Monte-Carlo Golf Club, the 1911 course looking down on Monaco from Mont Agel

There’s no room for a golf course in Monaco, which is why its course sits in France, 850 metres higher up. The Monte-Carlo Golf Club has been on the slopes of Mont Agel, above La Turbie, since 1911, and outside golfing circles surprisingly few visitors know it exists. I’ve gone through the club’s website and the SBM’s, and here’s whether it’s worth it, what it costs and which rules to know before you book.

A 1911 course cut into Mont Agel

The official history says it was Monte-Carlo’s English community that pushed the Société des Bains de Mer into building a course so high up, and that the English dug it out of the rock in 1911. It began with 12 holes. Under Prince Pierre, Rainier III’s father, as president, two more were added, and since 1995 three new holes have been built and others reshaped. It covers 70 hectares and is run by a committee of its own members, chaired today by Michel Dotta.

What stands out for me is the roll of honour. From 1984 to 1993 it hosted the Monte Carlo Open on the European Tour, and Nick Faldo, Ian Woosnam, Sandy Lyle, Sam Torrance and Darren Clarke all played here, alongside Seve Ballesteros and a very young Sergio García. This isn’t a hotel course; it’s a club with a past.

What’s the course like?

Eighteen holes which, added up from the official table, make par 71. It opens with a 526-metre par 5 off the men’s tees and closes with a 171-metre par 3. The club calls it hilly and technical, and the SBM warns that it demands “extreme precision”, so I wouldn’t treat it as a beginner’s round. The hole everyone photographs is the 13th, a short par 3 whose tee looks out over Monte-Carlo, Italy and, on a clear day, Corsica.

The altitude changes both the golf and the weather. The club boasts more than 300 days of sunshine a year and mild temperatures thanks to the mix of height and sea, and in summer I’d be grateful for those 850 metres compared with the heat on the coast. It also holds the French federation’s biodiversity label and is trialling a grass that uses up to 40% less water.

Can visitors play, and how much is it?

Yes, and plenty of people don’t realise it. Membership is capped at 500, with sponsors, a handicap of 35 or under and a joining fee, but the club welcomes outside players as a “Member’s day” on payment of the day’s green fee. That gets you the changing rooms, practice ground, bar and restaurant, with a token for practice balls and a pull trolley thrown in. Bookings are by phone or email, and the course is open every day.

The club doesn’t publish prices, but the SBM does. According to its golf page, a green fee costs €180 on weekdays and €220 at weekends and on holidays, falling to €90 and €110 if you show the card from one of its hotels. For me that’s the key point. If you’re coming to play and haven’t booked a room yet, the Hôtel de Paris or any other SBM hotel changes the sums, and the company also sells a golf package with transfers to the course. Options by budget are in where to stay in Monaco.

Rules worth knowing before you go

The club follows the R&A’s rules and is strict about clothing. No jeans, no short shorts, no collarless shirts. Four-balls can only go out from 13:30 between April and September and from 12:30 between October and March, which leaves high-season mornings to smaller groups. Dogs on a lead are allowed on the course, which is unusual, but not in the bar or restaurant, not even on the terrace.

The restaurant serves lunch from 12:00 to 15:00 every day except Monday, and the bar keeps seasonal hours. The clubhouse is only for members and green-fee players, so it isn’t somewhere to pop up to for lunch with a view if you don’t play. For that, head down to the village of La Turbie and its restaurants.

Getting there from Monaco

The address is the route du Mont-Agel in La Turbie, and the club puts it 3.5 km from the centre of Monte-Carlo. By car you come off the A8 at exit 57 and take the Mont Agel road, where the town hall runs a car park with the first hour free. With a set of clubs, a car or a taxi is the sensible option. Monaco cabs have a flat €55 fare up to La Turbie, though you’ll have to sort out the trip down yourself, and the rest of the transport picture is in getting around Monaco.

One last warning about the name. Don’t confuse it with the Monte-Carlo Country Club, the tennis club that hosts the Masters, down by the sea in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin. And if you don’t play but fancy the view, it’s free from the Tête de Chien, which I compare with others in Monaco’s viewpoints.