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Aalholm Golf Course.
Aalholm. An old manor house in South Denmark, which had a 9-hole golf course from around 1880 to approx. 1980. The course had nine tees and seven greens.
Frederik Christopher Otto Raben-Levetzau (1850-1933) was a Danish foreign minister and one of Denmark's largest landowners. He was also president of the Copenhagen Golf Club. It is fairly certain it was him who laid out the golf course. There are sources confirming the private golf course was in existence 1902, but it might have been much older. His son John Otto Raben-Levetzau (1904-1992) continued making use of the golf course, but definitely gave up playing golf in 1967.
The course layout was changed a few times during its lifetime, but the enclosed map from the scorecard shows that the first, third and eighth holes played onto the same central green. The fourth green was so far out towards the North West that it was from time to time neglected. This hole, which was in no way comparable to any of the other holes, was nicknamed “Pebble Beach”.
A beautiful yellow-washed pavilion that served as the clubhouse is the only thing left of the golf course after it was closed 1972. Well that is, except for the old hollow cups, flags and tee markers which are hidden in some of the castle's secluded hides. Only recently the “The Home Press”, a special tool from around 1890 to recondition gutty balls, turned up again and can now be seen on display at the Danish Golf Museum in Vejle.
Bridge on the third hole of the former golf course.
Building on the former golf course.
History of the castle:
Aalholm was a royal castle from as early as 1300. In 1725 Aalholm was privatised in auction when Johan Otto Raben's widow Emerita von Levetzow received the deeds of the house. In 1889 the medieval castle was rebuilt with additions to the south wings.
After 270 years in the ownership of the family Raben-Levetzau Aalholm was sold to direktør Stig Husted-Andersen in 1995. There is no public admittance, only to the pretty park which is surrounded by a beautiful manor-landscape with views and free-standing old trees.
In the 1970s, parts of the castle were opened to the public as a museum, while the former owner had established a vintage car museum in 1964 on Stubberup Farm about one kilometre to the west of the castle. It used to be one of the biggest collections in northern Europe displaying about 300 cars from 1886 onwards.
In connection with the sale of the castle and estate in 1995, all the furnishings were auctioned off while the new owner took over the automobile museum. The museum was closed in 2008 owing to the poor state of the buildings. The cars were sold by RM Auctions on August 12, 2012, realizing 10.2 million Euros.
Christoph Meister - April 2021
Course scorecard.
Layout of the nine-hole course.
