The week prior to the commencement of the 2024 Summer Olympic Games, Scottie Scheffler, the world’s top golfer, trained at a private golf club in France that is so exclusive, it doesn’t even distribute a membership directory to its own members. Called Les Bordes Estate, Scheffler spent a week at this breathtaking club in the Loire Valley as one of its two world-class 18-hole championship length golf courses was designed by golf architect Robert von Hagge, the same mastermind behind “The Albatros” course at Le Golf National in Guyancourt, France, where the Olympics’ golf competitions took place (and the 2018 Ryder Cup).

Les Bordes Estate is opening its doors for non-members enabling guests to experience the property just like Scheffler did last summer—and learn about its newly launched Six Senses-branded residences that are being developed there. The offer, available for a limited time, will enable guests to dine in the lodge, play unlimited golf on the von Hagge “Old Course”, and enjoy full access to all of the club’s facilities, plus receive daily breakfast and a food and wine tasting menu each evening for 2,500 Euros per couple, per day, for visits up to one week in length. The offer is only available on a one-time basis, hence the name of the package “Once In A Lifetime”. The offer is available to qualified potential members and homeowners with pre-approval from the club and may only be used once before becoming a member of the club.

Scheffler, who dominated the Olympics golf competition and took home the gold medal, trained for the week prior to the games at Les Bordes, which is 146 kilometers from central Paris. Scheffler, his caddy Ted Scott, and their families, stayed on site at the club. The number one ranked golfer in the world, Scheffler practiced on its Old Course, hit balls at the driving range, practiced on its putting greens and worked out in the fitness center outfitted with state-of-the-art Technogym equipment. The Scheffler party also relaxed as revealed by the golfer’s Instagram posts which highlighted a doubles tennis match and a birthday celebration for Ted Scott complete with pizza and birthday cake.

Les Bordes: One Of The Largest Private Estates In France

Surrounded by natural surroundings in a forest located in Saint-Laurent-Nouan near the historic village of Beaugency in the Loire Valley, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Les Bordes Estate is a 1,400-acre (560-hectare) property roughly twice the size of New York’s Central Park. One of the largest privately-owned estates in all of France, it features 46 holes of golf, and numerous activities that range from a heated and filtered natural swimming lake with a white sand beach, to ziplining, fishing, archery, tennis, padel and pickleball. There’s also a go cart track, walking trails, and cycling.

The entire property is free of automobiles as upon arrival, homeowners and guests are given electric golf carts to get around the property.

A Kid’s Club includes an elaborate playground and a petting zoo with chickens, goats, donkeys and rabbits. An equestrian center offers horseback riding lessons and trail rides around the estate while a new, 13-stable facility, is planned to be built elsewhere on the estate in partnership with Scottish equestrian and Olympic Gold Medalist, Scott Brash.

World Class Golf At Les Bordes

The golf, of course, is world-class. Les Bordes’ original course, the Old Course, was commissioned by the estate’s original owner, Baron Marcel Bich, co-founder of the world-renowned BIC company, manufacturer of Bic pens, disposable razors and lighters. “Baron Bich wanted to build something that was challenging and that would improve the quality of golf for elite golfers in France,” explains Jack Laws, Director of Golf at Les Bordes Golf Club.

Bich gave von Hagge, who hailed from Houston, Texas, an unlimited budget to build a world-class golf course where he could entertain friends at his private hunting estate located in the Sologne region, Laws adds. According to club lore, the baron nearly fainted when he was told by von Hagge the fourth hole, a par 3, alone was going to cost more than $1 million, a fortune at the time. Like King François I, whose Chateau de Chambord, the nearby and world-renowned 16^th century architectural masterpiece, Von Hagge’s Old Course design is considered by many to be the pinnacle of his career.

A close look at The Albatros course, which opened in 1990 (co-designed by Hubert Chesneau with collaboration from Pierre Thevenin), reveals several holes that bear a striking resemblance to the Old Course at Les Bordes, which opened three years earlier. Both courses, for example, feature several elevated island greens with some fronted by aesthetically pleasing wooden railroad ties that prove to be deadly to any golf ball that dares to make contact.

The 7,044-yards long Old Course bears many distinctive and artistic contemporary-style design characteristics for which von Hagge is renowned. The course is anything but natural-looking as it features several man-made elements including mounding, bunkering and fairways with rolling contours. The estate’s woodland lakes are incorporated as large-scale and dramatic water expanses on no fewer than 12 of the holes, some of which are difficult to cross even with a lay-up stroke. The Old Course also features midway bunkers and grass-filled bunkers that resemble dimples as well as several tricky island greens, some of which are only accessible to the player by crossing a bridge.

The Old Course at Les Bordes is the canvas upon which von Hagge created his masterpiece. And to say that the course is difficult, is an understatement. Designed for advanced players, those who are novices would be smart to bring along a lot of extra golf balls as it they are easy to lose and difficult to find on this course.

Great golf courses are beautiful, believed Hagge. “The only eternal thing is not grass or trees but the light of the sun,” he said. von Hagge’s design aimed to create shadows as he understood how the light falls on the features he created. “It’s very painterly,” he once said. “If a roll or a mound is shaped, the colors and shapes and how you use them define the shot and make it unique from moment to moment. We try to create every shot experience to be something you won’t see again.”

Every time a golfer approaches his ball, his breath should be taken away by the beauty around him, von Hagge stated. “It should be a ritual experience,” the golf course architect told Golf Course Architecture in 2008. “In the average round, you spend only eleven and a half minutes actually hitting the golf ball—so the architect’s job is to make the rest of the time on the course as pleasurable as possible.”

von Hagge’s Old Course at Les Bordes doesn’t disappoint.

Les Bordes remained the Baron’s sanctuary where he hosted family and friends and the occasional amateur or professional event. But after the Baron’s passing in 1994 many years passed by without clear direction. Control of the estate was taken over in March 2018 by private equity firm, RoundShield Partners LLP.

Les Bordes New Course Designed by Gil Hanse

Les Bordes Estate was launched in August 2019 as a private club accessible exclusively for its members and their guests. A multinational equity membership group of over 100 golfers was formed in December 2019, creating the basis and future for the Golf Club. The membership has since grown to approximately 300 members with two to three new members joining each month, primarily through word-of-mouth.

The owners have heavily invested in the Old Course and made significant material improvements to the course including softening an overly penal rough. “The rough was very thick and close to fairways which we opened up,” says Laws. Many trees that were encroaching on the lines of play were removed while the implementation of a new maintenance program has yielded much firmer conditions that make the length of the course less impactful, he adds. The course carves a tree-lined, 7,009-yard-long, par-72 course through the Sologne Forest and its stunning complex of lakes. “The Old Course has trees and water and is very synthetic,” says Laws. “It is very contemporary, very lush and picturesque.”

In 2021, Les Bordes Estate opened a second championship course (called the “New Course”) and a 10-hole par three course, both designed by acclaimed golf course architect Gil Hanse and his design partner, Jim Wagner, culminating in a truly unique 46-hole golf experience. The design of the New Course was inspired by classical heathland style. For example, von Hagge’s design. The 7,390-yards-long course is Hanse’s first course in continental Europe. Hanse, an American, is renowned for designing modern masterpieces such as Castle Stuart and Ohoopee Match Club and for restoring many perennial Top 100 Courses, including Merion, Winged Foot, Yale University and The Los Angeles Country Club.

Hanse’s traditional links-style course is very wide, natural and open and built on sandy soil with interesting bunkering. It is the only golf course in Europe with 100% fescue grass which is tolerant to heat, cold and drought. “The New Course is very unique in style and there really isn’t anything else like it in Continental Europe aesthetically,” says Laws. “It is a combination of some of the best, most interesting golf courses around—a cross between Pine Valley in Philadelphia and National Golf in Southampton.”

The New Course is ranked among the Top 100 Courses in the World according to Golf Magazine while the Old Course has consistently ranked as one of the top golf courses in continental Europe over the past 30 years. Laws says having two opposing golf courses that feature different types of grass on the same property is rare and compares them this way: “The Old Course is the best sloppy burger you have ever eaten while the New Course is like fine dining—Michelin star quality cuisine for connoisseurs. Both are equally fantastic but offer very different experiences.”

The 10-hole Wild Piglet course that is 1,557 yards (1,424 meters) long, is another Hanse golf creation. The course consists of ten par three holes with USGA spec greens that pay homage to some of the most iconic holes in the world. Its longest hole is 140 yards in length, while the shortest is 50 yards long. The course is ranked among the Top 25 par three courses in the world by Golf Magazine.

Les Bordes also offers a driving range and a very enjoyable hilly short game area called The Himalayas, which is the largest putting green in Europe. There are no tee times required at any of the courses, which are walking only until 1pm when golf carts are allowed. Caddies are available to hire at both 18-hole courses during peak seasons.

New Club Facilities And Six Senses Residences

The owners developed or redesigned supporting facilities including a Loire-style clubhouse that features enormous fireplaces, exceptional dining headed by a Michelin-experienced chef and several indoor and outdoor dining areas. It also offers a game room with billiards and foosball, a golf simulator and fitness center.

There are 36 well-appointed guest cottages available for short-term visits while a residential component called Cour du Baron residences where 19 of its 20 turnkey houses built to date have already sold.

A five-star hotel, Six Senses Loire Valley, will feature a world-class 20,000 square foot spa, and offer multiple restaurants and 55 guest accommodations. The hotel, which is currently being developed, is expected to open in September 2026.

Six Senses Residences Loire Valley will also include 52 beautifully crafted homes, with the first phase of 12 residences now available. Each private residence, ranging from three to seven bedrooms, will be situated on a spacious plot—an exceptional feature for branded developments. Designed with modern elegance, the interiors combine locally sourced wood and stone to create a warm, natural atmosphere, while each home also includes a private pool. Owners will have full access to the wellness-centered amenities and services of Six Senses Loire Valley, as well as the option to participate in the Six Senses rental program. Prices of the first phase of 12 homes range in price from €2,659,000 to €8,183,000.

New Category Of Membership Added

A new category of club membership for younger golfers was recently launched. The ‘Fee-only Membership’ category is aimed at single-figure handicap golfers who are 25 to 45 years of age. A non-equity membership, it will allow younger members to enjoy all the playing privileges of an equity member. New members must pay a non-refundable initiation fee of approximately €20,000 (depending on their age), which is substantially less than an equity membership initiation fee. Available on a limited basis, the new category was created in response to growing demand from existing members for family and friends to enjoy the private members’ club experience. As Les Bordes’ full equity membership category is nearing capacity, the club was eager to attract a younger audience. Annual dues are equal for all membership categories.

The Once In A Lifetime package offered by Les Bordes includes accommodations in a Lakeside Cottage or a Cour du Baron villa, play unlimited golf on the Old Course (or a daily three-hour package at Le Retreat Spa). Guests will also enjoy full access to all of the club’s facilities including its equestrian center, daily breakfast and a food and wine tasting menu each evening. The price for the experience is €2,500 per couple, per night, for visits up to seven days.

For more information about the Once-In-A-Lifetime visit at Les Bordes, click on this link.

LesbordesestateOnce in a Lifetime Package – Experience luxury living at Les Bordes