Noordwijkse Golfclub

Few Dutch courses feel as much like the real thing as the Noordwijkse, and it is one of the few that turns up in books about the world's links. The course sits inside the protected Natura 2000 dunes of Kennemerland-Zuid, on land the club leases from Staatsbosbeheer, and sheep graze it in June and November.

Dunes, then pines

Most of the round is played through open, heaving dune land. For a spell (holes 4 to 7, 11 and 12 in the layout before the renovation) the course turns into the pines, which Top 100 Golf Courses compares to Formby. The course also features in True Links, George Peper and Malcolm Campbell's book on the world's links courses.

The club itself is older than the course. It opened in September 1915 with nine holes in the dunes just north of the Noordwijk lighthouse, which Harry Colt later extended to eighteen. It is one of the Oude Negen, the nine oldest clubs in the Netherlands. As the town grew, the club moved about five kilometres north: construction began in 1969 and Prince Claus opened the new course in 1972.

Dutch Open pedigree

The Dutch Open came to the new course nine times between 1978 and 2001. The winners' list is strong: Seve Ballesteros in 1986, Payne Stewart in 1991, Colin Montgomerie in 1993 and Bernhard Langer twice, in 1992 and 2001.

Mid-renovation

Check the club's website before you plan a trip. A renovation that started in 2024 is rebuilding and enlarging the greens, removing contaminated soil laid when the course was built, and moving maintenance to fully chemical-free. The front nine closed in March 2026, the back nine follows from May 2027, and the club expects the full course back in September 2028. Until then you play nine holes, at a nine-hole green fee.