Golf guide • France • Gers, Occitanie

Golf in Auch: the rolling Gers valleys facing the Pyrenees

Auch, capital of the Gers about an hour and a quarter from Toulouse airport, is played first and foremost at Auch-Embats, a very hilly eighteen-hole course laid out across five small valleys five minutes from the centre, complemented by the Fleurance nine-hole and, for a longer day, the course at Eauze. Golfers come for golf without crowds, for the World Heritage-listed Cathédrale Sainte-Marie and for Gascon cooking, from foie gras to armagnac. The best seasons are April to June and September to October.

Plan this tripUpdated 11 October 2026

Set on a spur above the River Gers, Auch looks out over hill country where wheat, sunflowers, vines and oak woods take turns. The upper town keeps its stepped lanes, the pousterles, and its Cathédrale Sainte-Marie, a stop on the Way of St James. In the 18th century the intendant d'Étigny opened up the avenues and squares that give the lower town its vistas. On a clear day, the Pyrenees close off the horizon to the south.

The Gers is not a land of large golf resorts, and that is its charm. The Auch-Embats course, dreamed up by a local optician on his own land, is a family affair played without ceremony; Fleurance, twenty-five minutes away, offers a well-kept nine holes around a Gascon house. For a second day on an eighteen-hole course, you need to drive about an hour to Eauze, in the heart of Bas-Armagnac.

The rest of the trip is spent at the table and on country roads. Lectoure on its promontory, the armagnac estates of the Ténarèze around Condom, the tiny fortified village of Larressingle and the bastide towns in the south of the department are all less than an hour away. Three or four nights are enough to play all three courses, see the town and keep a day for armagnac.

The courses

Green at the bottom of a wooded valley, a pond and small stone bridge, grassy slopes in autumn colours

Golf d'Auch-Embats

Architect: André Migret
Opened 1990
18 holes
Par 69

In 1969 André Migret, an optician in Auch, bought a farm at Embats, five kilometres from the centre. With a small bulldozer he shaped three holes, then thought bigger and built an eighteen-hole course, which opened in the early 1990s. The 4,886-metre par 69 winds through five wooded valleys, with water features, an island reached by stone bridges, a waterfall and a Japanese garden. Short but physical, it is full of sidehill lies and blind shots; a ski-style tow even takes you up to the final green. His son-in-law, Jacques Dupuy, now runs this family club.

Signature hole. At the 9th, the tower André Migret built with stones from the old farm has become the club's emblem.

Official website

Golf de Fleurance

Architect: Jean-Louis Pega
9 holes

Some twenty kilometres north of Auch, on the road to Lectoure, the Fleurance nine-hole was designed by Jean-Louis Pega around an 18th-century half-timbered Gascon house. Ash trees, streams, a lake and small valleys provide most of the hazards, and separate tees for the second loop give the feel of a true eighteen. Often cited among the best nine-hole courses in France, it is open all year and works as well for a warm-up as for a relaxed round at the end of the day.

Golf d'Eauze Grand Armagnac

Architect: Jean Larrouy
18 holes
Par 70

About an hour north-west of Auch, at Guinlet, the Golf d'Eauze Grand Armagnac is the nearest eighteen-hole course after Embats. Designed by Jean Larrouy on the edge of the Landes, this par 70 rolls between pines and oaks, with the Pyrenees as a backdrop. More varied and easier on the legs than Embats, it pairs naturally with a visit to an armagnac cellar and lunch in Eauze, capital of Bas-Armagnac. It is worth the drive for anyone who wants two proper eighteen-hole courses on the trip.

Official website

Where to stay

Domaine de Baulieu

Five minutes from the centre of Auch, this former Gers farmhouse is now a four-star hotel of thirty-four rooms, eleven of them contemporary lodges. Ask for a panoramic-view lodge: each has its own balcony facing the Gers hills. A heated pool, parkland and a spa make it a calm base, no more than fifteen minutes from Auch-Embats, and chef Maxime Deschamps's restaurant spares you the drive in the evening.

Hôtel de France

Created in 1761 by joining two coaching inns, a short walk from the cathedral, the Hôtel de France is the house where André Daguin made Gascon cooking famous; the Casassus family has run it since 2009. The Authentique rooms are small: ask for a Singulière or a Supérieure. On summer evenings, go up for an aperitif on the rooftop, laid out in the chef's former flat, facing the Gers hills and the Pyrenees.

Restored Gascon farmhouse in honey-coloured stone and tiles, pool and lawn, farmed hills and oaks at sunset

Where to dine

Restaurant du Domaine de Baulieu

At the Domaine de Baulieu, Maxime Deschamps reworks French classics with produce from the Gers. It has held a Michelin Green Star since 2021: kitchen garden, compost, rainwater collected. Two surprise menus, of five or eight courses, change every month with the producers; take the longer one and walk round the kitchen garden in the park before you sit down. No service on Sunday evenings.

La Table d'Oste

A small dining room and terrace in the historic centre, about thirty covers and cooking that is one hundred per cent Gers, sourced from the department's farms: garbure, cassoulet, foie gras, magret and Gascon salad. Order the house dish, the Hambur-Gers, served without a bun: two slices of grilled duck breast around pan-fried foie gras. Closed in winter.

Beyond golf

Cathédrale Sainte-Marie

Built between the late 15th and late 17th centuries, the cathedral combines Flamboyant Gothic with a Renaissance façade. It is a World Heritage site as part of the Routes of Santiago de Compostela. Its choir holds 113 carved oak stalls peopled with some 1,500 figures, and its eighteen stained-glass windows by Arnaut de Moles, completed in 1513, rank among the finest Renaissance glass in France.

The Musée des Amériques

Housed in the former Jacobin convent, the museum holds the second-largest collection of pre-Columbian art in France after the Quai Branly: goldwork, ceramics, textiles and carved wood. Its masterpiece, the Mass of Saint Gregory, is a feather painting made in Mexico City in 1539 using an Aztec technique, less than twenty years after Cortés's conquest.

The monumental staircase and d'Artagnan

Completed in the 19th century, the monumental staircase links the lower town and the banks of the Gers to the cathedral with more than three hundred steps, between landings and fountains. Halfway up, a bronze statue of d'Artagnan, the Gascon musketeer born not far away, looks out over the town. The climb is at its best in the evening, when the honey-coloured stone catches the light.

Gascon old town in honey-coloured stone on a hill crowned by a twin-towered cathedral, plane trees by the water

When to go

The Gers climate allows golf almost all year round. April, May and June are the best months: green courses, hillsides in flower and mild temperatures. July and August are hot, sometimes scorching, and the fairways turn yellow; play early. September and October bring back mild weather, along with the grape harvest and, in autumn, armagnac distillation. Winter is mild but damp, and courses can be heavy after rain.

Getting there

Toulouse-Blagnac airport (TLS) is the most convenient, about an hour and a quarter's drive from Auch; Tarbes-Lourdes-Pyrénées (LDE) is a similar distance. Regional TER trains link Toulouse with Auch in about an hour and a half. Once there, a car is essential: the courses, estates and villages are scattered across the countryside.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best golf course near Auch?

The Golf d'Auch-Embats, five minutes from the centre, is the only eighteen-hole course in the immediate area: a short but very hilly par 69, with views of the Pyrenees from the clubhouse.

Can you play two eighteen-hole courses on a trip to Auch?

Yes: Auch-Embats, five minutes from the centre, and Eauze Grand Armagnac, about an hour's drive away. The Fleurance nine-hole, twenty-five minutes away, rounds out the programme.

Do you need a buggy to play Auch-Embats?

It is strongly recommended. The course is laid out across five valleys, with steep climbs between greens and tees.

Which airport is best for a golf trip to Auch?

Toulouse-Blagnac, about an hour and a quarter's drive away. Tarbes-Lourdes-Pyrénées is an alternative depending on flights.

When is the best time to play golf in the Gers?

From April to June and in September and October. Summer is often very hot and dry, and winter mild but damp.

Tailor-made

Your golf trip: Auch

Tee times, suites, transfers and tables: your concierge replies within 24 hours with a proposal shaped around you.

Hillside green above a turquoise lake beneath limestone cliffs, a village and chalets on the shore, late-afternoon light

Haute-Savoie