MY HOME IS A CASTLE--the tale of how and why I became a chatelain , four times .This is my present home. If you are visiting for the first time you may care to read the older posts first.

Saturday, May 2, 2009

GOLF CRAZY or CRAZY GOLF!

Following the purchase of the farm, it began to be ' golf ' for breakfast, ' golf ' for dinner, and, yes you've guessed it - for tea! We actually never tried playing it but we did a lot of reading and talking about it. Our plan had to work because we had been to the bank for the purchase of the farm! The Manager had thought it was a great idea ( fortunately he was a golfer) and he was looking forward to being our first customer!

The next step was to get a geological survey of the land to be sure that it would be suitable for creating the 18 hole course . This was fairly easy to arrange, but costly, as you can imagine. We waited for the results with baited breath, because if the report returned a negative response, we were left with just a derelict farm on our hands. Fortunately the report came back and was positive on all counts, and the land had water which would be good for arranging a few hazard holes.

Then we had to find an expert who would create the actual course - so we visited a course about 60kms away and met the owner, who was a really obliging gentleman, and he arranged for us to meet with the person who had planned out his course, which was also an 18 hole. He came out to the Chateau the following week and Alex gave him a guided tour of the farm and its land. We thought that the main farmhouse itself would make a good sized clubhouse at the 9th hole, and the expert agreed that it would be good. Alex then left him on his own to wander and get the feel of the land and he agreed to meet us back at he Chateau. Our minds went into a reverie wondering what our ' golf-course' would look like.....




We wished!


When he returned he was full of enthusiasm and asked if we had thought of gaining permission for a large Hotel on the land as well so as to attract golfers from further afield or even abroad . We hadn't considered that, but thought " Why not? In for a penny etc"! All sorts of images flashed through our minds......












" SHALL I RELIEVE YOU OF YOUR BAGS? SIR? "





So, after a long consultation the golf expert left armed with his figures and we sat back for a few weeks waiting for the final dossier to arrive. We would have to use this dossier to gain planning permissions, and to then find a suitable buyer for the whole package.

to be continued.............

22 comments:

  1. am waiting for more delphine! love your stories!

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  2. Oh my! You're such an adventurous pair. I can imagine that golf course architects come inexpensively.

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  3. Kritter Keeper, Why aren't there enough hours in a day? I love re-living my tale!

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  4. Bonjour Rudee, read ' crazy' for adventurous perhaps? It's a good job we were, otherwise we wouldn't have slept at night haha.

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  5. Great! I love how open you are to the idea. I've never played golf, I'm more of a hockey fan. How about a hockey rink :)

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  6. wow, love reading about this...great photo!

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  7. I love this story! Can't wait to hear the rest Delphine.

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  8. What a huge undertaking, especially for two people who didn't play golf and didn't know that much about it. You were very trusting!

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  9. Not only a golf course, but a hotel to boot!! What an adventure!
    Hope Chris is getting along well!

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  10. hello Suz! I have tried clicking on your name to see your site, but it doesn't take me anywhere? Thankyou for your visits and your comments, hockey rink would be a first! haha Brings back memories of schooldays, and long shorts!!

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  11. Thanks Sandy,and Winifred, should finish the tale in the next post!

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  12. To Susan, I guess we were very trusting, but also impulsive, and I have always put a lot of store in following gut instincts-having said that they have been known to be a bit wobbly.....

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  13. AH, Cottage Girl, we had no intention nor the money to create all this, we were merely getting the permissions at this stage.

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  14. Welcome again Akim,and yes it really was, but a scary one!

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  15. Hi Delphine, I just tagged you. Hope you don't mind playing!

    http://bearswampreflections.blogspot.com/2009/05/lets-play-tag.html

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  16. wow..what a grat idea.. golfers have money..at least thats what we think when we see all those fancy cars at the golf course up the road from us..

    waiting ...for more..

    Jan :)

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  17. Hi Susan, thanks for tagging me, sounds fun , I shall give it a go!

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  18. Jan's Place, True, although in France it is more a sport for the everyday man and there are no ridiculously huge club fees!

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  19. I can't imagine taking on a project this big! My husband is in charge of a fund raiser golf tournament once a year. He doesn't even play golf.

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  20. Stopping off before reading the next post to say fun fun fun. I love how you tell the story.

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  21. thanks Ruth! I am pleased to hear that!

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