Top 100 Golf Courses of Germany 2020
Our second instalment since doubling up to 100 courses sees quite an influx of new layouts, as we keep discovering unheralded gems that have flown under the radar for various reasons. In contrast, movement at the top is limited: Golf Club Föhr breaks into the Top 3 and Winston Open continues its upward trend (#6, up 7). Agronomic issues have befallen Hubbelrath East (#8, down 5), whereas Köln’s bunker renovation has been favourably received by the vast majority of pundits (#7, up 3).
Golf Club Föhr
A bit of a surprise package was Berlin Wannsee (#11, up 15), which had been in our rankings forever and perhaps taken for granted. Also, most high profile new builds seem to favour the rugged/linksy style, so a venerable parkland track is easily undersold these days. Another course in that category is storied Bad Ems (#14, down 3), whose future is uncertain, as a change in ownership and marketing strategy is about to spawn a significant redesign.
Berlin Wannsee Golf Club
Our highest new entrant is Gut Düneburg (#19), an exciting David Krause layout of the heathland/moorland type that is well off the beaten track. Then Wiesbaden’s Rhein-Main (#22) presents itself as an old US military design in the best sense of the word, whereas Elmpter Wald (#24) was built by the British Royal Air Force – perhaps a bit simplistic, but on glorious heathland. At #31 enters Reit im Winkl, a controversial and spectacular mountain course that plays through two countries (Germany and Austria).
Gut Düneburg
Golfclub München-Riedhof near Munich used to market primarily its exclusivity and membership perks, but they actually have a fun-filled Heinz Fehring layout to go with it and after a recent renovation Riedhof rises to #28 (up 49). Haxterhöhe Links is the polar opposite – an ultra-inclusive and down to earth club with proper fescue greens, sleepered bunkers and ground game options (#38, up 51).
Haxterpark - Haxterhöhe Links
The remaining newcomers are thoughtfully designed Ebersberg (#47), Holger Rengstorf’s extravaganza at Gut Wissmanshof (#55), then Bella Vista, a rare municipal course with fescue greens (#59), the high end project at Wörthsee (#67) and finally Düsseldorfer (#68), on very similar land as neighboring Hubbelrath and, if you will, Fred W. Hawtree’s answer to Bernhard von Limburger.
Düsseldorfer Golf Club
Of the courses that appear for the first time in our table only Gut Wissmanshof is actually a new build. The others are all older venues that have not been ranked previously due to lack of data. In that vein, if you have played a good number of German courses and are interested in becoming part of our rankings process, please write to us and tell us a little bit about yourself.
Gut Wissmanshof
And even if your exposure to golf in Germany is limited, you are more than welcome to contribute a review for those courses you have played. There are several sides to every story, but in terms of rankings, we often only look at how a course changes and expect it to move up and down the table accordingly. But golfers change as well, sometimes their preferences for certain types of courses or playing conditions alter over time. So it should come as no surprise that rankings are never actually “done” and every new generation of golfer helps to shape – and occasionally even upset – them.
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To view the complete detailed list of the Top 100 Golf Courses of Germany click the link.
Ulrich Mayring
German Correspondent