Falkenstein is in a class of its own in Germany. This course is very consistent, varied, gorgeous and challenging. Colt and his mates and German Von Limburger really did a sublime job here, and the club is doing an equally sublime job in maintaining the grandeur of the course and design.

The course is perfectly in balance and the routing is magnificent. It is 100% natural and benefits maximally from the landscape, also strategically. The greensites are among the best I've seen anywhere. You need to use the natural slopes to work your ball towards the green or the hole and it's very satisfying to judge them right. When you fail to do this, it can be quite educational to look at the same shot from the other side.

As for the club experience: It's a warm welcome when you enter the grass on the members side of the clubhouse and one is greeted with an abundance of rhododendrons and top notch practice greens. We got 20 percent off because the greens had recently had a necessary treatment due to some recent championships. The greenkeepers are very passionate about their job and entrusted me we should have played the course the week before, as the greens never had been that good in their opinion. They were still bloody quick though.

Favourites on the front nine include the par 5 th, par 4 6th and par 3 8TH. From 8 onwards, an amazing stretch starts all the way to the 15th. The 16th is a little boring (out of place) perhaps.

The par 3 10th next to the clubhouse with a 20 meter drop is fantastic and the 13th is one of my favourite par 4's everywhere. It's only 314 meters and it couldn't be better. The tee shot is played from a hill and the fairway narrows at 210 meters, where a big bunker awaits one's tee shot. On the left, There is room for a longer tee shot but you risk not having a line to the green due to tall trees in front of you. To far to the right and you're to far into the bushes. So an iron it is for mr. conservative, but the fairways looks really tempting, and the iron shot will inevitably roll down to the right part of the fairway leaving an approach that plays considerably uphill to a back to front left to right sloping green. The 17th must be one of worlds most beautiful par 5's. One should be careful to not drive it through the fairway. Then you can go for the green on this short par 5, but you have to hit it over 50 meters of heather, also stretching the whole length of the par 3 8th that lies next to the 17th. It really doesn't get any better.

This is the kind of course where you want to play every day. It's a fair championship test and it's glorious. Every hole is a challenge, very beautiful and different. Not unimportantly, it is perfect as it is. I find it hard to compare it to other Colt designs or heathland courses. We're lucky to have a couple in the Netherlands. I'd say Falkenstein is as good as De Pan minus 1 or 2 mediocre holes. Fontainebleau is superb, but it needs some love aka deforestation. Falkenstein shows it's full potential and that is very special. Therefore I think Falkenstein is underrated. I would not be surprised if Falkenstein sneaks into the World top 100 one day, it's a worthy contender at least and it has my vote! MO