Around the Saint-Émilion Golf Course

Park in the car park at Saint-Philippe-d'Aiguille church.

(S/E) From the car park, head towards the D123, turn right and walk past the town hall.

(1) At the Y-junction, turn left to follow the road. After a left-hand bend and a wide curve that goes round the hamlet of Gerbay, you’ll reach a crossroads at the corner of a property.

(2) Turn left again towards Gardegan, pass the town hall and reach a crossroads (calvary).

(3) Continue straight ahead (the path on the right will be the return route), go a little further and turn right to pass in front of the church and the cemetery. After the cemetery, follow the path on the left which descends behind the house, heading towards the small hamlet of Toureau. Reach it by zigzagging through the vineyards.

(4) Once you reach the D119, turn right and walk alongside the golf course for a short while.

(5) Take the first stony path on your left to walk alongside the golf course fence. Stay alongside this fence for the entire time you are walking around the greens.

(6) Back on the D119, turn right and continue for about 350m.

(7) Take the path on the left which leads up towards the Clubhouse buildings, rejoin the road and continue to the wayside shrine.

(3) At the crossroads, turn left until you reach the junction you passed on the way out.

(2) Leave the path you took on the way there on your right and continue for 50m. Turn right through the vineyards to reach the road. Follow it to the left, rejoining the route you took on the way there. Return to the car park at Saint-Philippe-d'Aiguille (S/E).

Last visit on 19/09/2019; route modified to avoid the golfers’ area.

Route not recommended in wet weather, as the section along the Ruisseau de l'Anguille can be quite muddy.
Trousers and possibly gaiters may be useful, as the route around the golf course is not always mowed.
Option to walk just around the golf course (6 km) by parking at Gardegan (3).

The construction of the golf course took over four years to achieve a very impressive result. Two major challenges were overcome on this course. The first was watering the course, which is done solely using rainwater. This is actually collected in two large lakes built on the site. Water management is frugal and economical. The second was the decision to plant an eco-friendly turf, based on fescue, in a climate warmer than its preferred zone. Its low consumption of water and fertiliser, and its slow growth, were decisive factors. All this is combined with the innovative use of hybrid mowers to maintain the turf. The overall standard of maintenance is very high, with a total of 12 golfing gardeners on site, led by a highly qualified greenkeeper with a handicap of three. (Source: Segolfclub website)

The Church of Saint-Philippe, a Romanesque building dating from the 11th and 12th centuries, was listed as a historic monument in 1920.
This building has undergone numerous alterations.
In the 11th century, a nave was built of rubble stone, reinforced by buttresses. Its original timberwork was replaced in the following century by two domes supported by pendentives.
In the 16th century, a transept was built behind the nave, topped by a square bell tower, and later extended with a Gothic chevet (the part of a church located at the head of the nave, behind the chancel).
The side chapels were built in 1651 for the south chapel and in 1696 for the north chapel.

Nearby:
Château Pitray: a 15th-century manor house built by the Prieur family. It was remodelled in the 16th century by their descendants, a branch of the Ségur family. In 1715, Françoise, their only daughter, married Élie de Simart, a former alderman of Saint-Émilion.
During the Second Empire, General Simard de Pitray commissioned the current château from the Bordeaux architect Alphonse Blanquière (1829–1899).
This building is in the Neo-Renaissance style in the manner of Viollet-le-Duc.
The paths leading to the château open onto the north terrace, the former inner courtyard of the outbuildings, at the corner of which the chapel was built.
To the east, the outbuildings consist of two rectangular buildings separated by a courtyard. A circular dovecote stands in the corner.
Stables have been built to the north.
To the east lies a large naturalistic park in the valley sloping down towards the south. The park, dominated by centuries-old oaks and cedars, was designed by the Bordeaux nurseryman Jean Escarpit (who also designed the Jardin Public in Bordeaux).
The Allée couverte du Pitray is situated in the woods, close to the château.
The current heirs, the Count and Countess of Boigne, maintain the family estate with a traditional wine-growing business. (Source: Wikipedia)