The quintessential French town Bourg-en-Bresse lies in the eastern region of the country, north-east of Lyon and about a 100 kilometres west of Geneva in neighbouring Switzerland.
The town is known worldwide not for its golf but its poultry – Poulet de Bresse or Chicken of Bresse.
France has long enjoyed a strong association with the rooster. It’s one of the national emblems of France, the Coq Gaulois (the Gallic Rooster) decorated French flags during the Revolution. It is also the symbol of the French people because of the play on words of the Latin word gallus meaning Gaul and gallus meaning rooster
With time, the French kings adopted the rooster as a symbol of courage and bravery. The rooster was engraved on coins. Napoleon preferred the eagle, the symbol of imperial Rome, but the raptor was soon shooed away from France.
Nowadays, the French rooster can be seen in many places: on French stamps, at the entrance of the Élysée Palace, and noticeably on the jerseys of French football, rugby and handball teams and on the shirts of Olympic athletes.
I’ve been fortunate to have made some half-a-dozen visits to Bourg-en-Bresse, and three visits to play the golf course – first in February 2012 and then again a month later while the last visit was in August, 2020.
The Golf de la Bresse club lies on the south-west portion of the town. It was designed by England-born Jeremy Penn in 1989 and officially opened in 2002.
Penn honed his golf course skills working with legendary architects such as Robert Trent Jones, John Harris, Cabell Robinson and Don Harradine. He moved to France in 1986 to join a Paris based golf course development company as creative director and golf architect.
Golf course designer Jeremy Penn. (Image: TeeTimes)
It was in 1990 Penn established his own design practice Jeremy Pern.com in Toulouse (SW France) and continues to design quality golf courses worldwide.
To date, he’s designed 24 eighteen hole courses and 13 nine hole courses that are currently in play or under construction in the following countries: Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Dubai, England, France, Germany, Italy, Morocco, Norway, Poland, Switzerland.
In addition he has worked on major design and consultancy projects in Cyprus, Egypt, Iran, Hungary, Libya, Mauritius, Montenegro, Reunion, Tunisia, and Turkmenistan.
Penn’s Austrian design includes his 2002 designed Diamond Country Club course played host from 2010 to 2021 to the DP World Tour’s Austrian Open.
The Golf de la Bresse club has been laid out on what was a hunting area of 90 hectares, and in the heart of a century-old forest, and a golf course where water comes into play on 10 holes.
You just can’t keep him away – Ted, and the world’s most travelled headcover, arrives at Golf de la Bresse.
Image – De La Bresse Golf Club
The 18-hole Bresse club course plays to a par-72 off the white tees, measuring 6,009 metres, 5,500 metres off the yellow tees, 4,985 metres off the blue while it’s a 4,658-metre test off the red tees.
Penn designed the course with a very traditional layout of two par-5s and also a pair of par-3s on each nine.
The opening hole at De La Bresse – Image GolfByTourMiss. Photo from the winter in early 2012.
Bernie tees off the first hole in wintery March, 2012 – Not a bad swing for a double-digit lefty.
Bernie returns to Bresse to join friend Nicolas to play De la Bresse
An early but also rare birdie from the Aussie-born lefty … Ooops, shouldn’t show my emotions.
I’ve played the course twice before, so showing Nicolas the way
The No. 1 index hole is the par-4 sixth hole while the 18 index hole is the opening hole playing just 311 metres.
Visitors to Golf de la Bresse include French golf stars Gregory Bourdy and Raphael Jacquelin. Image – Golf de la Bresse.
Indeed, the opening three holes at Bresse could not be provide a more ‘gentle’ introduction to the course with the second hole, a par-4 at 285-metres and the No. 16 index hole while the third hole, a par-5 measuring 459-metres, is ranked the 14th hardest hole.
Ah, the kids found another golf bag to hang out.
Image – De La Bresse GC
However after tackling the fourth and fifth holes, you then come-up against the No.1 ranked hole, the 405-metre par-5 sixth hole.
The seventh, eighth and ninth holes are ranked single digit on the stroke index at a respective 7th, 5th and 3rd hardest, and with the par-5 ninth being the longest on the course at 502-yards, and also a decent test of 400-yards off the red tees. The ninth is also well-guarded around the green with four bunkers up front and one at the back of the green.
Ted, and the world’s most travelled Koala headcover, stealing the limeight at Golf De la Bresse
Great swing by Nicolas hitting into the 9th hole.
Heading into the back-9 there are three holes in a row – the par-4 11th hole, the par-3 12th, and the shortest hole on the course at 153-metres and then the par-5 13th. A feature of the trio is that they are ranked No. 13, No. 11 and No. 12 in terms of ‘toughness’.
A bigger feature of 11 and 12 is that water very much is in play. At the 11th, there is water all the way down the right side of the hole, and where you have to hit your second shot to island-like green (see photos below) while at the next, it’s an all-water carry to the green.
The par-4 11th hole with water all the way down the right side of the hole ahead of hitting into a island-like green.
You can just make-out the island-like green at the 11th (bottom left of photograph) and the 12th hole – running from tee on the left to the green over the water. Image – De la Bresse.
The all-water carry at the par-3 12th hole.
Some good fortune in playing the golf course in winter … Lucky me as I could just reach the ball with one of my clubs.
It now leaves five holes to complete your round back-to-back par-4s at 14 and 15, a par-3 at the 16th, and then a dog-leg left penultimate hole ahead a great finishing hole – the 480-metre (white tees), par-5 18th – a pretty straight hole through the trees on both sides of the fairway, until you come to your third shot that is slightly to the right and a green with bunkers both left and right, and one behind the green to catch anything long.
We have both ‘kids’ out of the bag here at the 17th hole
The final hole at Golf de la Bresse.
Bernie has the Golf de La Bresse rooster by the tail.
Tour Miss catches-up with Nicolas after our round.
What a great golf course and first Penn-designed for me. I just enjoyed it so much – the overall layout, starting with three relatively ‘not too difficult’ holes, the easy-walking nature of the land while the opportunity to play alongside someone of Nicolas’ golfing calibre and also his friendship was first class.
Lastly, a big MERCI BEAUCOUP to Golf De La Bresse.
