10 Reasons to go Golfing on the Emerald Coast

Ready to experience the best of the GolfExperience on the Emerald Coast? Golfy takes you to discover the northern coast of Brittany, from Dinard to the Mont Saint-Michel. A perfect opportunity to discover the most beautiful golf courses in the region. 

1. Mont Saint Michel 

Since the 6th century AD, Mont Saint-Michel has watched over its bay and its distinctive silhouette attracts thousands of visitors every year. Since 2014, the footbridge has provided pedestrian access to the site, with cars remaining parked on the mainland. Although less than a hundred people live in Mont Saint-Michel year-round, nearly 1,5 million visitors flock there each year, an influx that makes businesses happy, starting with the Mère Poulard restaurant, whose reputation for creamy omelettes, beaten with a whip, and leg of lamb from salted meadows extends beyond the confines of the bay. The Couesnon River, in its madness, officially puts le Mont in Normandy… 

2. Saint-Malo
When you say privateer, you think of Saint-Malo! Behind its granite fortified walls whipped by the winds and the sea spray since time immemorial, the architecture of the old town has stood the test of time. In the 17th century, the discovery of America created wealth while shipowners developed commercial exchanges across the seas. At the same time, privateers in the service of Her Majesty harassed enemy ships and pillaged at will. Duguay-Trouin, then Surcouf, were the terror of the English and the Spanish. Today, in the cobbled streets, the town can be discovered by walking on the remparts facing the beach of the Môle where the tide reveals the islands and their forts while the seagulls and gulls take up in chorus their incessant refrain, hovering at the mercy of the ascending currents. 

3. The golf du Domaine des Ormes
Designed on the grounds of a former episcopal estate, the 18 holes blend into a preserved natural environment, with wooded holes, water obstacles and flowerbeds. The charm and elegance of the place will seduce you.  

4. Domaine des Ormes
The Domaine des Ormes offers a wide range of accommodation, from the most traditional to the most original! A comfortable and welcoming hotel, a tourist residence, but also huts, cabins in the trees or on the water… There is something for the whole family to enjoy! Finally, many activities are available on site: horse riding, tree climbing, archery, aquatic centre, entertainment and shows… 

5. Dinard 

Opposite the town of Saint-Malo, on the left bank of the Rance estuary, Dinard has a proud appearance. Its Art Nouveau and Arts Deco architecture speaks for itself. The Villa les Roches Brunes is emblematic of the end of the 19th century, the Greystones villa of the 1930s. After the Second Empire, the British discovered the charm of this port, its gentle way of life and enriched it. The city experienced a new boom during the Roaring Twenties before the 1929 crisis compromised many projects. Today, the climate has hardly changed, the wind, the tides, the beautiful residences built along the coast are still there, you only have to walk along the guard road to see their elegance and opulence, before lounging on the beach of the Écluse. 

6. Dinan
Further inland, Dinan dominates the Rance which flows towards Dinard and Saint-Malo. This fortified town, built on two levels, has always been a crossing point between Brittany and Normandy. From the Middle Ages, the town has preserved its half-timbered houses on the Place des Cordeliers and its cobbled streets such as the Rue de l’Horloge and the Rue Jerzual. On the quays of the lower town, where the pleasure boats have replaced the barges with rings, the terraces attract visitors over a galette, a bolée (a bowl of cider) or a slice of far, a type of flan. 

7. The golf course of Saint-Cast
Created in 1926 along the beach of Pen Guen by passionate Scotsmen, the Saint-Cast course offers breathtaking views over the sea and the Ebihens archipelago.  

8. Cap Fréhel
Between the bay of Saint-Malo and that of Saint-Brieuc, Cap Fréhel is beaten by the winds. At the end of this pink sandstone headland, the lighthouse offers a landmark to sailors and a viewpoint towards the Fort la Latte to walkers. Between the moor and the steep cliffs, the birds have a field day. Cormorants, guillemots, gulls, seagulls, fulmars and even a few pairs of penguins come to nest here, sheltered from danger, in an incessant din in all weathers. As the site is classified, the footpaths are marked out, while a few sheep graze and reduce the invasive maritime cineraria flowers. 

9. Fréhel’s golf course
Between Cap Fréhel and Cap d’Erquy, created in 1925, this 18-hole course is a little jewel facing the sea, following the dunes and the moor, and protected from the winds by the maritime pines. 

10. Oysters
Wind in the nose, tasting some oysters on the port of Cancale is a must. On the port of La Houle, the oyster farmers’ stalls are all close together, eight families share the sale, and the gouaille to chat up clients attracts many customers. The parks are in front of you, uncovered at low tide. Freshly caught hollow and flat oysters, accompanied by a glass of white wine, bread and butter, are just waiting to be eaten there, facing the sea. The tradition is to throw the shells on the beach, the high tides will clean them up! 

Discover all the splendours of the Emerald Coast with GolfExperience.