somehow not dispiritingly so. Chris Bertram

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