WINSTONgolf Resort, Germany

Only a few minutes away from northern German town of Schwerin the WINSTONgolf resort is among the ranks of the German golf-course elite. The 45 holes at the 500-acre Winston are rather diverse, just like the Baltic landscape that, despite its flatness, is characterised by forests, rivers and lakes; owing to the ideal soil conditions all courses can be played year round.

The golf complex opened in 2002 with the 18-hole course WINSTONopen and the 9-hole course WINSTONkranich, in just three years the WINSTONopen course became a venue for the German championships; in July 2011 the Par 72 WINSTONlinks course has been opened for the public and it was awarded as Germany’s Best New Golf Course of the year.

WINSTONopen

Designed by Holger Rengstorf, this course is laid out on a natural, undulating terminal moraine, offers terrific and diverse views of lakes and forests from all of its teeing grounds.

Several holes feature the refined details existing on the courses of classical golfing nations. Even very high demands are satisfied by the individual set-up of the well-protected greens with their putting properties.

WINSTONkranich

David Krause redesigned the fun 9-hole WINSTONkranich course, a short par three that combines architectural elements of both 18-hole courses.

WINSTONlinks

Also designed by David Krause this course meant to pay tribute to the early days of golf, which first became popular along the British seacoast; a challenging golf course and certainly one of the best layouts in Germany in recent years.

Gorse, heather and tall dunes, some with more than 30 feet high, flank many of the fairways which pitch and roll in links-like style.

The bunkering is authentic and many of the sand traps are built in gathering, magnetic fashion designed to frustrate golfers. The greens are big and bold with deep swales and subtle borrows. If the winds continue to blow across this flat landscape then the pointy dune tops will surely soften and the links might fulfil its ambitions.