Vidauban Golf Club

Overview: Vidauban Golf Club, formerly known as Le Prince de Provence, is an eighteen-hole course in the Plaine des Maures of southern France. The 7,000-yard, par-72 layout sits within an extensive Provençal estate of umbrella pines, cork oaks, wild lavender, seasonal ponds and lichen-covered rock. The course uses the natural character of the Massif des Maures rather than hiding it behind a conventional resort landscape. Fairways move through open woodland and rugged ground, while changing lies, stone outcrops and the placement of the greens make the correct line more important than simple power. The setting feels secluded because the golf is integrated into a large natural area, and the architecture gives the vegetation and landforms room to remain visible. Vidauban is a design-led course whose identity comes from the meeting of Robert Trent Jones architecture and Mediterranean ecology.

History: The course opened in 1999 under the name Le Prince de Provence. Robert Trent Jones Sr. developed the original vision for the site, and the Robert Trent Jones II portfolio records the 1999 opening and a 2020 renovation. The club's current pages describe the course as the work of the Robert Trent Jones family and note continuing collaboration with the Robert Trent Jones II architectural firm. Vidauban later established a conservation-focused foundation in 2007, linking the management of the golf course with the biodiversity of the Plaine des Maures. This history explains the course's dual identity: it is both a private golf project shaped by a major architectural family and a landscape where environmental research has become part of the club's public story.

Did You Know? In 2007, Vidauban created an environmental foundation and began a ten-year partnership with the National Museum of Natural History in Paris. The research identified species that had not previously been recorded in the region, giving the course an unusual connection with scientific conservation.