63 good way to give players something else to do beyond another eighteen full length holes. It is, in a way, a pity that Les Bordes is so private: courses like the Piglet are perfect venues for young golfers to learn to love the game. The greens are significantly more dramatic than those on the big course; if Hanse and his shaping team held themselves in check a little while building the New, perhaps this is where they let their more playful side out. Consequently, it’s a lot of fun, with plenty of ways to use contour to move the ball around the greens. I wonder if it is, in fact, a little bit too long for its purpose, of hit and giggle golf, but there is no doubt that it is a lot of fun. When we heard that Les Bordes had hired Hanse to build the New course, and that the site chosen was in large measure sandy, there could be little doubt that the result would be excellent, and it is. I suspect one consequence of the creation of the New will be a substantial rankings drop for the Old course, which frankly looks very 1980s by comparison (and which, to be honest, I didn’t like at all – some of the mounding is way over the top for my taste). But if so, it will surely be replaced by the New. GCA “ Greens are contoured, but not dramatic: elegant is a good word to describe them” The ten-hole ‘Wild Piglet’ par-three course occupies the land between the seventh and ninth holes of the New course Photos: Les Bordes
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