Top 70 Golf Courses of Germany 2023

We’ve assembled a new group of panellists and quite a few courses in the previous edition of the chart didn’t find favour with the new panel. They also proposed a number of alternative courses for consideration. To ease the transition, we’ve contracted the chart to a Top 70, allowing us to take stock of the situation.

We have another 2-year cycle in which to fully re-evaluate the golf scene in Germany. It may be that some of the displaced courses will reappear or perhaps we’ll expand the chart further with a further influx of newcomers. Only time will tell in the months ahead.

Right now, it’s hard to predict what will happen – the large swings in fortune for some courses (either up or down) are an indicator of just how volatile things are! If you’d like to contribute to the process then by all means let us know what you think of this latest German chart edition.

Which courses are riding too high or falling too far down? Which courses shouldn’t be anywhere near the listings and are there any others that we’ve excluded by mistake? All opinions are welcome…

For now, let’s have a look at some of the new chart highlights.

Hamburger Falkenstein

The course at Hamburger Golf-Club, more commonly known as Falkenstein, has been our German No. 1 since we started ranking courses in Germany in 2008 so it’s no big surprise to announce that it remains in that same position. Designed by Colt, Alison and Morrison in the late 1920s then remodelled by Bernhard von Limburger during the 1960s, the layout is in the midst of a long-term restoration project undertaken by Frank Pont and Hendrik Hilgert.

Our International correspondent David Davis termed the course “the best of the best” when he played here on a German golf trip in 2021. “Hamburger Falkenstein is a true standout… the sandy soil and undulating terrain are a perfect mix for great golf design… it sits on the cusp of being recognized as one of Colt’s great legacy courses… worth a trip to Germany just to play it.”

Frankfurter

Another Colt classic in Germany, this time the course at Frankfurter Golf Club, makes quite an about turn in its ranking aspirations. Previously listed as high as #6 in 2012 and #7 in 2016, it returns to the Top 10 with an astonishing 31-place leap to number 5. Christoph Städler remodelled the bunkers and greens fifteen years ago to mixed reviews and arboreal issues still remain in place around the property.

Hendrik Hilgert of Infinite Variety Golf Deutchland redesigned the club’s facilities in 2021 and he installed a short game area last year. The firm should be in prime position to oversee a much-needed tree management programme if the club decides to embark on such an upgrade project. We’ll certainly keep a close eye on any potential developments in that regard…

Norderney

Situated on one of the East Fresian Islands which are separated from the coast of Lower Saxony by the Wadden Sea, the 9-hole course at Golfclub Norderney rises 28 spots to number 13 in our new standings. Laid out by locals a hundred years ago, the links is one of only fourteen Continental European tracks included in George Peper and Malcolm Campbell’s book True Links.

Fairways are routed through large sand dunes and the layout is configured as three par threes, three par fours and three par fives, with golfers never playing consecutive holes of the same par. The course is not that easy to get to (requiring a one-hour ferry journey from the port of Norddeich) but it’s certainly worth the effort required to play such an authentic track.

Habsberg

The Graham Marsh-designed course at Golf Club am Habsberg soars an incredible thirty-four places to #15 in our revised listings. First opened for play twenty years ago, it staged the Habsberg Classic on the European Professional Development Tour in 2006, when Martin Kaymer shot a 59 for his second round on the way to winning the event by ten shots.

Laid out in two loops, this heavily bunkered layout plays as long as 6,482 metres from the back tees. The best hole on the card is probably kept until last at the 510-metre 18th which bends gently right to an offset home green surrounded by bunkers – check out an overhead google maps image of this hole to see exactly what “sand-protected” really means!

Gut Wissmanshof

The course at Sport- & Golf-Resort Gut Wissmannshof near Kassel advances an impressive thirty-seven positions to number 18. The layout only opened six years ago when Holger Rengstorf completely remodelled a course that had been built on the same site twenty years earlier. Another nine holes have since been added so Wissmanshoff is now a 27-hole complex.

The on-site hotel has a total of 30 rooms, suites and apartments, half of which are located in the new main building with the others dotted around the golf course. There’s also a three-storey driving range with 45 covered tees, two large indoor practice greens and a sports and golf simulator, allowing you to play world-famous golf courses or even shoot clay pigeons.

Lohersand

Leading the large pack of new chart entries, the course at Golf Club Lohersand enters at number 25. Positioned near the small town of Rendsburg in the northern state of Schleswig-Holstein, the course was originally set out across a forested heathland property by Bernhard von Limburger back in 1959. Forty years then passed before the layout was expanded to 18 holes.

Today’s 18-hole layout alternates between narrow, forested playing corridors and more open heathland avenues, with three water-laden holes skirting a large lake on the front nine. Extending to 5,480 metres from the back tees and playing to a par of 71, the course features five par threes and four par fives measuring between 435 and 471 metres.

Düsseldorfer

The Düsseldorfer Golf Club course shoots a commendable twenty places up the chart to #48, having entered the listings last time around as a newcomer. Designed by Fred Hawtree in the early 1960s, the layout was upgraded by another English architect, Howard Swan, in 2005 when he was contacted to carry out storm damage repair work.

In more recent times, extensive modernization and renovation work has been carried out on the golf course and driving range to keep pace with modern requirements. In particular, all the bunkers on the course were refurbished and numerous paths around the property completely renewed.

To view the complete detailed list of our latest Top 70 Golf Courses of Germany click the link.

If you have any comment to make on the above chart then please use the “Write a Response” button at the bottom of this page.

Jim McCann

Editor

Top 100 Golf Courses