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Nordwijk Golf Club. (1913 - 1972)
In 1913 construction started on a 9-hole course over a 40ha dune. The course approximately 500m north of the Nordwijk lighthouse was officially opened on September 11th and 12th 1915.
The course of the Nordwijk-on-Sea Golf Club, laid out by H.H. Hilton and R. Richardson prior to WWI had nine capital holes, about 2,800 yards in length, by the shore. A water supply had been installed all over the course. The official bogey (in 1924) was 39, but it was judged that 34 or 35 would have been a more correct figure. The holes were 412, 412, 206, 336, 300, 230, 156, 368 and 375 yards. The club was founded in 1912 by E. Cremers after he had seen how golf at Knocke, just over the Belgian frontier, had enriched that obscure fishing village.
Sir Alan Johnston, the British Minister at The Hague and a good golfer, held a high opinion of the future of the Nordwijk course and played in it a great deal. Kirby, the expert green-keeper from Chantilly, visited the course in 1922 and gave Mr. Cremers of his best about the greens, which then turned to be very good in summer 1923, after excellent rainfall and a mild winter. In 1924, the record for the nine holes stood at 34 and was made by Major Bryce, late of the Coldstream Guards, in a wartime competition.
Dutch Golf Historian Robin Bargmann has kindly sent us the following information:-
“I played a lot at Noordwijk in the 60’s. At the time it was a 9-hole course, the original holes designed in 1914. In the late 20’s an additional 9-holes were added. These were designed by Harry Colt. The course was severely damaged during the war and after the war, the added nine holes became defunct after the club decided not to reconstruct these for cost reasons and to return the grounds to the town of Noordwijk. Most of the original 9-holes are still visible from Google Earth satellite and this now is a public walking area (similar to Sint André GC/Koksijde in Belgium and Voorne GC).”
The German magazine Golf from June 15th 1928 confirmed that the course had been extended to 18-holes and was officially opened on April 1st 1928.
The course scorecard reads as follows:-
First hole; 395m, Par 5; Second hole, 325m, Par 4; Third hole, 180m, Par 3; Fourth hole, 315m Par 4; Fifth hole, 285m, Par 4; Sixth hole, 120m, Par 3; Seventh hole, 335m, Par 4; Eighth hole, 465m, Par 5; Ninth hole, 280m, Par 4; Tenth hole, 380m, Par 4; Eleventh hole, 380m, Par 5; Twelfth hole, 190m, Par 3; Thirteenth hole, 310m, Par 4; Fourteenth hole 276m, Par 4; Fifteenth hole, 212m, Par 4; Sixteenth hole, 144m, Par 3; Seventeenth hole, 340m, Par 5; Eighteenth hole, 346m, Par 4.
Total length of the course; 5,273m. The course at the time was described as true seaside links complying with modern golf architectural design standards.
The course layout in June 1931.
Above postcard from the Christoph Meister archive.
The sixth green in 1938.
The ninth green and clubhouse in 1938.
After 1945 only the original nine-holes (holes No. 10-18 from 1928 to 1945) where reopened. The land that occupied the additional holes that opened in 1928 is nowadays covered by buildings and streets.
Layout of the revised course from the 1960s.
During the late 1950s it became apparent that municipal expansions were going to threaten the golf course and a number of members under the leadership of Mr. P.de Jong took the initiative to construct a new 18-hole course 5km north of the lighthouse. This is now the location of the current golf course. C. K. Cotton drew an original plan in November 1960, subject to approval. Procedures and negotiations took place with the government and construction of the new course started in 1969 headed by Frank Pennink, the famous English golf architect of Dutch origin. The final move to the new course took place in 1972.
Christoph Meister
August 2017.