Germany, Hamburg - Championship golf in Hamburg

Hamburg is Germany's second largest city - but the greenest of them all. In addition, it boasts more bridges than Venice, and over 40 golf courses.

Hamburg is one of the few cities that still call itself a hanseatic city. The port city’s birthday has been celebrated for 800 years. The ceremonies succeed one another and end with several sailing ships putting into harbor to add the finishing touch.

The golf course’s time axis in Germany does not go quite as far back in time - the first boom came first in the sixties - but the development is even more remarkable. More than 600 courses have been built in the country at a rapid pace, most located in Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Stuttgart, Berlin and Munich.

Just north of Hamburg, in the Holstein area, we find, for example, the championship Gut Kaden golf course. Among the beautiful alder trees and centuries-old oak trees names like Tiger Woods, Bernhard Langer, Niclas Fasth and Robert Karlsson have won titles. The design is intelligent and the greens are large, but not completely easily met. Like spying crocodile eyes the bunkers watch over their short cut friends and gladly sink their teeth into stray balls. Just as it should be - in short: good!

Many courses are laid out on flat terrain, and lakes and streams are constant elements.

Precisely proximity to water is by the way one of Hamburg's hallmarks. As early as the thirteenth century Alster was created, an artificial lake that today is a natural gathering place for people who want to lower the pace in a stressful environment. At Alster’s green stand in Harvestehude is one of Hamburg's most popular parks, with an impressive 1.5 kilometre walk.

There is however disagreement on whether the burger has part of its origin here or not. The inhabitants themselves generally prefer otherwise Hamburger Aalsoppe; eel soup of meat broth that is cooked on bones and then prepared with vegetables and dried fruit.

Some people jokingly call Hamburg southern Sweden, probably because the city has periodically been Swedish and the Scandinavian mentality still seems to have a mark on the inhabitants.

From the city's asphalt and the golf course’s greenery to triple set tennis on Harvestehude it is never far away. When this year's Black Rock Tour of Champions was won, former big stars like Pat Cash, Goran Ivanisevic and our own Anders Järryd visited.

Even if tennis can win a game or a set, it’s often golf in Hamburg that wins the match.

By Henrik Lenngren.

GUT KADEN
Founded: 1984.
Number of holes: 27, par 72 + 36
Green fees: Weekdays EUR 55, EUR 75 weekends.
Homepage: www.gutkaden.de

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