WIMEREUX TOUR CONTA longish par 4, the 5th is an attractive hole due to the cross bunkering and gorse.
If the bunkers can be carried there is every chance the large green can be reached.
About 180 yards or so, the short 6th seemed to play a lot longer. Wimereux is certainly a links, but it doesn't share the same aesthetic as we have come to expect with its British cousins. Other than the trees, it is difficult to pinpoint what is different, but it is different.
The sunken green and its wonky hour glass shape was a great surprise.
The 7th strikes me a slog par 5 with nothing to redeem it. Thankfully, the 8th is a good hole with an extremely interesting humpback green.
The side ends conveniently near the clubhouse (which is one reason why I expect there are long walks to tees) with a straight-forward hole cutting between bunkers right and OOB left. The back nine opens in what seems like a field, but once again, looks can be deceiving.
The 11th legs left away from a hazard which should probably be OOB instead. A bunker infested mound protects the inside line.
After a lengthy walk which takes us onto to land which feels much less linksy, the highlight of the short 12th is the use of German bunkers for the tee.
Looking back at the tee.
The 13th runs downhill through the green.
Coming back up the hill, 14 is a good, tough long par 4 which turns continuously right through the green. The fairway is effectively a raised shelf feeding to the green on the same level. Missing in the rough right leaves a more uphill approach cutting across the angle of the green.
The 15th is a fine hole, but not nearly as grand as the view of Ambleteuse and Audresselles, just north of Wimereux, beyond the dunes. The reknown architect, Vaubon who built the Fortifications of Vaubon was also responsible for the prominent Fort Mahon on the Ambleteuse beach at the mouth of the River Slack. This is the only preserved coastal fort between Cherbourg and the Belgian frontier. A century after the fort was built, Napoleon altered the course of the River Slack to create a harbour from which he planned to attack England. The attack was never carried out, but its threat had a profound effect on British naval strategy and coastal defences.
One of several excellent green sites.
More to follow.
Ciao