About an hour‘s drive away from Gut Kaden was my next destination. The „Gut Apeldör“ Golf course and the accompanying little hotel are just soo sweet. And that’s already without it’s super good restaurant! I am really not in this region alot, but would have never expected a course that good in such an extreme condition. Gut Apeldör is literally brilliant and so much fun to play. The quality of the greens is marvelous and the fairways are super juicy, even though summer had been raging up here in the north of Germany. Generally speaking the whole club is beautiful and wonderfully integrated into the amazing natural geest landscape that is so typical for this part of Europe.

The 18-hole Championship course, called „Big Apple“ is always considered among the the Top50 courses in Germany, right now even ranking 14th! On top of that the club offers a public 9-hole course named „Big 9“, which is rather rare in Germany, especially since it‘s almost as demanding as „Big Apple“. Another great thing to mention are the pratice facilities.

The driving range is one of the best I‘ve seen with multiple greens for players of every ability to get their aiming dialed in. What’s also really cool are the stadium lights for number 10 and 18.

Why is something that amazing only available once in Germany? That way people my age with little time on their hands could easily play a couple of holes in the later evening after work.

Here’s a couple of hard facts:

The green fee for Big Apple‘s a standard 69€ and ten bucks more on weekends and holidays – ten bucks less, if you‘re a hotel guest though. Big 9 is only 30 euros plus five more for the earlier mentioned busier days. I wanna really recommend this place guys!

Everything here is grade A. Every bunker, every green, every tee box. All super well maintained! And what’s really cool is the variety and the diverse layout of the Apeldör Big Apple Championship Course.

Hole number two, for example. All of a sudden you’re standing in a fairway that’s really undulating and bumpy. It instantly reminded me of a true Scottish links course, especially when the wind kicked in. A couple of holes later, you get to play the 6th. A real banger with a group of bunkers that are nicely placed behind and in front of a little hill. If you manage to hit the top of that hill with your tee shot, you are probably standing in the highest place the whole region has to offer. Altitude wise.

Generally big groups of bunkers, making your life hell, are the big theme on Big Apple. Especially striking is the bunker on the 9th, which isn‘t only nice to look at with its integrated sleeper. On the back nine you’re gonna see more and more water. Basically on every hole.

And you might end up struggling with the strongly bending doglegs. Another special on the back nine is the bunker on No.12. Oh, and the little manmade bird‘s nest in the shape of a light house on 17. Overall Apeldör is a great and healthy facility that left me deeply impressed. Mainly because of its special northern German hospitality and its variety in the course design. Please definitly keep this place in mind for your next trip to the north of Germany, because Big Apple and Big Nine are big time! Have fun!