11 of the best golf courses to play in Germany

Germany has a lot to offer the golfing tourist away from the course, but when it comes to world-class layouts it really delivers.

Here we look at 11 of the very best golf courses across Germany.

Bad Saarow (Arnold Palmer)

Arnold Palmer did little to imprint any ‘American’ style on Bad Saarow.

On the opening nine, where the fairways are expansive and the holes meander leisurely through the Brandenburg countryside, you can really open your shoulders.

The back nine is what actually awakens the senses; the front nine is just a warm-up. Numerous honours have been bestowed to the inner nine, including the title of “the most beautiful back nine in Germany.”

The Arnold Palmer course at Bad Saarow, with its fairways cut through the forest, is undoubtedly among the best courses in Germany.

Seddiner See (Süd)

A group led by Ferdinand von Bismarck (great grandson of “Iron Chancellor” Otto von Bismarck) established Seddiner See Golf & Country Club in 1994. Situated about thirty minutes south of Berlin City Centre, in the centre of the lake district, they bought over 600 acres of farmland. Due to its advantageous position, a large real estate development as well as two golf courses were built.

The trademark RTJ bunkers are among the finest features of the course which melds into newly-formed wildscape home to more than 300 species of plants and animals, including 75 from the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

zur Vahr Bremen (Garlstedt)

The 220 acres of the course are situated in a heavily wooded, rolling landscape. Tall pine trees dominate the area, pressing in from the tee to the green and limiting play on courses that bend narrowly to often modest targets.

The woodland had such a strategic effect that just twenty-four bunkers needed to be built.

It is a course that always reviews well although there have been issues with moisture on the fairways.

Winston (Links)

This wild and rough “faux links” course, which was sculpted out of the gently sloping Baltic scenery that is otherwise distinguished by woods, rivers, and lakes, is likely the most contentious course ever constructed in Germany.

During construction, about 1.2 million cubic metres of earth were transported, indicating that it was an enormous undertaking.

This dunescape was created by architect David Krause out of pretty ordinary ground; all the sand, save for greens and tees, was removed from the site. The course’s distinctive feature—its enormous internal slopes—sets it apart from all others in continental Europe.

Berlin-Wannsee (Championship)

Nestled in the heart of the Düppeler Forest and near the well-known lakes Wannsee and Stölpchensee, this traditional parkland layout is a mainstay of German golf.

Rebuilding the greens solved some prior agronomic problems; their mild undulations blend in perfectly with the surrounding topography.

Fortunately, no one has proposed ideas to “bring the course into the modern age” as of yet. The layout simply makes sense from beginning to end and ought to be left alone.

Föhr (Rot & Gelb)

Remarkably, given a 27-hole layout with limited space on the location, the routing is not only very walkable but also rather engaging.

Despite making every effort to avoid side-by-side holes, every nine-hole loop makes it back to the clubhouse. The greens are the most striking aspect that one encounters; they are challenging and undulating, without being excessively fast.

The shot values are so carefully planned that innovative concepts frequently work and poor shots are seldom penalised excessively.

Frankfurter

The Frankfurter Golf Club is situated inside the limits of Frankfurt in a remote woodland. Its terrain is gently undulating and bears a lot of similarities to the sand belt courses west of London.

Founded in 1913, the golf club is among the oldest in Germany. The current layout was created in the late 1920s in the classic old English heathland style by Harry Colt and John Morrison, while Charly Gardner created the previous 9-hole course, which was situated on a different site.

Hubbelrath (East)

When the Hubbelrath Golf Club was established in 1961, Dr Bernhard von Limburger, sometimes known as “Limmy,” carved out a difficult course through the forest, revealing some spectacular natural formations in the process.

In 1972, the championship East course (Ostplatz) was complemented by the shorter West course (Westplatz) in accordance with the 2,000+ members of the club.

Howard Swan oversaw the renovation and extension of the East course, which guarantees that it will always be a formidable challenge when hosting major competitions.

Köln

The 440-yard par-4 sixth hole is the most difficult on the card. To have a chance of making a par four here, you must avoid the fairway bunkers on each side of the landing area on the slightly left-dog-legged fairway.

There’s no overt tree encroachment, even with the deep forest. There are no overhanging branches close to the tees or greens, and all of the fairway bunkers are visible. Even the average golfer should have a reasonable chance of avoiding the trees during their game since the playing angles are mostly straightforward.

Budersand Sylt

Situated amid natural sand dunes, the eighteen holes here are so expertly designed to mesh with their environment that it’s hard not to believe they were created by a seasoned master designer, versus a rookie German architect working on his first project.

Considering that every internal component of the course was designed with a specific function in mind, this is even more astounding.

As difficult an opening hole as you could wish to think, the struggle begins at the first hole on the edge of the property. It is played downhill to a fairway that then veers left and up to a green with a sand dune to the right for protection.

Hamburger Falkenstein

This magnificent, organic course is situated on rolling heathland, and as everyone knows, golf is best played on sandy, freely-draining terrain.

Falkenstein is a charming walk that leads you to play in all directions.

Golfers enjoy a peaceful haven in the woodland area, away from the bustle of Hamburg’s downtown.