Golf de Moliets

Robert Trent Jones Sr. left a distinctive mark on the Landes coast when he routed Golf de Moliets through one of Europe's most dramatic natural canvases — a vast pine forest threaded with lakes and marshland, just a short walk from the Atlantic. Opened in 1989, the course is widely regarded as one of the finest in France, and its reputation has only grown with time. Jones worked with the terrain rather than against it, and the result is a layout that feels inevitable: fairways carving through towering maritime pines, with water hazards that are genuinely punishing rather than decorative.

The setting along the Côte d'Argent — the Silver Coast — gives the course a wild, almost otherworldly atmosphere. The nearby dunes and beach add to the sense that you're playing somewhere genuinely remote, even though Moliets-et-Maâ is a well-organized resort village with strong tourist infrastructure built around summer Atlantic life.

The closing stretch is particularly memorable, with water threatening on multiple holes as the course tightens toward the finish. Moliets plays long and demands accuracy off the tee — errant shots disappear quickly into pine rough or find one of the many lakes. It rewards patience and course management far more than raw power.