Belle Dune

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Just half an hour's drive from the much-celebrated resort of Le Touquet lies a course that deserves the attention of any golfer visiting northern France.

Belle Dune is in an 'Eco Domaine'—a protected site in the Baie de Somme—and the local authority played a key role in its development.

Indeed, it worked with the club to recycle water from 2,000 nearby properties for the course.

Belle Dune is partly set in a pine forest and partly among towering dunes, which means it has a wonderful variety of holes.

Its quaint clubhouse and delightful pastel-coloured holiday properties, which border lakes by the 16th and 18th, look as if they have been transplanted from Scandinavia.

We had a splendidly healthy Continental breakfast before adjourning to a driving range, which included rugby posts for target practice.

I decided to play from the white tees because that would enable me to enjoy the full effect of the later par six.

I was happy I did because they added an extra dimension to almost every hole.

This was particularly true of the first, where a tree that stands beside the yellows, blues and reds is in the eyeline from the whites.

The opener turned out to be a typical Belle Dune hole, descending past water on the right before ascending through an avenue of trees to a green perched above a false front.

Despite recent sand treatment, the putting surfaces were consistent, but their devilish contours robbed Mrs W and me of very decent scores.

Belle Dune demands more accuracy than most courses. Fortunately, we were driving well, so we did not succumb to the many water hazards and rarely found ourselves in trees.

However, I did discover the perils of going offline on the downhill par-five fourth when I pulled my tee shot into a wood to the left.

The ball was lodged against roots, so I tried to nudge it out onto the fairway but watched aghast as it smashed into a trunk and flew backwards.

It was a rare off-piste adventure but proved the damage that could be done.

The sixth is probably the narrowest hole – a par-four where banks on either side give the impression of a funnel into the green.

I laced a three-wood to make the target in regulation, only to three-putt.

After being immersed in the woods for the opening seven, Belle Dune takes on a completely different character thereafter.

Luckily, it was a still day, but we warned beforehand that it could be a demon if the wind blew.

The eighth sets the tone of intimidation with a fairway that snakes around rough before rising to a green, defended by a mound in front and a fall-off and bush to the right and rear.

But that was a mere aperitif before the ninth and tenth.

Success on the former is achieved by steering the ball away from a lake that fills the vista on the right and then clipping over a sandscrape to a blind punchbowl green. It is a heck of a hole.

It is followed by an intense par-five, which has a dizzying number of elements.

For starters, the drive is blind - over gorse between dunes and over a marker post.

The fairway then weaves to the left between thick bush and prickly rough (we both found the latter on the right).

Finally, the green is defended by a false front and is fiendishly undulating.

The 13th is another crazy par-five, demanding a drive over a central tree before a 90-degree dogleg left. The shot into the green is over a substantial crater with water at the bottom.

I thought champagne would follow on the downhill, three-lined par-three 14th as my ball trundled towards the flag. It rested ten feet from the pin, and I missed my birdie by an inch.

The day's disappointment followed on the 15th because the white tee was out of commission. 

It is another dogleg with tall pines down the right. In truth, it was only memorable because it was the second par-six I had played, and I should have had a birdie five but missed my putt.

The short par-four 16th was much more enjoyable, alongside a lake and the aforementioned holiday homes.

This is a blind tee shot before a clip into a green with water on the right and a mound defending the target.

The 18th is a terrific home hole – a long par-four with trees down the left and water on the right with a lovely vista to the clubhouse beyond the lake.

When I began my quest, Belle Dune was in Continental Europe's top 100 but dropped out when the most recent ratings were announced.

Its re-emergence will depend on the quality of the competition, but I would venture that if it is as good as this in March, it will be superb in summer and has a case for reinstatement.