Golf de Maisons Laffitte

One of the oldest clubs in France, Golf de Maisons-Laffitte was founded in 1896 and stands as a genuine piece of French golf history. The course occupies the Forêt de Saint-Germain, a vast royal hunting forest on the western edge of Paris, where tall oaks and chestnuts define every corridor and the forest floor lends the layout a quiet, cathedral-like atmosphere. It is a founding member club of the French Golf Federation and has shaped the culture of the game in this country for well over a century.

The course itself is a classic forest layout — tight, strategic, and demanding of accurate ball-striking rather than raw power. The natural topography is gentle, but the trees are ever-present, rewarding players who work the ball and punishing those who spray it. It is the kind of course where local knowledge genuinely matters, and members who have played it for decades still find it engaging.

Maisons-Laffitte as a town is best known for horse racing and its extraordinary château, designed by François Mansart in the 17th century. The area has a distinctly aristocratic character, and the golf club fits naturally into that heritage — a place where history is not decoration but simply the fabric of daily life.