Climate activsts in southern France have taken to filling golf course holes with cement in a bid to protest their exemption from water bans, as the country continues to suffer from severe drought.

Sparking controversy across the country, the water ban exemption of golf greens comes as more than 100 French villages are without drinking water.

While residents are not allowed to water their gardens or wash their cars in some of the worst-hit regions, golf courses have been exempted from the nationwide restrictions.

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Water bans in France are enforced regionally, with Ille-et-Villaine in western France so far being the only region to ban the watering of golf courses.

But some constraints on the greens remain. Watering can only be carried out at night with a limit of no more than 30 percent of the usual volume of water.

'Leisure industry of the most priviliged'

Extinction Rebellion, the climate and environment-focused protest group known for their protests on highways, has targeted sites near the  the city of Toulouse. 

The activist group has called golf the "leisure industry of the most privileged."

In a petition, Extinction Rebellion stated the exemption proved "economic madness takes precedence over ecological reason."

But golf course officials insist that without any water, the courses would die in a matter of days.  

"A golf course without a green is like an ice-rink without ice," Gerard Rougier of the French Golf Federation told the France Info news website this week. 

"15,000 people worked in golf courses across the country," he added. 

France has seen one of the harshest heatwaves in Europe this summer, with hot and dry conditions across the country, and wildfires forcing two-thirds of the country to declare a state of crisis.