Angela, in the clip you talk about golf in Germany when you were young, but it's never really addressed again. Do you know if German golf culture or golf architecture there has change significantly since you started your career?
There is also discussion of the five Golden Age courses (which I'll be promptly be updating on the wiki): Aachener • Bergisch Land • Berlin-Wannsee • Frankfurter • Hamburger. Are there any modern courses in Germany there that are especially notable to you?
Matt:
Yes, the culture changed a bit. While I was one of roughly a dozen girls in Bavaria who played golf back then with a single hcp, the playing field is packed these days. And they start young and get ridiculously good so quickly. One of the pictures used by TFE showed me in my early 20s playing for my club team. My teammates were all around 8 years younger, and their handicaps were between a +5 and 4. Golf is getting more accepted as it gets more accessible.
Unfortunately, the Media hasn't really changed. Golf is only getting covered on pay-TV. There is no coverage on the daily news show when Bernhard Langer won the PNC after recovering from the Achilles injury... Does it belong in the daily news? Well... you could make an argument if 99% of the covered sports have to be Bundesliga news about which trainer switched clubs or who BM is possibly considering. Germany has some great golfers and other athletes who rock in their sports but hardly get the recognition.
Regarding the "Golden Age" courses: There are a few more than just those five from that era, but Colt / Morrison was involved in the above-mentioned. Don't get your hopes up:
Aachener still has the original 9 holes and greens, most of the bunkering was lost. Trees were planted in between the holes (destroying angles) and they re-routed the course when it was extended into 18 holes in 1977 by Pennink. While Colt recommended extending to the West, Pennink went East with a tight property. As a safety buffer, he planted more trees
In the years that I consulted there, I tried to convince the club to restore all of the original bunkers and open up some views in between the holes/cut trees. Unfortunately, I got replaced by Martin Ebert as the club wanted to go in a different direction and account for the new equipment/young golfers hitting it a mile. Plus, my name isn't as big and fancy as Martin Ebert/the new open-doctor.
Bergisch Land is a beautiful course, but it had some work done by BvLimburger (Limmy). I heard a rumor that the "Colt-Expert Team" had been hired to do a "Restoration." One can only assume that they put three bunkers around every green, as that is what they think Colt always did.
Berlin-Wannsee was originally designed by Butchart, but Colt was mentioned to be involved there too. When I visited the course, they were in full renovation mode with re-shaping all greens and bunkers. Unfortunately, they didn't really dig into their history and respect or understand what gem they had. The bunkering was awful the last time I was there. The contractor didn't encounter to over excavate the bunker floors as they were installing better billy bunkers. So the gravel layer was the level where the sand should have been and the sand often tied into the top of the bunker face...
Frankfurter was a fantastic course until a well-known German Architect nuked its greens. The course needs some tree clearing to bring back the heather, and one can only hope that the club has historic documents to restore the greens to their former glory. Rumor has it that the "Colt-Expert Team" has their foot in the door.
Hamburger-Falkenstein is a fantastic course. It went through a few changes over the years when BvLimburger changed the first green and moved the second hole down into a former quarry pit to make room for a practice range. He also lengthened the 13th and former 15th (now 14th) to remove the former short par-3 14th and added a weird downhill par-3 15th. He then moved the tees on the 16th to the left, which used to play further from the right
, hugging the hill that BvL used for the par-3. They need to cut a lot more trees to get the heather back to flourish. The many bunker restorations have failed - recent tries included by the "Colt-Expert Team". The mowing lines on the greens need to be extended desperately. Hands down, it is the best course in Germany and has an incredible routing on a wonderful piece of property.