Naissance en Anglais du PGC 1856

Inaugurated in 1856, Pau was the first golf club built in France and the oldest in continental Europe. The course was founded by former British officers of the Duque of Wellington who chose the city to retire after the Napoleonic wars. It is now almost a site of pilgrimage for continental golfers. Located on the banks of the Gave de Pau river, the course is set over 85 acres of green, lush parkland in the shadow of Pau's Henry IV castle. The splendid clubhouse museum has maintained its typical Victorian style and British atmosphere which combine pleasantly with the hearty French cuisine of the Bearn region, home of the foie gras and the Armagnac.
In striking contrast to Pau traditional design, the neighbour course at Pau-Artigelouve is an American-style layout, with palm trees included, designed by French champion Jean Garaialde. Pau also lies some one hundred kilometres East of the Basque Coast and its famous turn of the century vintage courses, such as Biarritz-Le Phare, the second oldest club in France after Pau. Some miles further north of Biarritz, on the Silver Coast, there is another bunch of three championship layouts, each one ranked amongst the top fifty in continental Europe.
Accommodation is available at the outskirts of the city at the Novotel, a contemporary if somewhat characterless hotel belonging to a big hotel group, or downtown in Pau at the more traditional and charming hotels of Gramont and Ronceveaux. Pau is capital of the Bearn and the former Kingdom of Navarra. This ancient royal city is famous since Victorian times for its beneficial climate and beautiful views over the Pyrenees mountains.