Dutch Golf

[Andrew Hastie]

I thought I would write a little about dutch golf and it's better courses.
Holland has several very good tracks with a couple of absolute gems,Royal Hague,Noordwijk,Kennemer,De Pan, Eindhoven and Hiversumsche being amongst the best.
The Royal Hague is my personal favourite and is a Colt & Alison design from back in the early 30's.They are currently rebuilding all 18 greens and should be back fully in play April 2008.The course is considered a links course but actually sits about 3 km's from the ocean in the Sand dunes.For my feelings it has the most balanced lay out with some stunning holes including 6th a par 4\5 and holes 13 through 16 with hole 13 being the best hole in the Netherlands.My biggest criticism and is general of all Dutch courses is the conditioning is not brilliant,to soft for true links courses not firm and fast and very slow greens.
Noordwijk is thought of as a old course but was actually build in the 70's by Frank Pennink and unfortunately will be the last course ever build in the dunes.A very good course
with 14 holes though big dunes reminiscent of the great irish links.But there are 4 holes in the pine forest which are not good holes including the 7th which was described by Greg Norman as the worst hole in professional golf.It has been improved recently but is still not so good.Next is Kennemer the venue for the Dutch open last year,27 holes and the most pure links in Holland a lot of good holes.
That was the links courses now to the heath land.De Pan could  easily be in Surrey,not so long by modern standards but just a pleasent course to play,build on a small piece of land  like Kingston Heath or Merion.Eindhoven another of the Colt designs similar to De Pan but more spead out,reminds me of Swinley Forest a real sense of isolation, the course to your self. Lastly Hiversum,the venue for many Dutch opens the last few years my preferred course and opportunity to use every club in the bag.
Holland is definitely worth a visit in the summer the golf season runs from april till the end of October.
Of course just over the border is Belgium with the absolutely splendid Royal Zoute golf club amongst others.
Outside of Surrey Holland is your best chance to play a lot of Colt designs in close proximity to one another. :)www.golfarchitecturepictures.com     A good link for Dutch course photos

[Mark_Rowlinson]

Thanks for this.  I've been saying how good Dutch golf is for years.  Ditto Belgium, where Royal Antwerp is even nearer to Holland than Royal Zoute, but nowhere in Belgium is far from anywhere.  It's not a big country!  

[Eric Franzen]

Thanks, Andrew.

I checked out the website's of De Pan and Eindhoven but didn't find any pictures of the courses. So please, if possible bring a camera next time you are playing there.

Cheers,

Eric

[Mark Pearce]

Andrew,

How easy is it to get to play these courses and what are green fees like?  Would a Dutch golf tour be reasonable?

[Andrew Hastie]

There is no problem getting on all Dutch courses,no private courses as such.
Green fees are between the € 80 and €100.And of course being a small country traveling is not a problem.Booking in advance is best.

[Tiger_Bernhardt]

Thanks for raising the topic. I have long wanted to follow the steps of Noel and Paul to play and see these great courses.

[Mark_Rowlinson]

A Dutch golf tour is dead easy.  All of the recommended courses are within an hour of Schipol.  But don’t stay there.  There are so many little places nearby with real charm and a decent small hotel.  My wife and I stayed at the Hotel Old Dutch in Volendam last summer.  You park on the quay of this Zuider See fishing village, the bedrooms overlook the harbour and the waters beyond and the food is fish-orientated.  Just down the road is the pretty village of Edam (the village is pretty, not the cheese) and yet you are only just off the main north-south trunk road west of Amsterdam.  Kennemer is a few minutes away.  Think also of places such as Delft or Dordrecht which are very handy for Noordwijk and The Hague.

I used to work frequently at Hilversum in my radio days and preferred to stay in a guest house (such as the Villa Trompenberg) than the anonymous and expensive Golden Tulip chain.

Hilversum and Kennemer are easily accessible by train, but for the rest of the courses a car would be preferable.

My only advice would be to make sure you have booked in advance.  If it turns out to be ladies’ day you will not be allowed out, even if there is no lady on the course!  I should add to that to make sure that you visit Kennemer when the B/C course is available to visitors (Colt/Pennink).  The A-9 (Van Hengel) is crazy!

[Frank Pont]

Eric, you can get many many pictures of all the Dutch courses on www.golfarchitecturepictures.com

Andrew, agree with your comments on firmness of the greens. Since I'm working as a golf architect with all the courses other than Hilversum and Noordwijk, I can tell you we are seriously working on getting firmer greens, better fore greens, more short grass around the greens etc. This is partly a budget issue (most courses only have 5 greenkeepers, but many are now going to 6-8 ), partly a issue of not knowing how a links should look and play and partly due to the sever limitations we have in Holland in applying any type of pest control (the strictest in Europe). Eindhoven and Pan are having good results already, Royal Hague will be very firm once they open. Problem at Royal Hague and Kennemer was that the greens and parts of the fairway were built up with clay (!!) in the 1920-30's because no irrigation was available.
At Royal Hague this was the reason to dig out all the existing greens and rebuild them as exact as possible as they were on a 50 cm sand base with a very low percentage organic material in the top 20 cm. David Stansfield is the agronomist advising on most of these Colt courses. For pictures on the work on the greens of Royal Hague see http://www.frankpont.com/Webgalleries/Haagsche%201/index.htm

In terms of the preference, I agree, although I would rank Hilversum below Pan and Eindhoven. Royal Hague and Kennemer are both excellent, Noordwijk is not as good due to the forrest holes, 3 rather mediocre par 3 holes and a lot of very similar greens (many many false lips).

Other courses worth a try when in Holland: Lage Vuursche (Kyle Phillips), Goyer (Bruno Steensels), Hoge Kleij (Frank Pennink), Amsterdam Old Course (only Colt course below sea level!), Toxandria (Colt), Rosendaelse (Del Court van Krimpen), Broekpolder (Pennink).

Mark, I've started a program with the Kennemer to bring the A holes more in line with B/C, by widening the fairwys, putting in more bunkers, more subtle humps and hollows around the greens etc.

Feel free to mail me if you need any advice on courses to play or places to stay.

[Andrew Hastie]

Frank,I really looking forward to seeing your work at Royal Hague.How long do you expect it to take to fully  grow in.The 18th is still quite slow even after a couple of years since it was finish.

What I find interesting is the committees at these clubs must have played to some degree top links  or heath land golf in U K but don't push for similar setups  on there own courses.
Played de Pan at the end of July last year after one of the warmest and dryest months in history,expecting a firm fast running course only to be greeted with a soggy mess.You can only conclude the course was grossly over watered.

I wonder does the Rosendaelse have any plans to improve there course,it sits on one of the best pieces of ground in the country only with quite simple green complexes.

[Eric Franzen]

Frank,

Thanks for the link.

Nice selection of Swedish courses there, with Falsterbo and Ljunghusen included.

Cheers,

Eric