When I recently got an invitation to go to Germany and play some golf I jumped at the chance. I’d never been so was very keen to visit the country and to experience some of it’s great golf courses.
Our group travelled by Aer Lingus from Dublin to Hamberg and from Hamberg we then travelled by coach to the beautiful Schloss Luedersburg Castle Golf Resort in Lower Saxony. There are over eighty golf courses in this beautiful part of Northern Germany. One of the most popular golf resorts is Schloss Luedersburg, located on Lueneburg Heath, a magnificent landscape, perfect for golf courses.
On entering the resort you are immediately drawn to magnificent Luedersberg Manor House, this very grand building was once a boarding school which was built on the foundations of an ancient castle. The hotel and golf clubhouse is situated just beside the Manor House. The hotel itself is modern and quaintly furnished featuring everything you would expect from a four or five star hotel. There are three superb restaurants, a spa and business centre with free wi fi.
Luedersbuerg has two championship courses, the Old Course and the Lakes Course. The Old course opened in 1985 and was the brainchild of Alexander Baron von Spoercken. A lush parkland course which is populated by trees, rhododendrons and fruit trees. With all the water and trees you will need to be accurate with every shot. The 4th hole is a true test for any golfer, its island green was one of the first in the country.
The Jack Nicklaus designed Lakes course is one of Germany‘s most popular golf courses. The course opened in 1999 this course has a real rural links like feel, tough populated by numerous lakes, as the name implies there are water hazards on almost every hole.
Schloss Luedersburg Castle Golf Resort is a fabulous retreat for golfers who want to get a way for a few days with friends or family. A peaceful atmosphere surrounds the whole area, there are horses grazing in the nearby fields, no traffic just wonderful peaceful countryside.
In the same region of Lower Saxony is the Golf & Wellness Resort Hotel, Zur Amtsheide, Bad Bevensen. This is family run business offering all kinds of relaxing treatments just perfect for apres golf. I think the owner, Günther Held, had this in mind when he built and designed his very own golf course, Golf Bad Bevensen. Gunther made the most of the landscape of this beautiful region. The narrow rolling fairways weave through dense forests of trees and shrubs. There are plenty of water hazards and challenging bunkers that will test golfers of alls handicaps!
These three courses participate in the Heide golf Card, which offers four rounds on the top courses in the region for just 115 Euro which is truly excellent value.
Before leaving this region we had time to visit the old historic town of Lueneburg. Once a Hanseatic town which became rich in the Middle Ages by the local salt mines. There are plenty of good restaurants along the scenic river bank and lots of lovely little shops. This made a very pleasant end to our golf trip to beautiful Lower Saxony.
Further South towards Hanover is the Hardenberg Golf Resort Hotel. The resortis situated in theHartz Mountains. There are two excellent 18 holes courses Göttingen Course and Niedersachsen Course. There is also a golf academy operated by the general manager of the PGA of Germany Stefan Quirmbach.
The Neidersachen championship golf course was designed by famous architect David John Krause. The layout is similar to the Goettingen Course. It is long and the fairways wide, there are plenty of bunkers and the many natural obstacles make it most interesting as well as challenging.
The “signature hole” is the par-three 11th that features an island green built in the shape of a boar’s head. The boars head is depicted on the Family Hardenberg’s ancestral coat of arms. It is said that in the 16th century a wild boar squealed all night wakening the residents of Hardenberg foiling an attack by invaders. Just as this tale is remembered so indeed will this challenging golf hole!
There is a choice of two first class hotels one the Relais & Châteaux Hardenberg-BurgHotel and the more modern Hotel Freigeist.
Our golf journey to Germany was very enjoyable indeed. The quality of the five courses we played was superb and all were in excellent condition. Accommodation and cuisine was first class. There was a lot of travel involved to each resort so all in our group felt that it would be better to stay and play either in the North or South, as there are plenty of great courses in each region to choose from.
