The newest golf course on Usedom just opened four weeks ago and is situated in the small village of Korswandt, just a couple of kilometers inland from Seebad Ahlbeck on Usedom, next to the polish border.

The Baltic Hills golf Club features 19 holes, driving range, chip and putt area whilst the clubhouse is still under construction.

The odd number of 19 holes ist because of the warmup hole called Mulligan - a par 3 hole that covers the distance from the putting green to the teebox of the first hole. This was the first time I saw something like it, but the scottish headpro assured me that this can be seen often on scottish golf courses. Well, I liked the idea.

The course makes brilliant use of the natural hilly landscape. Looking at a Google Maps satellite image you can see that they put the course exactly in an area used for agriculture, the surrounding woods weren’t changed at all. The only change made to nature (apart from digging bunkers and water hazards) were some earth movements on the fifth hole, the rest was pretty much left as is.

The course is 6.047 meters from the backtees with hole lengths from 126 meters (hole 14) and 548 meters (hole 5), a course rating will be made in August. Every hole on the course has its own charme or presents its own difficulty. I loved the ideas like the split fairway on #5, or the tree group guarding the green on #13 or the picturesque #14. At the end of your round on #17 you reach the highest elevation of the course and you will be rewarded with a great view over the course and over the island of Usedom.

The course will need some time to grow in. Especially the greens are still somewhat bumpy and slow, but I’m sure they will improve over time. But what the course already has is a great layout and is a nice challenge to play with nicely positioned hazards and good fairway outlines. Plus, you need a solid shot off the tee as it takes you mostly 180 to 200 meters to reach the beginning of the fairway.

I very much enjoyed my round at Baltic Hills, the crew gave me a very warm welcome and the € 30,00 greenfee for the round (still introductory prices) are a bargain. This course is definitely a recommendation.

Golfclub Korswandt GmbH
Hauptstrasse 10
17419 Korswandt
info@usedomgolf.de
http://www.usedomgolf.de/

It was about time I played the last course in Berlin / Brandenburg that I hadn’t set foot upon yet: the South Course of GCC Seddiner See. Designed by Robert Trent Jones, it promised to be a challenging experience. The Par 72 course measures 6.046 meters from yellow with a slope of 132 and a CR of 72,0.

The course is beautifully modeled into the landscape, nice elevation changes, sloped fairways made every shot interesting. What I loved most about the course was how Robert Trent Jones used the bunkers to give the course a unique look and make it challenging. The bunkers give you an interesting view from every teebox, like big sandy mouths wating to swallow your ball. Especially the greens were very well protected and demanded very precise shots into the greens.

The humid weather in the last weeks helped to grow dense and green grass, the fairways and greens were in immaculate condtion - the fairways at Seddin had the quality of greens elsewhere.

It could have been the perfect round, hadn’t there been the most ignorant greenkeepers of them all. They were on almost every hole and they didn’t give a sh*t about a player approaching or playing his ball. On one hole I just finished my practice swing and adressed my ball, when one greenkeeper drove across the fairway in full speed directly behind me. I observed a twosome ahead of me having to yell FORE numerous times until the greenkeepers raking the greenside bunkers stepped aside and let the players make their shot.

I expect something different from a club that takes 75,00 € for a round on weekdays and claims to have high standards in every aspects (this applies to greenkeepers also).

Golf- und Country Club Seddiner See AG
Zum Weiher 44
14552 Michendorf
Tel: 033205 732-0
Fax: 033205 732-29
E-Mail: info(at)gccseddinersee.de
http://www.gccseddinersee.de

Q. A few general thoughts, you moved into contention there, nine holes to play, and had a shot at the end but the bogey at 17 probably just bitter pill right now, right?

BERNHARD LANGER: Yeah, I looked at the leaderboard as I got on 16 and saw I was one behind McNulty and behind Funk and he still had the par 5 to play, so I figured he might birdie that.

So I changed my game plan. I used to hit hybrid there all week and I felt all along it’s a driver down there hopefully on the fairway and hopefully make birdie. Made a bad swing, pulled it to the left. Actually hit a lady on the chest. Shook her up, shook me up, and ended up making bogey and had a nice birdie on the last.

Q. Is she all right?

BERNHARD LANGER: Yeah, I’ve heard she was okay. A little in shock early on when I saw her.

Q. Still in a good stretch, looking forward to next week’s Senior Open?

BERNHARD LANGER: Yeah, still playing well. I just had one bad day, that was Thursday, that really put me in the hole and I had to dig myself out of there. I’m pretty pleased with the way I played the last three days.

Q. Are you going next week?

BERNHARD LANGER: Another big one. It never ends. Another big one after this.

(via)

Wednesday, 29. July 2009
21:20 Eurosport, US PGA Tour, Canadian Open
22:15 Eurosport, European Tour, SAS Masters
22:45 Eurosport, Golf Club

Totally enthused, I left home this morning and headed to the Golf & Country Club Seddiner See. Their South Course is the last course in Berlin / Brandenburg that I hadn’t played so far. As it is one of the most beautiful and challenging, I was looking forward to a great day of golf.

After nine holes of my round, I stood at the reception desk and asked, if there was any chance to get my money for the second nine holes back as I wanted to cancel my round. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a quitter, but what happened there today was the most horrifying experience I ever had on a golf course. And it was not the course (it really IS beautiful and challenging and in great shape - report to follow), it was me. I absolutely had no idea what I was doing out there. It started on the second hole, as I shanked THREE balls into the pond from 130 meters. A distance I normally cover with my 8 iron after seven pints of guiness in the middle of the night. But not today. It even got worse.

Nothing that I tried to get my swing back on track worked. Checked grip, stance, club selection, practise swing, nothing helped. I was only a passenger of my own golf game. Once I produced a somewhat solid shot, four bad shots would follow. On one hole I lost four balls alone!

That must have been the feeling Michael Campbell had when he withdrew from The Open midway through his second round at +27 or so.

Still, I reconsidered my thought of quitting the round an forced myself back on the 10th tee to continue my round. And all of sudden something like a swing returned. It still felt like a spare tyre, but it got me back in the drivers seat. Honestly, one par, three bogeys and five double-bogeys meant a huge improvement compared to the scores of the front nine.

I just hope that a round like that never returns. I was so appalled at myself for what I played today. Especially when you play a great course in excellent condition, you WANT to have your A game with you. It can only get better from here on!

The first german RE/MAX Long Drive Championships were a test for the competitors with heavy head winds (up to 36 km/h) and rain. Adam Stacey, already having scored a third place in the 2005 World Championships was able to shoot 320 m and was victorious over before Andreas Persson (317 m), followed by Niklas Fredrikson (313 m) and Dan Konyk (o.B.) in the LDE open class. The reigning European Champion Mikael Lindblohm (Sweden) wasn’t able to shoot a valid score and was out of the comptition after the final six.

Helena Rhodin (227 m) drove out Claudia Frohberger (204 m) and Gabriela Stockmann (190 m). In the LDE seniors class, Jesper Holstrup (204 m) was first before Wiro Nillesen (o.B.), Dr. Norbert Ritter (196 m) and Andreas Budeck (o.B.). In the german finals, Andreas Zürker (275) was before Luca Prahl (268 m), Timo Petrasch (290 m) and Pierre Binkowski (255).

(full fotoset on flickr!)

Wednesday, 22. July 2009
20:15 Eurosport, US PGA Tour, U.S. Bank Championship
21:15 Eurosport, Golf Club

I cannot stop being stunned by the views and sceneries from Turnberry. So rough, so pure. I mean there are lots of beautiful golf courses, but this one is a natural beauty with no need for makeup (like many american golf courses). This is the true evidence why Scotland is the home of golf.

Good morning, this is your Turnberry wether report today, the Open Golf Twitter feed reports:

Conditions for the players could not be easier just now. It is flat calm. I wonder if the wind will get up later.

Among the first players to go out on the course are Greg Norman and David Duval, fans are already out cheering for them.

The first birdie of the day was played by Mark O’Meara on the first hole, the first triple-bogey was contributed by former US Open Champion Michael Campbell.

Our Martin Kaymer won’t be out until 1pm UK time, so to kill the time you can listen to his pre-tournament interview. The Open live radio is also on air.

We will try to cover the tournament over at our twitter feed.

I bumped into more of the “Outside the Ropes” interviews on the PGA Tours Youtube-Channel, here are Retief Goosen, Justin Rose and Ian Poulter:

Link: www.youtube.com

Link: www.youtube.com

Link: www.youtube.com