Germany and Sweden
June 9-11
Hamburg GC
(Falkenstein) June 9
When Pat and I were in South Africa in March, at her
insistence we played some of the great courses of RSA. When we played Leopard Creek, just south of
Kruger National Park, we played with a younger couple, Hoagie and Johanna
Moeller who were on their honeymoon.
When Hoagie said they were from Hamburg, I asked if they knew of Hamburg
GC (also known as Falkenstein)…and of course it turned out he was a
member. I had already planned out this
trip and was scheduled to play it June 9.
We very much enjoyed their company (despite the fact that Hoagie seemed
to be somewhat of a golf nut…being so flexible and accommodating I chose to
forgive him for that strange trait) and Hoagie asked me to play with him on
June 9 and I gladly accepted. They also
invited me to stay with them (probably thought Pat would be on that part of the
trip so they wouldn’t have to deal with just me).
Flight to Hamburg was about 30 minutes late and Hoagie was
waiting for me outside of Customs. It
was great to see him. We drove to their
very nice apartment and went out to dinner.
Hamburg is a beautiful city built around a large lake in an area of Germany
covered with Lakes and streams. The
entire area is very very green and beautiful.
Traffic flowed with typical smoothness and everything seemed to work
quite well…perhaps with the exception of moi, as I was quite tired.
After a good night’s sleep, we were off to the club, playing
around 11am on another nice day. The
head pro, Roger Brown had set up a game with two young (19 year old) members of
the Falkenstein “team’ who both were scratch (or better players). The course is situated about 20 minutes NW of
downtown in a suburb and is in beautiful shape.
Club was founded in 1906 and moved to Falkenstein area in 1928 after
hiring Harry Colt to design the course.
Darius Oliver (“Planet Golf”) says it best and points out the
similarities between the land that was selected and the heathland in Surrey,
outside of London, making Colt the perfect architect for this project. The area is heavily wooded, very hilly, and
also covered with heather. Planet Golf
rates Falkenstein as #81 on its World 100.
We took pull carts and it was a fairly grueling walk…but I
felt good and if I tired at the end, my game did not reflect it. The two teenagers, Yannik Emmert and Vincent
Brosch were wonderful gentlemen. I was
impressed by how well they managed their games.
Even though they generally could hit it longer than I can, they
refrained from hitting driver unless the risk reward equation warranted
it.
On #1, a 322 yard par 4 (315 from my tees) uphill to the
green, I was lying two and hit a bump and run from about 50’ to 6” for a gimme
par, and the kids sort of looked over wondering who this old guy was. Well, had it going fairly well. Fired a 41-38=79 with one birdie, and double bogies on two of the
easiest holes (lost balls…having hit it to previously never occupied land…on
both). I think the best holes at
Falkenstein are:
#5…402 from
tips…dogleg right to green well protected by bunkers
#6…413 from
tips, dogleg right and very very uphill to green situated on top of a big
hill. One large fairway bunker protects
the right corner of the dogleg and it should be avoided at all costs. No greenside bunkers and none required. Sharp slope from back to front on green
protected also by a false front.
#13…365
short par 4 downhill off tee and then very much uphill to green. Fairway protected by a very large bunker on
right side that comes half way across fairway, and green protected by front
right bunker
#17…490
yard dogleg left par 5 uphill off the tee and then downhill to green in a bowl
shaped area with second shot requiring a good carry over a field of heather.
Very very good parkland/heathland course that I think would
be even better with less watering (to get the firm fast conditions generally
found in Surrey) and removal of a few more trees to open up some of the holes a
little more (the latter difficult given the power of the tree-huggers).
After the round a quick lunch with Hoagie, Yannik, Vincent
and Roger, it was back to the airport.
One of the best things about this visit was that I was able
to get laundry done for the first time on the trip. I had stayed only one night in each location
except for Amsterdam , but there was no weekend laundry service at my hotel
there. I now was prepared for the next
part of the trip until we stayed in London the last few nights. Little things mean a lot on journey like
this…especially for those having to be near you.
Falsterbo Golf
Club June 10
Located in SW Sweden (about 30 miles from Copenhagen’s
airport) alongside the Baltic Sea, Falsterbo GC was founded in 1909 and
expanded fro 9 to 18 holes in 1930. It
is built on true linksland and its terrain is very flat. It was listed on Golf Magazine’s Top 100 as
#91 in 1985 and was on GM’s Top 50 (listed alphabetically) in 1981.
I was staying about 2 miles from the club after a beautiful
drive across the new bridge/tunnel from Denmark to Sweden. Frankly, the course was a big
disappointment. It lacks definition, and
the bunkers are relatively shallow (perhaps a high water table?). Yes is is a true links course, but that ain’t
enough.
Remember, I am playing courses that have at one time or
another been called one of the top 100 courses in the world…that is a high
standard, and Falsterbo does not meet it (or even come close) in 2015. A good number of courses that were named a
top 100 in the 70’s and 80’s didn’t deserve it…remember people did not travel
as much in those days, there was no internet to distribute information
worldwide, and there were no standards for these ratings. Have seen this before, and it is just part
of the process…when going to relatively unknown tracks, sometimes you find one
not deserving, but at other times you find a hidden gem.
The drive to the Copenhagen airport went smoothly until the
last 100 yards, when someone in front of me, trying to ghet around a traffic
jam outside of the car rental garage started backing up toward me. I honked 2x, he stopped…then about 5 seconds
later backed up again into my right front bumber. He admitted fault, we filled out forms, and
went on his way. Seemed like a good
guy…deals with real estate for IKEA.
Bro Hof Slott June
11
After the accident, easy trip to Stockholm where I had a car
service handling transportation. Got
over to the course around 9am…it was an impressive sight. Must have been an old estate (18th
century castle is now the clubhouse), and there are 36 holes. I played The Stadium Course which stretches
to over 8000 yards through a series of lakes.
Designed by Robert T Jones, Jr. and completed in 2007. Another example like K Club. Not my style…you can have it. A few good holes but just a big blast it
monster with no imagination. Rated #99
on the top100golfcourses.co.uk website in 2011…and dropped in their subsequent
listings…deservedly so.
I will say something good about the place. I had left some golf hats and my laser gun on
my cart after my round…and someone had taken my cart. In any case, the folks from the club
eventually found it and shipped the stuff to me in London. I am most appreciative, but that doesn’t
change my view of the course.
Sooo, it was back to airport, having played now 20.5 rounds
and 20.5 courses (out of a planned 28.5).
Am flying back to London for the home stretch, and more importantly to
pick on Pat tomorrow afternoon (Friday June 12) for the last 9 days of the
trip. She arrived in London June 4 and
was there and The Cotswolds touring some of the great gardens of England. Will be wonderful to be back with her, and be
done with flights until we return to Boston June 21.
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