Le Vrai Biarritz, et Autres Aventures au Pays Basque

[Tom_Doak]

I had the pleasure of visiting south-western France the past two days, to Biarritz and then across the border to Neguri Golf Club near Bilbao [my third experience with a Javier Arana design].  None of the courses we saw were in terribly good shape, but all of them had architectural interest.

To get it out of the way for you template-mongers, there is no longer any trace of the Biarritz hole at Biarritz Golf Club.  All along the sea-front there are now large mansions and apartment buildings, and based on the difference in quality between the back nine and the front, I must presume that Willie Dunn's routing of the front nine was considerably changed at some point along the way.  His back nine is quite tight -- I hit it into the wrong fairway on two or three holes (ugh) -- but every single one of the golf holes was good, and the par-4 11th and the short 14th must be among the best holes in France.

I also walked around Chiberta Golf Club, Tom Simpson's design which is a glaring omission from the True Links book -- the turf quality is probably not ideal for links play, but the dunes were unmistakable and the wind is always a factor.  The finishing hole that Simpson drew for his book is still exactly as he designed it, although homes and trees encroach a bit more on play today.  Again, the back nine was superior to the front, but not as glaringly, and Stuart Hallet's design consulting work for the club seems to be proceeding in the right direction.

As for Neguri, I thought it was a very testing design, as I can't remember any course which has more greens falling away from the line of play.  Here the first seven holes are open to the seashore, before the course returns to higher (and sandier) ground around the clubhouse, where the club has unfortunately planted way too many pine trees and blocked the views of the sea which would still be available down across the lower holes.  I doubt they would be interested in listening to an American designer, but I think I would like to become the recognized expert on restoring Arana's work, as everything of it I have seen is very good and it is pretty much nothing like anyone is building today. 

[Mark Bourgeois]

Re Biarritz, a nice thread a few years back with pics and drawings:

http://golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,21926.0/

[Tom_Doak]

Thanks for the link, Mark.

So, I see from the original routing that probably NONE of the current Biarritz course is really Willie Dunn's.  But there is no indication who did the current routing for the course.  I would not be at all surprised if the back nine was done by someone different than the front nine -- and someone of much greater architectural pedigree.  It didn't look like turn-of-the-century work, it was much more polished.  If anyone has an idea, I'd love to hear who it was.

BTW, the total length of today's course at Biarritz is 5900 yards, par 69.

[David Davis]

Tom, wasn't it rerouted by Colt? Or is this a completely different course?

http://www.golfbiarritz.com/en/golf/course/history

If so coincidence that it was also originally designed by the Dunn's.

[Tom_Doak]

David:

Thanks for that, and yes that's the course.  My host yesterday said some people credited the course to Colt but that there wasn't much evidence to support that; I guess he never looked at their web site, either.

Then again, a couple of the photos that flash across the top are extremely misleading in how they appear to show the course relating to the sea.  You can see over the houses when playing downhill on the 4th and 7th holes, but there is no hole that's really close to the cliff edges and I don't know how they made it look like there are.

Though there is a club attached, Biarritz Le Phare is a municipal course run by the town, and open to all.

[David Harshbarger]

Tom,

Re Arana, I hope you do become the leading authority on restoring Arana's work, and given the small body of the same, hope you find a chance to build an homage, in toto or on a hole by hole basis.  Knowing his work only through words and pictures, his deliberate use of trees in the line of play and of a water hazard shallow enough to play from, as part of a theory of golf design, seem remarkable.  Luis Buñuel comes to mind when reading and seeing photos of his work.

Dave

[Tom_Doak]

Tom,

Re Arana, I hope you do become the leading authority on restoring Arana's work, and given the small body of the same, hope you find a chance to build an homage, in toto or on a hole by hole basis.  Knowing his work only through words and pictures, his deliberate use of trees in the line of play and of a water hazard shallow enough to play from, as part of a theory of golf design, seem remarkable.  Luis Buñuel comes to mind when reading and seeing photos of his work.

Dave

David:

I'm not sure if the ideas you mentioned were things he really carried out in practice, or only wondered out loud about doing.  There were no water hazards at Neguri at all, apart from the beach at the fourth hole.

[Bill_McBride]

Tom, could you see where the original Biarritz over-the-chasm hole was located?   That would be interesting.

[Joey Chase]

I think it played out next to the lighthouse that sits on a point in town.  Which is why it is know as "Le Phare" course (french for lighthouse).  I have also read somewhere that the current course is attributed to Colt.  In fact, Whitten attributes it to Colt in the architects book. 

Was Chiberta the only other course on the French side you played?  How is the project moving along in St. Emilion?

[Tony_Muldoon]

Biarritz one of my favourite places.


Photo tour

http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,22527.0.html 

[Tom_Doak]

Was Chiberta the only other course on the French side you played?  How is the project moving along in St. Emilion?

Joey:

Two days of golf was all we had time for.  Plus, I was playing golf with Kristel Mourgue d'Algue, and I am sure after watching me play 36 holes that she doesn't need to see me hit any more tee shots for a while!

The project in St. Emilion is progressing, albeit slowly.  We don't have any water in the irrigation pond (it was completed this spring), so we will only try to seed nine holes this fall without turning on the irrigation system, which they are just about to start installing.  But we should be able to get everything shaped so we can grass the rest of the course next year.

[Stuart Hallett]

Tom,

Just noticed the thread and I did hear you were in the area. You certainly had a good host to show you around.
Chiberta is on the up in terms of conditioning, the course has come a long way in a couple of years and we hope to continue moving in the right direction. It’s one of the very few clubs where I take my clubs to work, a real pleasure to play, off season!

I also work at Biarritz where each winter we have discretely been renovating and modifying the course. The short 14th was re-bunkered last winter, so I’m glad to hear you like the hole, meaning the works have settled well.
I agree for the 11th, can be such a brutal hole for such a short par 4. We intend to do some renovation work on this hole at a later stage.

The history of Biarritz is complicated to say the least. I attempted to shed some light on the matter in a report to the club. Colt is indeed responsible for the majority of today’s layout. He supervised works by the Harris Bros. in 1924 (I have a letter from Colt to the club).
During the war, 6 holes towards the lighthouse were lost « Chasm hole included » and the Course Director, Mr. Jeangrand had the task of rebuilding 6 holes and tweaking the 12 holes in front of the clubhouse. There’s no mention of Colt, which is logical as his health was deteriorating. But I suspect a consulting role from someone, probably Morrison, given his experience at nearby Hossegor and the subtle features that exist on these newer holes. However, I don’t have evidence to confirm that the Director didn’t do it himself.

[Tony_Muldoon]

Great news Stuart, a trip down there must be tough!
Am I correct you have moved from Greenkeeping to Consultant?


Can you please confirm which holes survived form pre war?  Also do you have a date when the work was done post war? There are the letters between Morrison and Alison at the end of Colt and Co and I pretty certain they dont mention Biarritz. From memory they go until the very early 50's.  They don't mention Hossegor either - when was that done?

[Ulrich Mayring]

Interesting to hear Chiberta is a true links course. I thought Granville was the only one in France.

I have always wanted to go to Biarritz one spring... maybe 2014.

Ulrich

[Peter Galea]

 Luis Buñuel comes to mind when reading and seeing photos of his work.

Luis Buñuel, Really David? Such as "Un Chien Andalou"?
Dali was mentioned here once in connection with the 7th and 8th peninsula at Pebble Beach.
I believe this is a first for Buñuel.

Caution: not for the squeamish.
http://www.zappinternet.com/video/danPvuMpaX/Un-chien-Andalou-1928

[Stuart Hallett]

Tony,

I moved from Greenkeeping to Architecture in 2007 after my studies at ECA. It wasn't planned that way, but sort of just happened quite naturally.

I'm based just up the road in Moliets, so yes, the trip can be tough with holiday traffic 

The actuel course at Biarritz is as, more or less a few bunkers and less trees, as Colt layed out in the 20's. The course apparently suffered in the war, especially holes 4 to 9. They rebuilt, to what extent I'm not sure, these holes.
The Chambre d'amour holes "Chasm" etc. were more or less abandoned after the war and the land was sold in 1964 to end any hope of a revival. 
Morrison did Hossegor in 1927 & Colt did Chantaco in 1928, Morrison back to Saint-Cloud in 1931 etc. Just seemed strange to me that Biarritz would do all this work without an architect.

[David Harshbarger]

 Luis Buñuel comes to mind when reading and seeing photos of his work.

Luis Buñuel, Really David? Such as "Un Chien Andalou"?
Dali was mentioned here once in connection with the 7th and 8th peninsula at Pebble Beach.
I believe this is a first for Buñuel.

Caution: not for the squeamish.
http://www.zappinternet.com/video/danPvuMpaX/Un-chien-Andalou-1928

Peter, not that per-war stuff with Dalí, he was young then and caught up with surrealists.  More the latter stuff, like The Exterminating Angel, or The Discreet Charm of the Bourgoisie.  Like Arana, he made films that were distinctly his, with elements that were not well understood, but also, received wide acclaim.  I don't know that Arana was a surrealist himself, but a feature I once saw a photo of, palm trees emerging from the green side portion of a green side bunker, seems to share a spirit with the Buñuelian surrealism, like the guests of a dinner party not leaving for no reason.  Not flashy melting clock stuff, but surreal none-the-less.

His autobiography My Last Sigh is splendid, even if you've never seen one of his films.  Great remembrances of Picasso, Dalí, Chaplin, and many others.

[Alfonso Erhardt]

Tom,

Happy to learn that you made the trip to Neguri and liked it. Had I known you were around I would have made the trip to show you around. It is quite strange that the course was not in good shape, as it is usually in excellent shape in the summer months.. Neguri is Arana's home course although he was living in Barcelona when he designed it in the end of the fifties. He didn't charge the club for the design and except for one fairway bunker which was removed in the 13th and the 17th green (which was reshaped some years ago) everything has remained unchanged since the opening of the golf course. The design is extremely popular with Spanish gofers and Olazábal usually mentions it en asked about Spain's best courses.

I agree on the trees. The tall atlantic pines were already there when Arana routed the course, but many died in the 70s  in holes 1, 5, 8, 9, 14 and 15th due to acid rain and other diseases. All the smaller pines and other shrubs in the front nine are new and were planted 20 years ago with a goal of getting the original trees back. The problem is it took quite a while to have anything grow and now it is a little bit too cramped in some places.

Which holes did you like best? Dd you stay for lunch in the clubhouse? The food is extremely good.

[Tony_Muldoon]

His autobiography My Last Sigh is splendid, even if you've never seen one of his films.  Great remembrances of Picasso, Dalí, Chaplin, and many others.

+1 it's a great read.


One thing the book has given me.  I always used to think of bars as being places of gaiety and noise.  He has a chapter where he list's his favourite watering holes. They are all small dark and empty. IN the 20 years since reading the book, on maybe half a dozen occasions I've had some time on my hands and I've recalled this preference and chosen the quietest place around. He's right, to sit with a drink in front of you in a empty place can be most stimulating, a sort of Spanish meditation.

[Tom_Doak]

Stuart and Alfonso:

Sorry not to have looked up the two of you last weekend.  I only had two days to squeeze in what I could, and my client arranged it all so as to maximize my time in St. Emilion.  We've got nine holes shaped there now, they are starting to install irrigation and greens mix on Monday, although it will be a scramble to get them finished this fall.

You could not go wrong with lunch at the clubhouse in any of these spots, though sadly, the upper level at Neguri was closed on Monday so we ate down at the patio level.  That looked like a really nice place to be a member.  The other two courses were fairly well jammed with golfers on the holiday weekend.

Favorite holes at Neguri:  All the par threes, but especially #6; par-four seventh; par-five thirteenth with its fallaway green.

[Paul_Turner]

Stuart

My small amount of info agrees with you.

Biarritz turns up as a Colt and Co redesign in the firms ads at around 1924.

Re Hossegor

The club has always had Morrison credited on its website.  Although for a while they had it as "Jim" Morrison...a Doors fan probably wrote that.  So I guess they must have letters etc to support this.

But I have a note Sept 1931 from a magazine that gives credit to Alison.   This is from an article by Guy Campbell who visits the region and also reviews Chiberta (he likes it).

I'd also imagine that Colt would have at least visited given that he was at Chantaco around then.

[Mark_Rowlinson]

Tom, I'd love it if you could get your hands on El Saler, arguably Arana's finest.  Here are links to two photo tours with some interesting historic photos, too:


http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,51210.msg1168867/topicseen.html#msg1168867

http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,37350.msg1122331/topicseen.html#msg1122331

Mark.

[Alfonso Erhardt]

I have gathered some photos of the golf course of Neguri (close to Bilbao, Spain) with a view of making Arana's less known courses a little more popular....

This is Arana's home club and he designed it in 1961 after moving from another site in which the club had been located since 1911.

A general view of the property. The photo is from 1961, when the course opened. The whole course is quite exposed and wind is usually a relevant factor.



Hole 2. Par 3, 168m Playing slightly downhill to a green that slopes away. Balls missed left have a 1.5m bank which makes recovery shots quite difficult.



Hole 6. Par 3, 194m. Very difficult hole. Plays uphill to a ridge where the green slopes away from the line of play. Deep bunkers protect balls played to the right of the green. Missed shots to the left have a clean chip to the green but all downhill, which makes recoveries quite hard. When the course opened (old picture) and until quite recently, there were no bushes behind the green which I think made the hole much better.





Hole 7. Par 4, 406m. Long par 4 played to an elevated plateau green. Balls played short will roll back down or to the right.





Hole 13. Par 5, 517m. Drive asks for a fade through a narrow chute. There is more room than what it looks from the tee. The third shot is played to a severely tilted green that, again, falls away from the line of play. Only well struck balls will hold.




Hole 14. Par 3, 192m. Another long par 3 playing uphill. The greenside bunker is about 3m deep.

[Tom_Doak]

Alfonso:

Thanks for posting those pictures.  I didn't have a very sunny day for it.

I thought the par-3's were all excellent holes.  The sixth was especially striking ... from the tee I couldn't quite figure out why I couldn't see any of the green surface, it did not seem to be that much uphill ... I did not expect the ENTIRE green to be just over the crest and falling away to the back right!  Your picture from the tee also shows that if the bushes were not behind the green, the flag would be profiled against the mountains across the bay, which would be gorgeous.

I was also surprised when we got up to #14 green to find that it must have been inspired by the Redan, with its deep left front bunker and the tilt of the green to the back left [though there is no deep hazard off the back right].  I didn't expect Arana to model anything after a classic UK hole.

[Alfonso Erhardt]

Tom,

I completely agree with you regarding the bushes. I am not sure they were intentionally planted to act as a barrier between holes, but rather to protect the pines from the sea and help them grow faster. At a point they would all die. I guess it would be good to make the case in the future to remove the bushes.

As for the redanesque 14th, I would say it was not intentional. He never visited Scotland. Arana played a lot of his golf in France in the 1920s and 30s, especially in the Biarritz area. He also played some golf around the Paris courses. However, as per my records, he only visited the UK once, trying to qualify for the 1933 Open in Royal St. Georges. He also played Deal and missed by a couple of strokes. On that same trip he also played Sunningdale where Spain played a match against Oxford and Cambridge that same year.