One Round near Amsterdam

[Chanceman]

My wife and I are planning a trip to the Netherlands and will be staying in Amsterdam/Haarlem for a few days. I am allowed one round and as far as I can see the best courses in the area are Kennemer, Hilversum, De Pan and Noordwijk. Which of these would be best for a one-off experience?

[puttnforthe8]

Personal Rank:

Kennemer

De Haagsche

Rosendaelsche

International

De Pan

[DrDon]

Please post a report after your trip.

Dank je wel. :)

[Chanceman]

Trip now rescheduled to May 2020 and likely to play Kennemer.

[DrDon]

The Dutch will be celebrating the 75th anniversary of their liberation during WW2 on May 5th. It will undoubtedly be a huge celebration.

[Chanceman]

Phew, I'll be there a few weeks later but I hear that Kennemer has a number of WW2 German bombs buried around the place.

[Flying Dutchman]

Sounds like you’ll be there towards the 2nd part of May but if not; don’t forget about the Dutch F1 GP hosted in Zandvoort (home of the Kennemer) on Sunday May 3. I believe all tickets have sold out but traffic will be an absolute cluster f$@#.

If you don’t mind me asking; all the courses you listed are private and exclusive. Do you have connections over there that allow you to get a tee time?

My 2 favorites are The Haagsche and Noordwijk. Both difficult tracks especially if the wind is up!

[Chanceman]

No connections for golf, my relations are not interested. I just contact the clubs in a respectful way and usually they will agree to a round.

[Chanceman]

And yes we arrive in the Netherlands last week of May, after a few weeks in Ireland.

[Flying Dutchman]

I have the same experience when traveling abroad - it seems easier to get a tee time when you are a foreign visitor than if you are a resident of the country itself! Enjoy and safe travels.

[Chanceman]

Yes it is always fun being an international visitor at these sort of clubs. I will be back in touch with Kennemer just after Feb 1st when they open bookings.

[DrDon]

Chanceman: Don't forget to post a review of your visit. I've been to The Netherlands nearly a dozen times, but never with my golf clubs in tow.

 

Flying Dutchman (Vliegende Nederlander): Any golf course recommendations up your way in Friesland, especially any hidden gems nearby the water (Waddenzee)? Bedankt.

[Flying Dutchman]

There are only 3 full 18-hole courses in Friesland if I remember correctly, none of them close to the water. The Lauswolt course in Beetsterzwaag is considered the best course but I never got round playing it. Before moving to the US, I was a member at Burggolf Sint Nicolaasga and I always enjoyed playing that course. It’s a small country so even that course is only a little over an hour drive from Amsterdam.

[clp34vmp]

In the same boat as the OP. Looks like a quick trip to Amsterdam is likely in late April. My wife has agreed to allow me one round - from some quick research Kennemer looks perfect. I have not reached out to them yet as we still don't have exact dates nailed down. Their website has a section for visitors and includes an email and phone number, though it also states that they don't give specific fixed tee times to visitors. For anyone who has played there as a visitor, how does it work? Do you just give them a chosen date and they let you know if that will work and then just work you in when you get out there based on how the tee sheet is looking?

[Chanceman]

I have just had a problem with Kennemer as I wanted to play Monday June 1st which turns out to be Pinkster holiday and no outside play is allowed. And only members on weekends. Looks like the same might apply to every club in Netherlands so I am going to miss out.

[clp34vmp]

I have a question for anyone with Kennemer experience - if you're staying in central Amsterdam and relying on public transportation (train, taxi, Uber), what is the best way to get out there?

[DrDon]

Lugging your golf clubs could be a hassle, especially if you need to take a tram (which will be crowded) to Amsterdam Centraal to catch a train.

[clp34vmp]

I've lugged my clubs on all manner of public transport options through Edinburgh, Glasgow, etc., not to mention the New York subway system on many occasions. Not always ideal, but I've always gotten where I was going eventually.

[Double Dutch]

Just call the Caddiemaster and he’ll tell you what’s possible. You can probably forget about Sundays, especially in April/May, as the course will be closed a lot for tournaments or ‘competitie’ (league between clubs in 36-hole Ryder Cup format). Ladies’ and seniors competitie is on Tuesday and Friday, but you could probably play after them, or play the unused 9 holes first. Best to play is late afternoon/evening, when the course is prettiest and the wind is down.

[Double Dutch]

Re: “they don't give specific fixed tee times to visitors”: there are no fixed tee times for members either. You just show up and play (unless there’s an official tournament of course).

[clp34vmp]

I made contact with the caddiemaster - no availability for the Friday or the Sunday due to tournaments as you said but I'm on for Saturday morning. Very much looking forward to it.

[Chanceman]

Looks like I might actually get to do this little trip to the Netherlands in June. Planning Kennemer for a Saturday but no plan as yet for the Sunday as the other clubs like UdeP dont allow visitors on weekends. Question : are there any decent public access courses within reach of Amsterdam?

[puttnforthe8]

On 5/16/2022 at 1:18 AM, Chanceman said:

Looks like I might actually get to do this little trip to the Netherlands in June. Planning Kennemer for a Saturday but no plan as yet for the Sunday as the other clubs like UdeP dont allow visitors on weekends. Question : are there any decent public access courses within reach of Amsterdam?

You can try Houtrak - not the best course, but you can play on Sunday.

[Chanceman]

Finally made the trip to Holland after an all night train ride through Austria and Germany. Played Hilversum and Utrecht de Pan. That is a very good pair of courses. Members and staff very pleasant to deal with. Big issue with taxi fares. Uber is very unreliable.

[DustinJP]

On 7/1/2022 at 10:50 AM, Chanceman said:

Finally made the trip to Holland after an all night train ride through Austria and Germany. Played Hilversum and Utrecht de Pan. That is a very good pair of courses. Members and staff very pleasant to deal with. Big issue with taxi fares. Uber is very unreliable.

Do you mind elaborating on the issue with taxi fares/Uber?  Have trip to The Netherlands planned for the spring and Utrecht de Pan is a must play for me, so I'm curious about getting to/from the course.  I imagine getting an Uber from Utrecht or even Amsterdam is not a problem, but I can see getting back to the city center from the course could be difficult.

  

[Chanceman]

13 minutes ago, DustinJP said:

Do you mind elaborating on the issue with taxi fares/Uber?  Have trip to The Netherlands planned for the spring and Utrecht de Pan is a must play for me, so I'm curious about getting to/from the course.  I imagine getting an Uber from Utrecht or even Amsterdam is not a problem, but I can see getting back to the city center from the course could be difficult.

  

Yes it was an issue. I was staying at a hotel in Utrecht and went to the square looking for a regular cab which was ok but cost about 60 euro to get to the course which is quite difficult to find being in some dense woodland. On the way back I called an uber which took a long time to come and was again very costly just to go to the nearest train station. i cant really provide a good answer but wont be doing it again!! Maybe you can arrange something with the regular cab to take you there and pick you up. Uber in Holland is not good!