Biarritz Golf Club, Le Phare

Inaugurated on March 13th, 1888, the Biarritz Golf du Phare is the oldest of the 11 golf courses on the Basque coast. Founded on the initiative of the English colony present in Biarritz, the course was redesigned the following year by the brothers Tom and Willie Dunn, renowned English architects. The course took on its current appearance in the 1960s. 

Hole #3, par 5 (easy)

Hole #16, par 5 (difficult)

Hole #17, Par 3 (easy)

The Golf du Phare is a relatively short par 69. With urban development, the course is in the city center and is divided into two parts: the clubhouse and holes 1 to 3 and 10 to 18 straddle Anglet and Biarritz while holes 4 to 9 are more centered towards the city center of Biarritz, near the very beautiful Hôtel Régina and the Golf, a few steps from the lighthouse. The route is straightforward and flat and has no water obstacles. However, 70 bunkers "punish" the inattentive golfer.

The Putting-Green

Hole #18, par 4 (easy)

After starting out as cadets, many professional players or golf teachers hit their first balls on the fairways of Biarritz golf: Arnaud Massy, Jean Gassiat, Eugène Laffitte, Pierre Hirigoyen, Henri Mourgiart and won the biggest international golf tournaments. their time. Over a period from 1907 to 1929, the three “Musketeers” A. Massy, J. Gassiat and E. Lafitte won: 1 British Open, 5 French Opens, 8 French Championships, 3 Belgian Opens, 5 European Opens. Spain, thus constituting one of the finest golf records for a French golf course. Prize list which was further enriched with the victories of Marie-Laure de Lorenzi and Roger Sabarros, students of Pierre Hirigoyen.

The Club-House, before and today

I started playing at Golf de Biarritz, le Phare in the early 1970s. At that time, when you were a kid, after passing a golf player certificate, you could play for free on all the golf courses in the region. This certificate, beyond being an aptitude test for playing golf, was a way of teaching you the rules and etiquette, which should be compulsory today for everyone wishing to become a member in a golf club. 

Pierre Hirigoyen

I can't talk about the Golf de Biarritz without mentioning two of my teachers, Pierre Hirigoyen, nicknamed "Le Sorcier" who hit me on the head with a stick to teach me how to play better and René Darrieumerlou, who taught me modern golf and who both taught me to love golf.

Roger Sabarros

Faldo, Rodriguez and Manuel Ballesteros, Open Timex 1983 

I also have in this Golf some unforgettable memories; having seen Nick Faldo or Sam Torrance at the Timex Open in 1983 and 84 or José Maria Olazàbal in 1983 at the Biarritz Cup, without forgetting, the one and only, Roger Sabarros who won the Bulles Laurent Perrier, a Challenge Tour event in 1991 and of course having a drink at the Brochot family's restaurant La Chaumière.

I also take advantage of this post on the Golf of Biarritz to pay tribute to a few people I had the chance to know or with whom I had the chance to play. Albert Bomboudiac, emblematic Director of the Golf de Biarritz for years, Ned Peckett, very good player and Golf Starter, Denis Lalanne, Pierre Andrieu, Hubert Chalmeton and his cigar, without forgetting José and Robert.

The Vanished Villas of Biarritz #2 Javalquinto

Pedro de Alcántara Téllez-Girón y Fernández Santillán, (Cádiz, 1812-Biarritz, 1900) succeeded as the 13th Duke of Osuna in 1882 when his first cousin, the 12th Duke of Osuna, died. He was the son of Pedro de Alcántara Téllez-Girón y Pimentel (1787-1851), Prince of Anglona, and x Marquis of Javalquinto (the child who appears seated on a cushion, in the portrait of the 9 Dukes of Osuna and their children), director from the Prado Museum 1820-1823,68 Governor and Captain General of Cuba in 1840, Lieutenant General of the Royal Armies, Senator for life, 1st Vice President of the Senate 1848-1851. His mother, María del Rosario Fernández de Santillán y Valdivia, daughter of the Marquises of La Motilla, of Valenciana, and Counts of Casa-Alegre, was a Dame of the Queen Noble Dame of the Order of Queen María Luisa.

The thirteenth Duke of Osuna was a gentleman of the chamber with exercise and servitude of the kings Isabel II, Alfonso XII and Alfonso XIII. He was a knight of the Royal Maestranza of Seville, a senator of the kingdom in his own right, Grand Cross of Carlos III, and a knight of the Military Order of San Fernando for war merits. He married Julia Dominé and Desmasieres. He inherited from his father the Anglona palace in Madrid and certain rights of use in the Jabalquinto palace in Baeza, where he inherited a large amount of property. In Biarritz he built a small palace which he called Jabalquinto, with a large garden and excellent views of the Biarritz beach, on whose façade the Osuna coat of arms shines. After his death, this mansion was purchased by the Biarritz City Council.

The thirteenth Duke of Osuna succeeded his father as Prince of Anglona and Marquis of Javalquinto, and his cousin Mariano in the House of Osuna and in that of Benavente, which came to them through his paternal grandmother Josefa Alonso Pimentel, being Count Duke of Benavente, Duke of Gandía, and its added houses.

He died in his palace in Biarritz on September 3, 1900. His only daughter, María Dolores Téllez-Girón y Dominé, died without succession. The House of Osuna passed to the grandsons of his brother Tirso de él, Luis María and Mariano Téllez-Girón Fernández de Córdoba and Fernández de Santillán, who succeeded as the fourteenth and fifteenth Dukes of Osuna.

From December 27, 1882, he was Duke of Osuna due to the death of his first cousin Mariano Téllez-Girón, XII Duke of Osuna. He also holds the titles of XVIII Count and XV Duke of Benavente, XVII Duke of Gandía, XVI Duke of Béjar, X Marquis of Jabalquinto. He was born in Cádiz on September 4, 1812. Son of Pedro de Alcántara Téllez-Girón, IX Marquis of Jabalquinto, youngest son of Pedro Téllez-Girón, IX Duke of Osuna, and María del Rosario Fernández de Santillán. He married in Jabalquinto (Jaén) in 1857 with Julia de Dominé Desmaisieres. Children: 1st Pedro de Alcántara Téllez-Girón Dominé; 2nd María del Rosario, both died as children; 3º María de los Dolores, succeeding her father in the titles of Benavente, Gandía and Jabalquinto. She was also the Marchioness consort of Llombay.

Julia de Dominé Desmaisieres

Julia Fernanda de Dominé and Desmaisieres, X Marquise of Jabalquinto and XIII Duchess of Osuna was born in Seville on January 7, 1842 and died in Madrid on December 15, 1901, at the age of 59. On July 20, 1857, she married her uncle Pedro de Alcántara Tellez-Giron y Fernández-Santillan in Jabalquinto (Jaén). Her main residence was in Biarritz. She was of singular beauty, she shone in Spain and abroad. She had friends in Florence, Rome and Venice, where she spent long periods of time.

Pedro de Alcántara Téllez-Girón y Fernández Santillán well deserved his nickname "Don Magnifico". Collector, man of letters, acquaintance of monarchs, friend of artists and the Biarritz people, he was an eccentric, man-about-town and a big spender. In 1866, he set up his sanctuary on the high ground above the Plage de l’Impératrice, opposite the imposing entrance and overlooking the gardens of the imperial palace. Château Javalquinto, an Italian-style castle with a Gothic touch, was the scene of the most Baroque parties to be held in Biarritz. 

In 1852, Pedro de Alcántara Téllez Girón y Fernández de Santillán appeared in the photographic world in an article by journalist Richard W. Thomas published in the English magazine The Art Journal, where he was named as one of the most enthusiastic members of the Roman School of Photography. This group, made up of renowned sculptors, painters and noblemen with a great fondness for photography, called themselves “the photographer-painters” and met at the Caffé Greco on Via Condotti, in Rome, and had adopted the calotype to portray landscapes, buildings and corners of European cities and used salted paper to print. Pedro lived dedicated to photography, painting and the protection of art until he died in Biarritz.

When the Duke died in 1900, his heirs and debt guarantors were hounded by bailiffs… it presented an opportunity for Joseph Petit, Mayor of Biarritz since 1919, to purchase Javalquinto and install the town hall there. The building was vast, comfortable and ideally situated with a view of the sea beyond the sublime gardens of the Victoria Hotel. In 1924, after 3 years of negotiations with the Duke of the Infantado, Javalquinto became the town hall, and remained so until 1953 when new offices were established in the former Bon Marché department store.

In 1985, employees discovered some magnificent stained glass windows in the villa’s cellars. They were panels, inspired by Grimm’s fairy tales (1882) representing elves, Snow White and Cinderella, which had been removed from the stairwell in the Domaine de Françon manor house prior to wartime occupation and which were replaced by works of art requisitioned by the Nazis. Today, the villa is home to the town’s tourist board and convention department.

The Factory Ship Frans Hals Grounding in Biarritz

The Frans Hals is a factory ship built in 1965 by the Royal Schelde shipyards in Vlissingen for the Soviet company Sevryba JSC. She was launched on June 26, 1965 and commissioned in October 1965. After 30 years of activity in the Barents Sea, she was sold for scrapping in 1996. During her tow to Bilbao, she ran aground in Biarritz on November 20, 1996. Refloated a few weeks later, she was oceanized in the Capbreton trench, off Biarritz on December 13, 1996.

The already Russian Son of a Bitch Tugboat Agat

In 1996, she was sold for scrap and was towed to the Ardoex Bilbao shipbreaking yards by the tugboat Agat. On November 19, 1996, the convoy arrived in front of Bilbao, but was not allowed to enter the port due to administrative problems. Around 11 p.m., the tow broke and the ship drifted towards the coast with four crew members on board (commander Valentin Wladimirovitch Terentiev, chief engineer Sergei Nicolaievich Kalapichine and two sailors). The next day around 2:30 p.m., she ran aground on Miramar beach in Biarritz. During this time, the tug headed for international waters to avoid being intercepted.

Refloating is entrusted to Abeilles International. The latter must remove the ship from the beach and tow it towards the Fosse de Capbreton where it must be sunk. The tanks of the Frans Hals were emptied and the breaches present in the hull, then the superstructure was partially cut in order to lighten the wreckage to facilitate towing.

On December 13, 1996, the tidal coefficients are at their maximum. It is therefore this day that is chosen to clear the ship. Bulldozers dig a channel in the sand, then three tugs (the Abeille Flandre, the Abeille Supporter and the Abeille Picardie) pull the Frans Hals, which pivots and joins its natural element. When it reached the ocean, the Abeille Picardie towed it to the Capbreton trench, off Biarritz, where it sank around noon.

The propeller of the Frans Hals has been preserved and is now on display on the Esplanade Elisabeth II in Biarritz in memory of the ship's grounding. 

The vanished villas of Biarritz #1Villa Genin

Villa Genin: With its crenellated keep of four floors served by an internal spiral staircase (six rooms per floor), surmounted by a quadrangular lead dome lit by bull's eye windows, this construction desired by Auguste Genin, a replica of the Quinette d'Etampes tower which housed the royal loves was a curiosity for the walker who discovered the villa Genin at the bend of the street. Baptized “La Jacqueline” by its creator, the house has never ceased to arouse curiosities and legends. Its watchtowers bore dedications: "to Jacqueline", "to Augusta", "to Gabrielle", etc... in homage to six of the owner's friends. The lord of the place was the engineer Auguste Genin, originally from Bourgoin, administrator of several gasworks in France. Even before signing the Biarritz gas lighting treaty, he bought land from the Lacombe family. The laying of the first stone of the factory took place on January 10, 1870. Construction was completed in July of the same year. But it took nine years, from 1877 to 1886, to build the Génin tower, in Dauphiné stone with its walls one meter thick, on the plan of a four-leaf clover. 

The gardens that surrounded it joined the park of the imperial domain. Paul Faure recalled its peculiarities, including these: "And this other, who in homage to six ladies of his intimacy, added to his enormous house, already round, crenellated, and topped with a dome in the shape of plants, six turrets adorned with a commemorative dedication. Some claim that in each turret was buried the corpse of a mistress of the place... Auguste Genin did not have time to enjoy his strange home. He died suddenly in Nevers in January 1889. A collector of antique furniture, he left furniture, paintings, statuettes, clocks, medals and jewelry for a total value of 50,000 francs. francs paid by the heirs of the deceased Auguste Genin had drawn the coat of arms of the City of Biarritz which he had presented on January 10, 1870 to the Municipality.

On the heights of the Saint-Charles (or Gaz) district, the Genin Tower or Villa La Jacqueline is part of the architectural fantasy of Biarritz. With its crenellated keep on four floors, its quadrangular lead dome, this replica of the Tour Guinette d'Etampes was a curiosity for the walker who discovered the Villa Genin at the bend of a street. The owner was the engineer Auguste Genin, originally from Bourgoin, director of several gasworks in France. Even before signing the Biarritz gas lighting treaty, he bought land from the Lacombe family. It took nine years, from 1877 to 1886, to build the Genin Tower, in Dauphiné stone with its one meter thick walls. Auguste Genin did not have time to enjoy his strange home. He died suddenly in Nevers in January 1889. On a sad morning in November 1963, "La Jacqueline" was demolished to build an unsightly concrete building.

The Padosa Wreck in Biarritz

It was in the rising night of December 14, 1907. Over 110 years ago, the Swedish three-masted" Padosa "was breaking its hull on the rocks off the Great Beach in Biarritz. the story of Biarritz, but also that of the sailing navy President François Doyhamboure, President of the historical seabed research association, keeps the memory of this tragic episode that cost the lives of four sailors.

A memory preserved thanks to a research work of Biarrots passionate about their city and its history. François Doyhamboure and Eric Dupré-Moretti, explorers of the seabed of the Basque Coast, were fascinated by these mysterious underwater wrecks of ships stranded off Biarritz. In a book, "Naufrages de Biarritz and surroundings, from the sixteenth to the twentieth century" - which should be reissued - the two biarrot researchers have retraced the terrible history of Padosa. In 1978, they moved two anchors from the waters of the Grande Plage, now installed at Atalaye and Port-des-Pêcheurs. A research project carried out with the Biarritz Aquatique Scaphandrier Club, the USB and notably Narkiez Diez, Henri Chevrat, Gérard Foubert, François Bergon and the adjutant of the firefighters Minvielle. The anchor set on the plateau of Atalaye, monument in tribute to Swedish sailors John Johansson, Harald Persson, Alferd Wander and Carl Gustaf Eriksson resting in the cemetery of Sabaou. This is the story written by the two local divers and historians.

The "Padosa" was a magnificent 60-meter-long, 860-ton, 860-ton wooden hull built in the Austrian fashion at Fiume on the Adriatic Sea in 1880. Its home port was Raa in Sweden and owner owner Captain Lars-Erik Nilsson, from the same port. In early December 1907, the ship, under the command of Captain Milson, loaded a load of logs into Skelleftea, Sweden. He then stops at Raa where Captain Milson leaves the command to Captain Martin Björk. The ship then takes the direction of the Atlantic to reach the coast of Biscay and disembark her goods at Portugalete, near Bilbao.

Before the unloading, while the ship was in the port of Portugalete and moored, it capsized very strongly on a sandbar during the low tide. Unbalanced, the cargo of wood slid violently on the side and the hull of wood was tested. At the next tide, the ship was securely moored and unloading logs could be done. Of course the ship did not sail until after a hull inspection and the issue of a certificate of navigation, but there was still doubt as to the possible deterioration of the hull. This serious incident may have counted later, when he resumed the ocean. Anyway, the "Padosa" was blocked for eight days at the port of Portugalete, because of a storm that prevented any attempt to go to sea.

Finally, the ocean calmed down and on December 11, the "Padosa" left the port of Portugalete towed by a pilot boat. He was able to set sail and depart towards the port of Setubal, Portugal, to load a cargo of salt. Its crew was eleven people and included Captain Martin Björk, assisted by a pilot, with a subrecargue representing the loaders and eight crewmen. Shortly after the departure, the wind began to blow more and more strongly to turn into one of those terrible storms of west, towards 19 h. The sailors reduced the sails and the pilot tried to cope, but the ship was abnormally taking the water and the bilge pumps were not working. Handicapped by the mass of water that filled his holds and consequently poorly windward, the ship was drifting eastward in the Bay of Biscay. The accident at the port of Portugalete had disjoined the members. However, the wind calmed down and the crew was able to drain all the water from the ship. All sails out, the "Padosa" tried to leave the Bay of Biscay.

But after a few hours of calm, the westerly wind regained strength and, again, blew into a storm that quickly turned into a hurricane. The "Padosa" started to take the water again. Soon he was half-filled with water, threatening to capsize at any moment. Captain Björk concluded that the ship was lost and that the life of the seamen was in danger. He met the crew and calmly explained the situation. It only remained for them to save their lives by fleeing under the wind to reach the earth and try to beach the ship without much harm. Driven by the hurricane, the "Padosa" drifted east for three days, with the winds very violent, a very strong swell and breaking waves, fear in the stomach.

On the evening of December 14th, when night had already fallen, a fire appeared in the distance indicating the proximity of the coast. As soon as they were on board, fires were lit, and the crew sounded the siren of distress. Very close to the coast, the "Padosa" was now facing the Grande Plage Biarritz, when suddenly, around 19 pm, in the night, the ship hit a rock. It was the Roche Plate, about 600 m from the mainland. Immediately the ship was surrounded by the ferment of the terrible breakers. On the shore, the Biarrots had lit large fires and set up rocket engines to launch moorings, but these fired in the direction of the ship did not reach their objective in time. The seventh shot finally reached the ship, but it was already too late to hope to save the sailors from this means. The rescuers were helpless and did not have a lifeboat, besides the strength of the waves and breakers, would that have been possible?

While the ship broke up under the blows of the Ocean, without receiving the order of her captain, the subrecargue threw herself into the water with a rope. He tried to swim to shore, but soon he drowned, submerged and engulfed by the waves. The captain gave the order to put a boat at sea, with two men on board, but a wave furiously crushed the boat against the hull of the ship. The rest of the crew had difficulty hoisting the two sailors on board. In his turn the captain dived with a rope, but the stronger waves exhausted him immediately. He was painfully tanned by his crew. "

The Sinking of the S/S Knebworth in Biarritz

S/S Knebworth is a steam freighter, collier, official number 142.856, built by Dunlop Bremner & Co, Port Glasgow and launched on November 21st 1919 for R.S. Dalgliesh. The Knebworth left Blyth for Bayonne on January 18th, 1930, with a load of 3,600 tons of coal, her draft was 19 feet 6 inches forward and 19 feet 7 inches aft. he is under the orders of Mr. Joseph Schofield, a man who has twenty years experience at sea and who has been in command of the Knebworth for more than three years. She has a crew of 24 including Mr. Robert Tait, of Newcastle-Tyne, who unfortunately was probably thrown overboard and drowned at the time of the accident. 

Nothing to report during the trip to Bayonne, the ship arrived at the bar of the Adour river, around midnight on January 22nd. After the harbor master's visit, he dropped anchor in a safe position at Pointe Saint-Martin in Biarritz to await a pilot. The captain has on board the Admiralty Navigation Directions for the west coast of France, Spain and Portugal. He is aware of the dangerous nature of the coast.

On January 23, the pilot boarded and moved the ship to an anchorage point that he deemed safer, because the tide left little water. On the night of the 24th, a strong breeze shook the ship, which resisted anchoring well. On the 25th the weather improved and the pilot returned on board at 4 p.m. and again moved the Knebworth about 1 ¼ miles N.N.W of the lighthouse. He gives the order to put on steam for his return scheduled for the next day at 1 p.m. On the 26th, the weather was perfect, the pilot had not returned as promised, and no movement towards port could be made until the following afternoon. At 6 p.m. the chief engineer informed the captain that a valve was leaking in the boiler and had to be repaired. The captain asks to wait, but finally consents to the repair under pressure from his chief engineer. The work is undertaken in a careless manner, for the fires have been allowed to be reduced. The joint, however, has not been examined.

On the afternoon of January 27, at 4:00 p.m., the captain asked the chief engineer to keep a good head of steam on the port boiler, adding that he might want steam also on the starboard boiler. , but nothing is done in connection with the leak. The bad weather progressed during the afternoon and, at 7:00 p.m., the captain decided to take his ship out to sea. Steam is rising on the port boiler but the lights on the starboard boiler have not been put on. The winches receiving too little steam are unable to raise the mooring.

The Knebworth is drifting towards land. Life belts are distributed because it is impossible to launch the two canoes as the sea breaks on the rocks. An SOS is sent and at 9 am the next day a lifeline is received on the ship. Eight men are saved in this way. On January 29, the sea calms down a bit and a fishing vessel manages to approach to save the rest of the crew.

Château Boulart in Biarritz

 

Château Boulart, a private residence in Biarritz rises to a height of sixty-three meters above sea level. Designed in the eclectic style that prevailed in the last quarter of the 19th century by the architect Joseph Louis Duc, it retains today all the architectural characteristics and the major decorative elements of the original build. The construction of the Villa was decided by Charles Boulart who bought in 1872 a plot of land of five hectares on the site of Biarritz.

In 1930, Château Boulart was occupied by the Notre-Dame de Sion institution, which opened a girls' college there (My Mom went there), then a girls' boarding school (with development and raising of the old gymnasium which would improperly become "Villa" Sion) , then a mixed college, until its sale in 1974. Little by little the domain which occupied five hectares was divided up and sold in lots, and the park was considerably reduced. Château Boulart was acquired by Pierre and Brigitte Delalonde at the end of 2015.