THE
WEEKENDER | BELGIUM
hen most groups think of heading
across the water it’s usually
the North of France for a quick
getaway or a couple of hours to Spain for some
winter sun, Belgium isn’t really at the top of our
lists, but why?
For this month’s weekender we decided to find out
if Belgium was an untapped golfing resource, and we
did it a little differently… The Yourcaddy team decided to
jump into a motorhome and set forth to the Ardennes. Within
2 hours driving out of Calais you can be in Bruges and inside of
3 hours you can be in the capital Brussels, these are perfect places for
great golf, culture and of course… beer.
Now Belgium isn’t renound for its long hot summers, so taking guaranteed hot
weather out of the occasion what does it have to offer?
F R I D AY
Golf Blue Green Dunkerque
Yes, we know, not in Belgium but it’s only 40 mins from the
port of Calais and if you’re in the North of France or indeed
en-route to Belgium this place is definitely worth a visit.
Dunkerque is operated by the Blue Green group which
consists of X clubs across France, having played others
in the group we knew we were in for a treat, the venues
are always well maintained, catering for all varieties of
weather, geared up for traveling groups and giving golfers
of all handicaps an enjoyable yet challenging test. The
Dunkerque club has 27 holes, we decided on the main 18
course which offered a number of fantastic holes to wet
our appetites for the weekend ahead of us.
You don’t need to jump straight on the first tee here, there
are a multitude of practice facilities on which you can fine
tune your game before heading out. The 20 bay undercover
driving range is well kept with Pro’s on hand for lessons, a
separate chipping and bunker area is also available nd as well
as a large putting green just before you head to the 1st tee.
The course isn’t short, so if you’re not keen on walking then
don’t worry, we counted at least 20 buggies in the lock up
with plenty already out on course.
The first hole eases you in to the round, although a par five
a wide open fairway allows you to attack from the tee box,
the hole does narrow for the longer hitters but most should
be comfortably on the green and next to the pin in three for
a birdie to start your round.
As you will see from the pictures the course has some
beautifully set greens, some sculpted to the shapes of the
Ace of Spades, others surrounded by water with unforgiving
steeps drops if your approach is wayward, other holes are
simply made challenging by the natural undulations in the
landscape that can carry the best of shots in to the rough.
There is a different decision to make on every hole, the
architect has really thought hard about how to cater for
high and low handicappers and long and short drivers. No
matter which tee you are playing from there will be at least
one challenge on every hole to make you think about your
shot selection.
40 | YOURCADDY MAG - ISSUE 05