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Tyler Kearns

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Royal Hague
« on: July 21, 2014, 03:54:15 PM »
While in Europe for a wedding this past May, I was fortunate to sneak in rounds of golf at four excellent golf courses in the Netherlands (Kennemer, Royal Hague, Utretchse 'De Pan' & Swinkelsche) and one in Belgium (Royal Golf Club des Fagnes in Spa).  The second stop on my tour was at Royal Hague, set in a spectacular dune setting, it is a wonder we don't hear more about this golf course.  The topography at Royal Hague is ideal, presenting golfers with a plethora of stances and lies, and the scenery of the adjacent National Park is wonderfully appropriated throughout the round making one feel like they are in a remote, unpopulated setting, a far cry from reality. 

Stand out holes include No. 6, 7, 9, 14, 15 and 16.  On the whole, I can't really find a weak link in regards to individual holes, and that is a testament to the overall quality of the course.  The design is eminently strategic and a stern test from the way back tees.  On the negative side, I felt the fairways could stand to be wider throughout, especially where landing areas were blind and the existence of small winter greens detracted somewhat from the overall presentation (my understanding is that they are barely needed anymore).  From a more personal viewpoint, I would like to see greater articulation of the bunker edges to mimic the natural blow-outs that are forming on the property and prefer more internal green contours, however, both are in keeping with Colt's style.
 
The opening hole is a wonderful introduction to the terrain one will be golfing over for the remainder of the round, with nary a level lie to be had.  My host at Royal Hague explained that much effort has been made in the past decade to expose the underlying sand throughout the property and cut back invasive vegetation to return the golf course to its original links appearance. 



Drives at the second must be shaped to hold the slanted fairway, especially in the strong winds that often frequent the site.  Longer drives are rewarded by catching a speed slot, shorting the approach into the elevated green.





The drive at the dogleg right third hole plays over a deep valley and should favour the left hand side to avoid a blind approach into the green which features a strong back-to-front tilt, false front, and a sharp fall-off to the right.





The drop-shot fourth plays well over 200 yards, but ample room is provided between the fronting bunkers and green when trying to keep the ball down under the wind.  Meijendel National Park provides a great backdrop for the green site.



The three-shot fifth plays over more excellent golf country, whose humps and hollows provide enough varied interest and challenge that like every other hole except No. 13, has no fairway bunkers.



The carry at the all-world sixth is only 170 yards, but looks much more daunting.  The fairway is chalk full of interesting lies, and the green is sternly protected by a deep bunker left and deep run-off to the right, making for an intimidating approach into the 468 yard hole.







The seventh fairway is completely hidden from the tee with only a distant target pole guiding play, requiring players to trust their swing.  Drives taking a more aggressive line are rewarded with a clear view of the green, while drives leaking to the right are faced with an approach over the shoulder of a dune.  Note the lovely little blow-out bunker on top of the dune on the approach - a feature I would like to have seen more of throughout the round.



 

The eighth is another par three in excessive of 200 yards played downhill, but unlike the other one shorter on the front, it is all carry as a bunker guards the right side of the green and a closely-mown swale funnels shots left away from the putting surface.



The final hole on the front nine plays into an angled, slanted and well contoured fairway, requiring drives to be hit with proper shape and trajectory to stay in the short grass.  The contours of the fairway lead drives to the right, requiring an approach over a guarding bunker.





Looking back at the tee, the fairway contours are much more evident.



Back nine to follow...

ward peyronnin

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Re: Royal Hague
« Reply #1 on: July 21, 2014, 04:38:51 PM »
Tyler

The courses you played were part of Buda last year. Imagine playing 14 rounds in nine days carrying your bag and finishig up at R Hague!

Magnificent property that is truly one of the Monster roller coasters in golf and lotsa fun. Thanks for the pics
"Golf is happiness. It's intoxication w/o the hangover; stimulation w/o the pills. It's price is high yet its rewards are richer. Some say its a boys pastime but it builds men. It cleanses the mind/rejuvenates the body. It is these things and many more for those of us who truly love it." M.Norman

Paul Gray

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Re: Royal Hague
« Reply #2 on: July 21, 2014, 05:34:37 PM »
Tyler,

An excellent tour. Thank you.

Does look a little tight in places.
In the places where golf cuts through pretension and elitism, it thrives and will continue to thrive because the simple virtues of the game and its attendant culture are allowed to be most apparent. - Tim Gavrich

Frank Pont

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Re: Royal Hague
« Reply #3 on: July 22, 2014, 02:15:18 AM »
Tyler,

Thanks for the tour, it shows the course as it is.

The fairways aren't particularly narrow, the issue is that the buckthorn is too close to the fairways in a number of spots. I have been pushing the club to take them out, but there are ecological considerations that make that more difficult in spots. The same is true with trees around the course. But I expect that the course will become opener and opener over time. Interestingly the original setup before the war was that the fairways ran out into pure sand, like Pinehurst 2. Unfortunately the club does not have the appetite to go that far.....

I agree with you on the bunkers. I tried hard to get the bunkers to be a bit more scruffy, but could not get the consensus to go that way when we did the green and bunker works 8 years ago. In the meantime attitudes have slightly changed so maybe in the next bunker works we can make the edges more scruffy and playfull.

On the green surfaces, those are what Alison left us. This is true for the 13 original greens, for  the 5 new greens (3 Pennink, 1 Kyle Phi lips, 1 Rijks) I adjusted  them to make them more in Alisons style.

Tyler Kearns

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Re: Royal Hague
« Reply #4 on: July 22, 2014, 12:06:19 PM »
Frank,

Good point regarding fairway width, I should have been more clear.  When close to the edge of fairways, and especially where landing areas are blind, more effort should be made to limit the potential for searches by lowering roughs and cutting back dense bushes.

Judging from the detailed descriptions my host gave me of the golf course before your involvement, you've made great strides in improving the overall character of the golf course, making an already special place all the more memorable.

Keep up the good work.

TK

Bill Crane

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Re: Royal Hague
« Reply #5 on: July 22, 2014, 01:29:15 PM »
Played Royal Hague about 23 years ago when my sister got married in the US and had a Netherlands reception for those that did not make it to the US wedding.   She lives there still.

Loved the course then, and it really looks like a substantial amount of trees have been removed.

IF YOU HAVE NOT SPENT TIME IN THE NETHERLANDS, it is hard to describe how flat the majority of the country is. In most towns, the view from the largest bridge over the canal is the second best in town behind the bell tower to the Church (see Martini or St Martin’s tower in Groningen).  The dune area that Royal Hague is located in really has delightful movement and real elevation change that is not found in a large part of the country.

The thatched roof clubhouse was also handsome.  I recall there was a beautiful expansive view from one of the tees, and you could see rows of church spires set along a line going north east up the coast.  You can see a spire in the background of the shot of #8.

If this course were along the coast in the UK it would probably be even better known that it is now.  If it were in New England in the states it would be really well known.

Can’t wait to play it again, I hope to plan a trip to the House of Orange (Nassau) to play the Hague again,and also play Kennemer and DePan (Utrect is one of our favorite cities). 

I am surprised that David Davis has not commented yet!

Wm Flynnfan
_________________________________________________________________
( s k a Wm Flynnfan }

Bill Brightly

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Re: Royal Hague
« Reply #6 on: July 22, 2014, 02:05:30 PM »
Tyler

The courses you played were part of Buda last year. Imagine playing 14 rounds in nine days carrying your bag and finishig up at R Hague!

Magnificent property that is truly one of the Monster roller coasters in golf and lotsa fun. Thanks for the pics

Mark, Ulrich and ward on the first tee at Royal Hague from last year's BUDA. Sorry about the buggies in the picture, they were not from our group!



Conrad and Steve

« Last Edit: July 22, 2014, 02:07:13 PM by Bill Brightly »

John Butler

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Re: Royal Hague
« Reply #7 on: July 25, 2014, 12:46:22 PM »
Played Royal Hague yesterday and loved it, green complexes reminded me of Royal Portrush, roller coaster fairways apt description, Kennemer and Noordwijkse are very good but prefer R Hague, playing De Pan later.

Bob_Huntley

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Re: Royal Hague
« Reply #8 on: July 25, 2014, 03:46:04 PM »

I played Royal Hague in 1966 and it was the only time in my life that I did not see anyone else on the course. No golfers,  no ground crew, no dogs, nada.

I was just hoping I i would not have a hole in one.

Bob

Tom_Doak

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Re: Royal Hague
« Reply #9 on: July 25, 2014, 04:11:27 PM »
Frank:

I'm surprised to hear the buckthorn is an issue there -- is it native?  In Scotland and Ireland they have required it to be removed on projects we've worked on.  In fact, that's how we got permission to build the new holes at The Renaissance Club; the 9th green and most of the 10th fairway were covered in buckthorn, so they couldn't object to us replacing it with maintained grass.

Frank Pont

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Re: Royal Hague
« Reply #10 on: July 26, 2014, 05:00:53 AM »
Tom,

The type of buckthorn on RH is native, and the GEO committee in the club is keen to keep part of it because it is a shelter for birds, deer and other wild life.  However at Kennemer they are removing it in most areas, just a different take on things I guess.

Wish we in the Netherlands would get the freedom to build in the dunes along the lines Scotland allows...... its amazing given that we are all under European ecological laws the difference in implementation country by country

Tyler Kearns

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Re: Royal Hague
« Reply #11 on: August 17, 2014, 02:29:18 PM »
The back nine at Royal Hague starts with a short par-5 played over undulating terrain before reaching the green perched on a plateau.  An oblong section of long grass resides in the left side of the fairway to give players something to consider when laying-up.



The eleventh bends ever so slightly to the right, fighting the natural lay of the land. 



The contours found in front of the green can lead to a wide variety of outcomes when low approaches are needed into the wind.



The mid-length one-shot twelfth is yet another solid hole at Royal Hague, whose primary defence is the steeply pitched back-to-front green.



The thirteenth is a long par four that turns to the left and features the only fairway bunker on the course.  It appears to be a strategic anomaly, as the ideal line from the tee is to the left away from the bunker, thereby playing along the deepest axis of the green and avoiding play over the front right bunker. 



The bunker guarding the front right corner of the thirteenth green is blind, and would seem more suitable located into the hillside right of the green.



The fourteenth is a wonderful long par four that plays along the property boundary on the left.  While visually intimidating from the tee, much of the fairway to the right is hidden, making the hole appear tighter than it is.  The hillside to the right of the green has only been recently denuded of vegetation, exposing the superb links land beneath.



The approach into the fourteenth green is severely uphill and demands a confident stroke to avoid falling victim to the harsh false front.





The visually stunning fifteenth is the third consecutive long par 4 in excess of 420 yards, and the high tee is very exposed to the elements. 



Approaches played from the left hand side of the fairway will be faced with a blind approach owing to the dune short left of the green.



The drive at sixteen provides a heroic carry over broken ground which can favour either side of the fairway depending on the hole location, which should be accessible to viewing by the keen observer on the eleventh tee.



The ridge left of the green, and trio of bunkers right mean that approaches are best played from opposite sides of the fairway when the hole locations are cut towards either edge of the green.



The seventeenth is another mid-length par three and features one of the few heavily contoured greens on the course with a high middle section dividing lower back and front sections.



The final hole at Royal Hague is out of character with the rest of the course in that it features trees lining both sides of the fairway, and plays over decidedly flatter terrain.  The tee shot plays substantially downhill and from a rather narrow chute that could stand be a bit wider, however housing along the property boundary right of the hole limit the ability to open up the hole.  From a routing standpoint, the real oddity is that the 17th and 18th tees are side-by-side, meaning a long walk back from the previous green.



Royal Hague is a tough golf course and visually intimidating from the tee.  I believe the eighteenth could be improved by playing from a shorter tee, that while not as dramatic as the current set-up, is more user-friendly and a better transition from the previous hole.

   

The stately clubhouse is a beautiful backdrop for approaches played into the final green.



TK

Thomas Dai

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Re: Royal Hague
« Reply #12 on: August 17, 2014, 03:26:11 PM »
Impressive. Seems like a lot of contouring. Thank you for sharing. Do holes like 7, 14, 15 play as tight as they look?

As a general aside, were the courses along the Dutch coast damaged by defensive fortifications etc during to WWII?

atb

David Davis

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Re: Royal Hague
« Reply #13 on: August 17, 2014, 04:37:21 PM »
I'm happy more and more of you are discovering Dutch golf. I just hosted a group of very well travelled golfers from Tennessee for a week not to mention a great visit from our own Bill Schultz at the end of last month. They played De Pan, Royal Hague, Kennemer and Noordwijkse. Bill already gave his comments which you can find under his post about completing the Top 100. The gentlemen all stayed in Amsterdam as home base and the combination of Amsterdam and these great courses has them convinced this in their top 5 golf trips out of more than 50 trips in the last 10 years.

That says a lot in and of itself.

Royal Hague is a great course and it's being maintained to perfection the last couple years. Their policy of tree and brush removal and reclaiming that amazing dunes landscape from the old days is really paying off.
Sharing the greatest experiences in golf.

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John Butler

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Re: Royal Hague
« Reply #14 on: August 17, 2014, 08:18:51 PM »
Recently went to the Netherlands, liked Royal Hague, De Pan, Kennemer, and Noordiwijkse in that order, definitely worth a special trip, lots to see in Amsterdam, The Hague, and elsewhere.  Golf in Belgium enjoyable too, went to Royal Zoute, Royal Ostend, and Royal GC de Belgique.  Most people speak English especially in the cities, good food, great beer.

Tyler Kearns

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Re: Royal Hague
« Reply #15 on: August 17, 2014, 08:43:27 PM »
Impressive. Seems like a lot of contouring. Thank you for sharing. Do holes like 7, 14, 15 play as tight as they look?

As a general aside, were the courses along the Dutch coast damaged by defensive fortifications etc during to WWII?

atb

Thomas,

The holes you mentioned, and the course in general plays wider than appears, as many landing areas are partially obscured by the natural undulations of the property.  I would love to have another crack at the course being more fully aware of where to hit it and where not to miss it.  In regards to No. 7, some of the scruffy, long rough could be cut back in the landing zone due to the blind nature of the hole, as it can be very hard to find only slightly errant balls.

TK

Tyler Kearns

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Re: Royal Hague
« Reply #16 on: August 17, 2014, 08:45:27 PM »
Recently went to the Netherlands, liked Royal Hague, De Pan, Kennemer, and Noordiwijkse in that order, definitely worth a special trip, lots to see in Amsterdam, The Hague, and elsewhere.  Golf in Belgium enjoyable too, went to Royal Zoute, Royal Ostend, and Royal GC de Belgique.  Most people speak English especially in the cities, good food, great beer.

John,

I would agree on your placement of the first three Dutch courses listed, unfortunately, my schedule did not allow for a game at Noorwijkse (next time!!).  I only played once on my trip in Belgium, at Royal GC des Fagnes in Spa, and would highly recommend it to others visiting the country.

TK

Frank Pont

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Re: Royal Hague
« Reply #17 on: August 18, 2014, 01:37:09 PM »
Do holes like 7, 14, 15 play as tight as they look?

As a general aside, were the courses along the Dutch coast damaged by defensive fortifications etc during to WWII?

atb

Holes 7, 14 and 15 actually are quite wide. Hole 7 is blind, hole 14 looks very narrow and hole 15 from the yellow tees actually looks very wide. But all are about the same width, the key however is to be in the right spot of the fairway.

Both RH and Kennemer were damaged during WWII with German fortifications, Kennemer more so than RH.

Frank Pont

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Re: Royal Hague
« Reply #18 on: August 18, 2014, 01:42:15 PM »
Tyler,

I have been trying to get the pines left of the fairway of 13 cut for some time now, because that would open the view towards the green. Unfortunately you can see the pines on a 1950 aerial, so there is no consensus yet to remove them (we did remove a mirroring group of pines on the right side of the fairway).

Also I agree that the only fw bunker at RH is misplaced, it should be on the left side of the fairway. I have advocated to close the bunker, but again we did not achieve consensus on that.

I think once the trees left are gone it will become very obvious where the bunker should go....

Question actually is does the hole need a bunker? Not so sure.... It's a tough long par 4 into the wind.....

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