Montpellier Fontcaude Golf Resort

At Montpellier Fontcaude Golf Resort (which for a time was known as Montpellier Juvignac), you can pit your golfing skills against an 18-hole championship course and a 9-hole executive short course. Located on relatively open undulating terrain above Montpellier, the capital of France's Languedoc-Roussillon region, a variety of environments and vistas greet the visiting golfer.

The views from the course, both near and far, contain a mix of woodland, villas, apartment blocks (large and small) and even a football stadium. The course itself roams across predominantly open terrain, occasionally venturing into something a little more wooded. The uphill par-3 2nd and par-4 3rd form part of a steady ascent that brings you to the highest part of the course - the tee-box of the dog-legging downhill par-5 5th.

Good-width fairways and lightish rough provide plenty of opportunity to use the "big timber" with confidence, but beware several small trees and bushes that give definition to some holes, while also penalising wayward drives.

An excellent collection of par-3s, which includes the memorable 6th and 12th, culminate at the 17th, the longest of the "short" holes. Your tee-shot at 17 must carry a wooded ravine before landing on the relatively small and sloping green, which, like many others, is defended by an array of deep pot bunkers.

Although not a "grand design", with a few holes lacking clear definition, Montpellier Fontcaude is nevertheless a testing and absorbing layout. Chris Pitman has made excellent use of the predominantly open undulating terrain, with the diverse scenery giving the course its eclectic woodland and urban backdrop.