Le Golf Nationwide has hosted different large occasions, together with the 2018 Ryder Cup.
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All 4 of this yr’s males’s majors are within the books, however three large medals are nonetheless up for grabs. Olympic golf is about to get began. The competitors will get underway Thursday within the males’s division with a 60-player discipline from 32 international locations vying for gold, silver and gold (the ladies’s competitors, which options 60 gamers from 33 international locations, begins subsequent Wednesday).
The format is 4 rounds, or 72 holes, of stroke play, and the venue is the Albatros course at Le Golf Nationwide, outdoors of Paris. A longtime host of the DP World Tour’s Open de France (and the location of the 2018 Ryder Cup), the Albatros isn’t any stranger to the highlight. However many followers may nonetheless discover it unfamiliar. That can assist you get acquainted, listed below are 5 issues to know in regards to the course.
The Marlboro Man helped design it
Located within the city of Guyancourt, roughly 18 miles from the Eiffel Tower, the course, which opened in 1990, was co-designed by Hubert Chesneau and Robert von Hagge. Chesneau is French. Von Hagge, who died in 2010, was a prolific American architect who, previous to embarking on a profession in golf design, starred in tv commercials because the Marlboro Man.
It was as soon as a farm
Lengthy earlier than it yielded its first birdie, the bottom right here produced crops. The course sits on former farmland, a once-flat expanse that was constructed up right into a rolling structure with 45-feet of elevation change and a stadium-style configuration with room for some 30,000 spectators.
Sir Nick discovered it “robust however truthful.”
In 1991, when the course hosted its first Open de France, Nick Faldo adopted up his opening-round 71 by calling the structure “robust however truthful.” Earlier this week, Tom Kim echoed that sentiment. “I believe it’s going to be a extremely good check of golf for everybody,” stated Kim, who’s representing the Republic of Korea. “You may’t actually faux it round right here.” The historic file bears that out. In its tenure as a bunch of the Open de France, the course has ranked among the many hardest on the DP World Tour.
It has a watery end
A decent course that favors precision over energy, the Albatros could be unkind to wayward drives and approaches. It grows particularly unforgiving because the spherical progresses, with a punishing closing stretch that brings water into play on three of the final 4 holes.
You may play it
Owned by the French Golf Federation, the course is a part of a luxurious lodge that can be residence to the 18-hole Aigle course and the nine-hole L’Oiselet course. All the programs are accessible to the general public. Tee instances resume on Aug. 13.
