Golf- und Land-Club Köln

Golf- und Land-Club Köln (in English, Cologne Golf & Country Club): Far from the madding crowd in a quiet forested setting, here you will find one of Germany's very best championship golf courses. Originally established in 1906, the club moved to east of the River Rhine in 1952, to a new course laid out by the renowned German designer Bernhard von Limburger.

This expansive and stylish tree-lined parkland course, laid out in two nine-hole loops, exudes a distinctly heathland feel. Scots pine and birch are much in evidence, although gorse and heather, which you might expect, are largely absent. From the get-go, Limburger's excellently crafted layout contains a predominance of gently doglegging holes, supported by four memorable par-3s and some glorious straightaway holes, especially at 4 and 14.

From the tee you'll need to be mindful of meandering streams (both reed-lined and stone-lined), which occasionally makes their presence felt. In greater abundance, strategically placed bunkers (often with long grass "eye-brows") guard the smallish greens. The par-4 13th and par-3 15th are played from a small hill, which provides the back-nine's only (short-lived) elevation change of any note.

Pick of the holes: among several contenders for top honours, the picturesque short par-3 15th is played from the small hill on the back-nine. A towering Scots pine (thankfully not in play!) rises up from the middle of the teeing ground. The par-3 12th is also notable for its solid defences, with water and three stylish bunkers to be avoided en route to the not overly large green.