I recently spent some days with my wife in the Biarritz area and managed to play Chiberta, Hossegor and Le Phare.
Chiberta has already been discussed in another thread by Cristian Willaert (
http://golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,41955.0/) so I thought I would add Hossegor to the portfolio of Colt reviews he has kindly contributed to the forum. I will also include some classical images provided by C.Meister, which I only obtained after my visit (unfortunately).
Hossegor was a 1929 design of John Morrison (the club states it was Jim) and no reference to Colt's involvement is given. Colt redesigned Biarritz so I guess he must have shown up at some point in time althogh no credit is given by the club.
I understand that some changes have been made (most notably the par 5, 15th green and I believe bunkering styles) by Cabell Robinson, but I do not know to what extent. Maybe someone knowledgeable may add to the discussion (Stuart?)
I found the course to be extremely flat (except 14 and 15) with many holes looking and playing very similar to each other. None of the intense variety found at Chiberta and certainly none of the dirt moving that has been discussed at other Colt European sites such as St. Germain. This makes the course little dull, in my opinion, especially in the first nine, although the second nine do show some more movement and angles. Length of the par 4 holes is also quite similar (many with 375-400m) with stretches of 3-4 holes playing very similar, which also doesn't help.
Despite some of its weaknesses, I did find that the course was a good test, with many long par 4s and certainly much better than most courses in the area. Although not up to the level of Chiberta from an architectural point, Hossegor is much less crowded and does not have all the road crossings and encroaching housing, which does make for a more pleasant golfing experience, in my view.
1st, par 5, 443
Wide par 5 with bunker at left side of fairway. The green is only protected by a very large bunker that extends 40m into the fairway and another at the back which does not really come into play. Movement in the greens is mostly subtle but ever present throughout the course.
2nd, par 3, 149m
Medium length par 3 with very large green. The bunkers are also large and the "pot-bunker-on-top-of-lower-bunker" is featured in a couple of other holes. I understand that this is part of the "renovations" carried out at the club.
3rd, par 4, 328m
The hole plays parallel to a river, but since its covered with bushes, you have no evidence of balls falling in the water. Interestingly it was not marked with red or white stakes. Again, large bunkers protecting a green that slopes front to back featuring a mound in the middle that sprays balls everywhere.
4th, par 5, 490m
Straightforward par 5 requiring to sort bunkers at both sides of the fairway.
5th par 3, 198m
One of the best holes in the course. Long par 3 with a bunker that plays very short of the green (20-30m) and that confounds the player from the tee. A ball low draw played over the bunker will bounce on a downslope and hit the green. The other alternative is to play a fade to avoid the high trees which do come into play on the right side. Missing to the left will leave your ball in a deep bunker or in the river if pulled further left.
6th, par 4, 413m
Another good hole. A tee shot requiring a strong fade if the green is to be reached in two. Two bunkers on the left side of the fairway prevent hooked balls from running into the forest.
The green shot can be played over the bunker or also to the right of the green, where the a side-down slope will feed balls onto the green.
7th, par 4, 376m
Straight par 4 with no special interest.
8th, par 3, 185m
Long par 3 played to a very large and undulating green with a steep back to front slope. I doubt that the hole was that long years ago as it is quite hard to place the ball accurately to where the pin is playing and 3putts are quite easy to achieve.
9th, par 4, 385m
Another straight par 4, featuring a green with two distinct plateaus, only one of which (right) can be seen from the fairway. The other is hidden by the left greenside bunker.
10th, par 4, 380m
Another straight par 4 (third in a row) with a more attractive green location featuring a hollow fronting the green and bunkers that make the illusion of the green playing shorter than it really does.
From 11th to 14, for some reason, my camera stopped working, so no pictures of any of those.
11th, par 4 375m
Sharp dogleg requiring play over the inside corner, over a bunker (a 200m carry) to place the ball so the green can be reached in 2. The green is in a hollow and blind from the fairway, fronted by a large bunker to the left.
12th, par 5, 435m
Short, reachable par 5 also dogleg left. The green site is very similar to the third, sloping front to back.
13th, par 4, 380m
Slight dogleg left playing over a very large bunker-waste area that looks like a remnant of what the course was in it early days. Full of sand....Green sloping back to front with bunkers on both sides.
14th, par 3, 152m
This is a very nice par 3, playing uphill to to a green that sits in a hollow. The green slopes very strongly back to front and balls over the pin are very hard to stop.
The only remaining bunker plays short of the green and not fully embracing it, as the old photo shows. A real pity, as today, tee shots can be played to the banks of the green and will bounce onto the putting surface making it substantially less interesting than in the past.
15th, par 5, 445m
After a hike up the only hill in the property, we have to play a blind drive to a downsloping fairway which also doglegs left. Not very difficult if you know where to hit and have confidence on the direction pole that looks waaay left from the teeing area. The fairway is tilted right to left, so it also helps funnel balls onto the middle of the fairway.
If we find the fairway, we have a long shot with a downslope stance to a very narrow, elevated green protected by bunkers on both sides. The ditch that the old photos show is no longer there.
I would say almost impossible to hit and stop in 2, although there is plenty of room to the right of the green to lay up and run the ball up to the green. Photos clearly show that his has been altered, with no option of playing an aggressive shot to the green
A fantastic hole nonetheless and the only one with some slope in the most flat golf property I have ever seen!!!!!
16th, par 4 376m
Very narrow tee shot, again dogleg left. Must be played right of the bunker (which sits at 200-220m) to get best shot at green. The green slopes heavily from left to right and back to front and the left side bunker sits well short of the green, as many others do at Hossegor.
17th, par 3 173m
Again a par 3 of similar length to the prior ones, with a flattish green and asking for a fade.
18th, par 4, 323m
Nice short par 4 to finish. Drive plays to a narrow fairway lined with bunkers to the right and trees to the left. A pulled ball will result in a couple of trees blocking the shot to the green.
The green is protected by large, deep bunkers. The front bunker, again, plays much shorter than it seems with space to land the ball between it and the green. Balls missed to the left have tough recovery due to tilt of green towards the bunkers.
The green is one of the best in the course with a couple of very large swales that move balls around and that allow to play the ball safely away from the bunkers if one knows the contours in advance (which I didn't!).
The clubhouse is the original one, and we did not get to eat more than a sandwich, as the kitchen closed at 3pm (were are not used to this in Spain!!!!!!!!). Some nice old pictures of the course hang in the men's locker room, but the club does not to be very much into its own history, which is a shame.