Noordwijk

[Paul_Turner]

Frank Pennink's muscular links in Holland.  How famous would this course be if it were in GB&I or Long Island?

A few holes go through thick forest but are still built on sand hills.  

Photos taken by Jeroen Pit.


2nd

3rd

5th

7th



8th

11th

11th

12th

13th

13th



14th!



15th

[Evan_Green]

Great pictures- ive never seen pictures of Noordwijk. An expecially neat look grass feature on 14- my question is does it come into play?

[Tiger_Bernhardt]

Paul, those are great pictures. Thanks for the post. I just had dinner last night with a friend who got home from Amsterdam last week. He said all that city needed to be the best place to visit anywhere was a great golf course.

[Gerry B]

Paul:

great photos of a great course in a country that is not known for its golf courses.

Played it a few years ago -the photos  brought back some great memories- one of  my faves in europe - also liked Colt's gem Kennemer in The Netherlands as well. On a technical note -I believe the course is actually spelled Noordwijkse - your spelling is the city it is located in - for those who want to look up course info on the internet. So many courses- so little time to play them.

[pdrake]

I always felt the same way about Falsterbo in Sweden.........if it was in a more populated area or golf rich location, it would be lauded more than it is now.  It looks like the same for Noordwijk!

[Mike_Clayton]

Paul

Great photos and a wonderful course - but the 3 holes in the trees   (5,6 and 7)  really hurt the course - although 5 and 6 are not too bad.
The seventh is a hard dogleg left that if you play up the fairway is 6 iron followed by a 5 iron.
The alternative is a blind drive up and over a pine forest with a really fine line between not making it and flying through the fairway into the pines on the other side.On a good day the green is almost drivable but picking the right line is a complete mystery.

It might be the worst hole on a course so good anywhere in the world. It makes 18 at Cypress Point look like a masterpiece.

David Feherty played with an Australian  rookie one year in the Dutch Open at Noordwijk. I can't even remember who it was - might have been Wayne Riley and it was the sort of thing he would say !
A beautiful girl was standing by the first tee and the Aussie took a look and said to Feherty ' geez, that bird's got a great set'
She set off watching and the Aussie kept telling Fiat he was a certainty.
' She seems reallly friendly and she keeps looking at me - I think she is really interested'
Feherty let him dig his grave a little deeper until the 4th when he said 'Mate,it's my wife'

[Marc Haring]

Great pictures Paul. Weird those forest holes in amongst such classic open links. Doesn't look as though the trees are that old either. Shades of Formby perhaps.

Mike.

Nice story. Must have been Wayne Riley. He used to frequent a night club in Bagshot that I occasionally visited in my younger days. No female was safe in there when he was about!

[Mark_Rowlinson]

The course is fairly modern and when it was built there were very strict instructions about what could or could not be done in the way of earth-moving and tree removal.  The trees (mostly scrubby bushes) line the higher part of the dunes which form the secondary sea-wall which protects the farmland beyond, which lies below sea level.  I think the other thing (in addition to the odd quirky hole to which Mike refers) that keeps Noordwijk just below the highest level is that the short holes are fairly ordinary.  

Those who have not heard of the classic Dutch courses should look up Kennemer (even nearer to Amsterdam), De Pan (Utrecht), Eindhoven, Hilversum and Royal Hague (see the excellent pics posted earlier in the year).  

[Brian_Ewen]

Paul
Thanks for posting .

Considering there is always talk about how little links golf the European Tour plays nowadays , why is this course ignored ? .

Could it still challenge the Pros nowadays  ? .

Brian

[ian]

Paul,

A great set of photos of a  really intresting layout. I agree with Mike Clayton that the trees seem to really hide great contour and overwhelm the holes.

With DePan and all the other photos you have shared, I am stunned that Holland isn't mentioned with other great destinations for great golf.

Thanks for opening my eyes to an area I would not have ever thought of.

Oh yeah, when are you coming up here to see two Colts and an Alison? All is already arranged.