Les Aisses Golf (Les Aisses)

Overview: Les Aisses is an 18-hole heathland course in the Sologne, set across a large wooded estate near La Ferté-Saint-Aubin. Martin Hawtree's design works with sandy ground, heather, woodland and water to create a course that feels open in some places and tightly framed in others. The fairways offer room to choose a line, but the correct angle into the greens remains important, especially when the heather and native vegetation define the edges of the hole. The official scorecard describes a par-72 layout with five par fives and five par threes, giving the round a broad change of pace. Les Aisses is best understood as a natural strategy course: the scenery is part of the appeal, but the main test comes from deciding how much of the landscape to challenge on every shot.

History: The property once contained a nineteenth-century château, orangery, dovecote, outbuildings and farm before a fire destroyed the estate buildings. In 1992, the Tayo group opened three nine-hole loops designed by Olivier Brizon. From 2006, the current owner commissioned work under Martin Hawtree, who transformed two of those nines into the present 18-hole Les Aisses course. The French Golf Federation describes the result as a heathland layout in harmony with the Sologne landscape. The wider property is part of the Natura 2000 zone, so the course's design story is inseparable from the ecological setting in which it was developed.

Did You Know? Les Aisses sits within a 270-hectare Sologne property that the French Golf Federation describes as a Natura 2000 site. Its woods, heather varieties and many ponds support a rich mix of plants and wildlife, giving the course a landscape interest that extends beyond the playing corridors.