Our Membership Director, Sam Oliver, wrote the following article about the recent Club trip to Terre Blanche – view the pictures captured below!
Earlier this month I had the pleasure of hosting one of our Wisley Club Trips at the impressive Terre Blanche in the South of France. In keeping with the recent weather conditions, we enjoyed 3 days of ‘average’ weather, but that didn’t spoil the enjoyment of 3 days of golf on 3 stunning golf courses.
The group congregated at Terre Blanche on the Monday afternoon and after checking into the wonderful individual lodges, we got ourselves into golf mode with a putting clinic with myself at the onsite academy in the warm sunshine. Afterwards, following a quick freshen up, and some wine and cocktails on the terrace, the group enjoyed a delicious dinner in the hotel’s restaurant, ‘Le Gaudina’. The competition format for the week was to be teams of 3 with the best daily stableford score from each team counting towards the counting the aggregate total for the week, so the teams were drawn during dinner.
The following morning was cloudy but warm and the challenging Le Riou course lay waiting. Le Riou is the members course at Terre Blanche and sits on a hillside overlooking the hilltop villages of the Pays de Fayence with a layout that rewards both strategy and precision, both of which we only saw glimpses from the golf in our group.
Despite the challenging layout, the course rating was favourable, and scoring was pretty solid with Chris Sceats navigating his way round in an impressive 38 pts. Afterwards, a well-earned drink and late lunch in the clubhouse was enjoyed by us all. Once lunch had settled, I took the group over to the chipping green for some more short game tips.
That evening we decided to go off–site and explore the local culinary delights of the Côte d’Azur. A twenty-minute taxi ride through picturesque towns the beautiful countryside and we arrived in Seillans which is a place where it feels like time has stood still. Once a refuge for artists such as Max Ernst, the labyrinth of cobbled streets, fountains and old-fashioned windows, ‘La Gloire De Mon Pere Restaurant’ contributes to the vintage atmosphere with its beautiful terrace standing between the old wash houses and the spectacular village fountain. The town really gave the illusion that we had stepped back in time and entered the tranquil life of Provence. The cuisine was both traditional and elegant, the conversation flowed providing the perfect setting to end a fun filled day.
Looking ahead to the next day’s golf, we had all been closely watching the weather forecast as it wasn’t looking particularly favourable and looking out my window in the morning across the rolling hills, grey clouds and rain drops bouncing off my patio, brought our concerns to life. Our golf for day was planned for the Golf de Cannes Mougins. Located close to Nice, Cannes Mougin is a private club founded in 1923 and one of the most famous golf courses in France. In the middle of a forest, and close to the Mediterranean, it’s regarded as a jewel of the Riviera. Optimistically, during the 45-minute drive from Terre Blanche to Cannes Mougins, the clouds began to clear, and the rain slowly eased along with our anticipation of a soggy 18 holes in waterproofs and under umbrellas. We arrived at the club and were welcomed with an impressive clubhouse and glimpses of the picturesque golf course that lay waiting for us. But before golf, we had a relaxing lunch and were joined by some Cannes Mougin members and fellow Wisley members Alan Gillespie, founder member and past captain of The Wisley (1993/94) Goetz Steinhardt and his wife Regine, which proved to be a rather fitting introduction given we had our current club captain Stuart & vice-captain Keith in our group! Over lunch, Goetz shared some fond memories of his time at The Wisley and Alan gave us a taste of the history of Cannes Mougin including a delve into the rich tournament background that uncovered a familiar name linked to the club and the 1988 Cannes Open, won by South African, Mark McNulty, with runners up Americans, Joey Sindelar and our very own Ron Commans!
After An enlightening lunch, Goetz & Regine left us, and we headed out on to the course. Still dry at this point, the forecast looked like it was favourably wrong, however, as I picked my tee up after hitting my opening tee shot, the first drops of rain began to fall, and the theme was set for the next 4 and a half hours. Despite the rain, under the cover of our buggies and umbrellas we were still able to enjoy the fabulous layout and I had the pleasure of a front row seat watching a fine display of steady play and deadly putting from Paul Tunnacliffe, carding a brilliant 40pts – the highlight being a 5 wood over water from 190yds on the 17th hole, that finished just a few feet from the hole, leaving a short birdie putt that he tapped in with ease.
Although all thoroughly soaked, we gathered in the clubhouse for a glass of Rosé (when in France!) before heading back to Terre Blanche in the torrential rain.
That evening we were treat to a 10–course taster menu with wine pairing in the elegant ‘Faventia Restaurant’ – a private dining experience with our own host talking us through each dish and accompanying wines. My highlight being an introduction to a new concept of multiple desserts, “Pre Dessert”, “Dessert” & “Post Dessert”, something I’ve since suggested to my wife we introduce at home moving forward!
Despite the abundance of food and wine, we all woke up fresh for our final day, our golf equipment dried out thanks to the lovely underfloor heating in our bathrooms and today’s challenge was the Dave Thomas & Peter Allis designed Le Chateau Course on site at Terre Blanche, regarded in the top 15 golf courses in Europe, carved through the wild and hilly landscape creating a layout that tests all golfers.
After a little uncertainty of whether the course would be open due to the heavy rains from the day and night before, we were given the green light and thankfully the conditions stayed nice for us, even enjoying a little sunshine along the way. Le Chateau had held up well in the rain and provided a fitting end to three days of wonderful golf – watching first-hand the best score of the day unfold, an impressive 39pts by Adrian Gregory.
We once again gathered on the clubhouse terrace after our golf for some lunch and announcement of the winning team. Channelling a little of the LIV Tour, the three carefully named teams, ‘The Jokers’, ‘The KP’s’ & ‘The OG’s’ were tightly poised going into the final day, so the competition was wide open. The final result came down to just 2 stable points with ‘The KP’s’ (Stuart Owens, Paul Tunnacliffe & Karin Persson) pipping my very own ‘The OG’s’ (Chris Sceats, Adrian Gregory & myself) to be champions of the week! A wonderful few days in lovely surroundings with a great group of individuals.
I can highly recommend a visit to Terre Blanche, a great setting with lots to offer both on–site and the surrounding area with Cannes, Nice, Monaco and a wealth of beautiful and historic small towns all within easy reach and, of course, all the better with a great group of Wisley members!
Keep an eye out for more club trips for 2025 and beyond appearing on the Travel Hub very soon.