Just a short distance inland from the ‘beautiful people’ playgrounds of St. Tropez and St. Maxine on the sun-splashed Mediterranean is a playground of a different kind.

Beauvallon Golf Club doesn’t stand on ceremony and would not bat an eye lid if you arrived in a gleaming Ferrari or a mud-spattered mini or whether you’ve been on the front cover of a glossy magazine or the back pages of local rag.

As the name implies, Beauvallon translates into beautiful valley and beautiful it is.

The course is laid out over 40 acres and overlooks the sparkling Bay of Saint Tropez to the east while standing watch over the course from the west is the impressive Massif des Maures mountain range, which protects it from the infamous Mistral winds.

Beauvallon Golf Club is near the village of Grimaud and some three kilometers from St. Maxine and 10 kilometers from St. Tropez.

The club was founded in 1923 when nine holes were constructed but it wasn’t till 1985 when members and guests could play a full 18.

Beauvallon is a golf course you can really warm to.

There is a great mixture of holes with back-to-back par fives at the sixth and seventh holes while the other par five is the 10^th.

The sixth hole at 540-metres off the white tees is the longest while the shorter 435-metre par five, seventh hole has to be one of the toughest on the course. It’s an uphill dog-leg left with both a water hazard and nasty-looking bunker left of the fairway and then out-of-bounds all the way up the right side ready to catch any loose shots.

There are 10 par fours and five par threes with the longest and toughest par three being the 149-metre 17^th where you have to clear a roadway, water hazard and also avoid a bunker right of the green.

You’ll find the best views out over Saint Tropez Bay at the 11th, 12th and 15^th holes while all about the course cork and olive trees abound.

Unlike the ‘scene-stealing’ manners of those back at Saint Tropez, the atmosphere at Beauvallon is very warm and accommodating.

There is an very affable Englishman who has been with the club for some two-and-a-half years simply named ‘J C’ to club members and his many friends ever ready to greet you and when you’re finished you don’t need to speak French to enjoy the friendliness and comfort of the clubhouse.

History of the area:-

Saint Maxine was founded in 1000AD by monks from the Lerins Islands in the Bay of Cannes.  They built a monastery at Saint Maxine, named after one of the monks.

The town grew considerably in the 18^th century, when it became important for the export of cork, olive oil, grapes and Rosé wine that was all cultivated in the surrounding area.

During the Second World War the Allied Forces debarked on the beaches of Saint Maxine.

In post-war France the area became one of the most coveted in country, attracting each year a huge number of tourists.

Beauvallon is also an exclusive residential community within Grimaud that has been carefully developed about the golf course.

* Click on photographs to open and then further click to enlarge.