Drenthe Golfclub "De Gelpenberg"

Drenthe Golfclub "De Gelpenberg": as the oldest golf course in the Dutch province of Drenthe, "De Gelpenberg" offers a partly-wooded and partly-open heathland layout, guaranteed to test all facets of your game. It is arguably the best of the country's more northerly layouts, together with Lauswolt (50 km away to the north-west). Both these courses were originally the work of celebrated English golf course architect Frank Pennink, and both were extended to 18-holes by Pennink's one-time partner Donald Steel.

The two nine-hole loops of "De Gelpenberg" journey out to the north and south of the clubhouse. Early in the front-nine loop, water is threateningly encountered at the par-3 2nd hole. The same u-shaped lake also provides the intimidation factor at the tough dog-legging par-4 7th and short par-3 8th.

Water hazards are not encountered on the back-nine, but this is where Pennink's partly tree-lined fairways will feel at their tightest, and the rough beyond them is at its most heathery!

Pick of the holes: The excellent right-to-left doglegging par-4 18th requires a gentle draw from the tee (if you can), before you hit over a huge cross-bunker on your approach to the green. This "infamous" sand trap provides a final reminder of the layout's easy-draining sandy sub-soil, a prerequisite on all true heathland courses.