Château Golf, France

Château Golf is a derelict castle in France. The 16th century chateau lies at the heart of a 50 hectare site. As the codename suggests, there was also a golf course on the grounds. Nowadays, the former golf course is covered with brambles and is lost to the decades. Additionally, there was also a leisure complex, complete with swimming pools, as well as tennis courts.

Despite being quite large, there is little of photographic interest inside. Only the reception hall prompted a few photos before we moved onto bigger and better things. The rest is empty, ransacked and covered with graffiti.

Château Marko Bey and other names

There are several names for this location, including; Château Marko Bey, Chateau Gangster and Chateau Goldfinger.

The many wild tales of Château Golf

While looking into the history of this location, I entered a rabbit hole of folklore and strange tales. The more I read, the more wild the stories became. Usually, I attempt to separate fact from fiction, but on this occasion I will let the tales run free. Certainly, at this point I would say the stories surrounding the chateau are more interesting that the photos themselves!

Story 1 – Chateau Gangster

The most popular story attached to this location, is that it was part of a gangsters business empire. He is said to have used the leisure complex and golf course to launder ill-gotten money from his unscrupulous deeds. His illegal business portfolio is claimed to be diverse. In addition to running a lucrative timeshare scam, he is also said to have dealt drugs and pulled off high-stakes robberies. It is said that he was so wealthy, he laundered tens of millions of euros through the businesses associated with Château Golf. He is said to have run his operations from this chateau, surrounded by bodyguards 24/7.

Ultimately, he became wanted by Interpol for his crimes. During the course of the investigation, he was brutally assassinated by persons unknown and the chateau was left without an owner. In the years following his death, rumours circulated of golden bars hidden in the chateau. This may explain the ransacked appearance of the chateau, as treasure hunters frantically searched for this treasure.

If you thought that was an intense story, this next one might even top it!

Story 2 – The Gay Porn Idol, and the machete

The second story starts with a young man, working on his family farm. A team of journalists filmed a short documentary following the man about his daily life. The goal was to highlight the plight of the rural farmer, a dying profession. Overnight he became a star, amazingly enough. He noticed men started appearing at the farm, watching him. Things started to become clearer when men began to proposition him for sex. Skipping over some of the finer details, he had become a gay icon on the internet.

He became a legend, and made his fortune making movies all over Europe. He bought the Chateau as a vacation home, for the rare occasions he returned to France. His skyrocket to fame had eclipsed another porn star, who did not take kindly to this. It seems that he became insane with jealousy, and plotted to regain his prime position. He gathered a small gang of armed thugs, and attacked the farmer. They beat him and cut his arm off with a machete, and hospitalized him. Strangely, he disappeared from the hospital in the middle of the night and has not been seen since. Did he flee is fear of his life, or did the thugs kidnap him? Either way, the chateau was left abandoned to rot without an owner.