Bitburger Land - South West Germany - Germany

Situated in the low mountain range of the Southern Eifel, close to the German border with Luxembourg, the course at the Bitburger Land golf resort is a hilly parkland layout that first opened its doors for play in 1994. Respected architect Karl F. Grohs – who has design credits for prestigious courses like Gut Kaden and Lübeck-Travemünder to his name – set out the fairways on relatively open land above the Bitburg reservoir.

The golfing season is a bit shorter here due to the site's elevation and the general harshness of the winters in this region, so the best time to play is summer. The terrain and the rural setting would suggest a short and quirky track like the Northern Eifel stunner at Bad Münstereifel or even nearby Golf Club Eifel, the latter also designed by Grohs. However, the plan at Bitburg was for a generous championship course and that leads to a good amount of walking, easily exceeding the 6,700 yards specified on the card.

Despite the rolling site there is a certain amount of repetition in the layout. The par threes are all long, the par fives play almost identically due to their very similar length and there are only two shortish par fours. On the plus side, the views are nice and the conditioning is fine. But it is lacking in the categories of remarkable hole designs (for the most part), surprise (throughout) and ground game options (heavy soil).

Bitburger Pils, brewed about four miles from the clubhouse, is Germany's best-selling draught beer. Perhaps the golf course was built to appeal to the masses as well, what with its American design style that apparently epitomises championship ambitions.