Kennemer Golf & Country Club

Origins

Kennemer's story began away from its present Zandvoort site. The club was founded on 11 December 1910 during a meeting at Hotel Hartenlust in Bloemendaal, with Gérard Jan van der Vliet as its principal initiator and first chairman. A nine-hole course was quickly built at Santpoort opposite the Duin & Kruidberg estate, using two dune holes and seven holes through meadowland crossed by the Haarlem-Alkmaar railway.

The course and the converted Huis te Velsen clubhouse officially opened in the summer of 1911. Kennemer became a co-founder of the Nederlandsch Golf Comité in 1914, the organisation from which today's Royal Netherlands Golf Federation developed. The Santpoort property proved unsuitable for the club's long-term ambitions, however, and land supplied by the Quarles van Ufford and De Favauge families allowed a new course to be developed in the dunes at Zandvoort.

Design Philosophy

Harry Shapland Colt was commissioned to design the new 18-hole course at Zandvoort. P. Smits opened in spring 1928.

Colt's routing made use of the existing dune contours and exposed coastal setting rather than attempting to neutralise them. That remains central to the course's character: the club describes an open layout where the prevailing south-westerly wind, heavy rough and firm links surfaces have a substantial effect on play. Later course planning has deliberately referred back to Colt's principles.

In 2007 Frank Pont worked with Kennemer on a long-term plan intended to guide future alterations in the spirit of the original architecture.

Development

The Second World War caused the largest physical disruption in Kennemer's history. German forces requisitioned the course and clubhouse in 1942, constructed 121 bunkers and cut an anti-tank barrier through the property. After extensive damage, the course did not reopen until 1948, when it was restored as closely as practical to Colt's design.

A major expansion followed decades later: the Van Hengel Course A was completed in 1985, giving Kennemer three nine-hole loops and 27 holes in total. The historic nines are now identified as Pennink Course B and Colt Course C alongside Van Hengel Course A. Bunkers have been repositioned over time as playing distances changed, and the club has sought advice from architects including Donald Steel, Frank Pennink and Martin Hawtree.

Giulia Ferroni is now the club's regular course architect and supervises current alterations.

Recognition

Kennemer's role in Dutch tournament golf stretches back to its original Santpoort course, which hosted the Dutch Open in 1920. Across its history the club has staged 23 International Open Championships and five International Ladies Opens. Winners of Dutch Opens played at Kennemer include Seve Ballesteros, while more recent editions at the club included victories by Joost Luiten in 2013, Paul Casey in 2014 and Thomas Pieters in 2015.

Its combination of tournament history and surviving Colt architecture has made the club one of the most frequently documented historic courses in Dutch golf.

Today

Kennemer remains a private members' club that permits controlled visitor play rather than operating as a conventional public course. Visiting golfers must generally belong to a recognised golf club or association, demonstrate an exact handicap of 24 or better, contact the caddiemaster in advance and play only when club competitions and member demand permit. Visitor numbers are capped, and the course is reserved for members during specified periods.

The club maintains the 27-hole A, B and C configuration, a driving range, golf academy, shop and fitting services, together with its 1928 clubhouse and restaurant. Its course-management policy has increasingly reduced artificial inputs: the club states that it no longer uses artificial fertilisers or pesticides on fairways and greens and limits summer irrigation in keeping with firm-running links conditions.