zur Vahr Bremen (Garlstedt)

At the Club zur Vahr nestles one of the more renowned courses in Germany due to having hosted the German Open in 1985, one of several occasions when Bernhard Langer won the trophy.

Club zur Vahr has a 9-hole course in the city of Bremen, called Vahr, and the full 18-hole championship layout at Garlstedt, a 20-minute drive north of the city centre. Established in 1905, the club once promoted a wide range of sports including athletics, polo, cricket and rugby. These were all suspended at the end of the war in 1945 when the club grounds were taken over by US forces, but the club was brought back under German control in 1952.

Nowadays, Club zur Vahr confines its sporting activities to hockey, tennis, skeet shooting and, of course, golf. The Bernhard von Limburger-designed Garlstedt course dates back to 1963.

According to The World Atlas of Golf, “the course occupies 220 acres in thickly forested, undulating countryside... It is dominated by pine trees, tall and dense, crowding in from tee to green, controlling play on holes which bend narrowly to generally small targets. The strategic effect of the forest was such that it was necessary to construct only twenty-four bunkers... Since its completion, the Garlstedter course has commanded respect from all who have played there and appreciated its disciplines.”

Unfortunately the club has always struggled with moisture in the fairways, which led to frequent delays in tournaments and ultimately cost Garlstedter Heide its status as a fixture on the professional circuit. A 2004 renovation by Christoph Städler improved the situation around the greens and bunkers, but the general nature of the sticky soil is obviously still a factor and tree management remains an on-going challenge.