Being from Munich, I thought some more information on what to do while you're there may be a nice first posting to this forum. As I gather you are mostly interested in older courses, trouble is there are very few. Most of what is around has been built in the 1980s and later. I also do not know which kind of transport you will have available as not many courses are reasonably accessible by public transport. That being said, let's start with a list:
Pre-1980s:
- The oldest course in Munich set up in or around 1910 is lost - the Club still exists and is located at the Strasslach (as well as Thalkirchen) Course.
- Feldafing (already mentioned) is the oldest one that is still around. I would definitely suggest you see that (BTW one of the few quite accessible by train and maybe a 10 minute walk). While I may be biased by my personal relationship with that area, it is one of the most scenic courses I know (with Lake Starnberg as backdrop and some holes offering very nice views on that) and also very well laid out. Besides you will notice a significant difference between both nines. What is now the back nine is the old part dating from 1926. While some things certainly have been changed when the new front nine were added, you still see a significant difference in style. Part of it obviously also due to limitations in earthmoving in the 1920s but it may make a very intersting study object as you have two pieces of work from the same architect - one from his beginnings and one from his very mature to late phase.
- Garmisch-Partenkirchen (
http://www.golfclub-garmisch-partenkirchen.de/?Start) does not really qualify as Munich area I'm afraid as it is a 100km drive. However it dates from 1928 and is also a very nice layout with magnificent views of the Alps. Still I think it's not worth the drive given your tight schedule.
- Thalkirchen (you can access some information on it on the cited site of Strasslach) dates from the early 1950s and is quite different than about anything else. The course is really close to the city center and easily accesible by subway, so you may go there when you have a short slot left in your schedule. It has been built only a few years after WWII when members of the Munich Golf Club needed a new course. It's just 9 very short but extremly narrow holes perched into a small aisle between a hillside and a river with many huge trees (and all the resulting problems). Anyone into safety will be shocked as in most cases there are just a few meters and trees between fairway borders and adjacents roads and public walkways. The routing is not spectacular, has some nice tweaks if you're into things unusual (on number 5 you will probably use a mid iron for the drive and a wood or long iron for the second). In total it may serve as a nice example of what can be done with limited space, limited ressources and an urgent desire to build a golf course. And what can be achieved when you're subject to strict environmental regulation (sensitive area), have huge shading issues with your large trees and narrow fairways and also have about the worst drainage imaginable. While maintenance
- Strasslach (already mentioned) owes its existence to the limitations of Thalkirchen. Practically as soon as Thalkrichen was ready for play the discussions about an 18 hole course started and Strasslach is the answer after a good ten years in the mid 1960s. Note that by now it has 27 holes, only the original A+B are from Limburger, the C loop was added in the 1990s. Beautifully maintained, A and B loops are great, I like the C loop's design as well, however it lacks the beauty of the A+B course and has implemented a completely senseless double green.
1980s ff.: There are plenty of courses from that period around and so I will comment only those mentioned and add a little bit
- Beuerberg: Very nice course, but not a must either. Unfortunately the club's atmosphere is very nouveau-riche - fancy-pants-style, but if you want to spend a 4-digit sum for a bottle of exquisite Bordeaux in the club house this is the place to be.
- Riedhof: Nice but before I went there I would have a look at other places.
- St. Eurach: see above.
- Eichenried: While it as a European Tour venue (Eurach was a few years while Eichenried was redesigned) and has a good layout, however it is a dead flat piece of land, where you have starting and landing planes and high volatge transmission lines running all across the place in lieu of beautiful surroundings. It owes its role as a Tour venue mainly to the extreme proximity to the airport and the fact that it can handle a lot of spectators much better than most other places.
- Gut Häusern
http://www.golf-eschenried.de/54--~PlatzGutHaeusern~de~golfplatz~platzdaten.html: When talking about Tour Venues I would rather recommend this one which is a quite recent opening (2004, Peter Harradine) and hosts the UniCredit Ladies German Open on the Ladies European Tour. It think it's a very good and spacious modern design, once the trees have grown a little more it will become much more beautiful. However it has no views of lakes or mountains etc. and it is also pretty much in the back of beyond.
- Valley: About the most recent opening (2008, David Krause), I think an excellent design and an example for what you can do when you have much money to throw at this kind of project. This has been a comletely flat piece of land (during the Cold War used by Radio Free Europe for broadcasts to the East). This has been developed by a complete golf nut biotech millionaire, the landscaping there is completely artificial and has been built with only one goal: Being one of the best courses around and hosting some professional tournament. It's a stadium type of design (I think he even put in fixed cables for TV) and should by now have grown in (I played it only once right after it opened and in some places the rough had not been sewn in yet and some of the ponds needed much further work).
Well, there is a lot more, but I think to much to squeeze it into 3 days - especially whne you're interested in older courses. Even though you want to focus on golf, as a landscape architect you may want to see the English Garden (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Englischer_Garten, one of the largest urban parks in the world - larger than NYC's Central Park. And if there needs to be a connection to Golf: The lost course from 1910 was situated in the northern part of the park (however there are no recognizable remains).
If you need any more specific info on the area, let me know. If my time allows I may be able to show you around a bit, especially in Thalkirchen (where I play frequently).