Frankfurter Golf Club

Frankfurter Golf Club: located just a short distance outside the bustling city of Frankfurt, you will find this golfing oasis nestling in a mature forest. Here the great Harry Colt crafted what would become one of the top layouts in Germany, and for many years, frequent home of the German Open championship.

With occasional glimpses of the Frankfurt skyline, and laid out on an easy-draining sandy base, this tree-lined parkland layout starts with three straightaway par-4s. What becomes quickly apparent is the superb quality of the often elevated greens, which are typically guarded by one or two clean-shaven bunkers. Forming an hour-glass shape with the greens, the green-fronting aprons are also immaculately presented. These large aprons double-up as winter greens from November thru' April.

Frankfurter exudes all the look and feel of a heathland layout, but without much evidence of gorse bushes or heather (heide in German). Plenty of oak trees and Scots pine also point to the layout's heathland credentials. As with most Colt designs, the fairways are generally a good width, but beyond them its well worth staying out of the many and varied trees that line the way.

There's a bit more elevation change on the back-nine, which includes some of the layout's best holes. These include the gently curving par-4 12th, and the straight par-4 14th, with a potentially blind second shot played down to a well-defended green.

Sitting under one of the flightpaths into Frankfurt Airport, it's possible that the sight and sound of passenger jets will be present, but the course is strong enough for this not to be an overly distracting factor in your round.