If golf is part of your itinerary on your European vacation, you might to check out the spectacular Winston Golf Course complex, located close to Hamburg in Germany.
Winston Golf comprises two 18 hole championship courses: “The Open” course, and the very challenging “The Links” course.
Keep reading below for more details.
Getting to Winston Golf
The closest airport is Hamburg, which is serviced by many airlines including British Airways, Ryanair and Easyjet. Have a read of our blog article about finding budget ways to travel through Europe.
From Hamburg Airport, you’ll need a rental car. All the major rental car companies operate out of Hamburg Airport such as Avis, Hertz, Budget, SixT etc.
Once you have your rental car, then it’s an easy two hour drive towards Winston Golf. Be prepared for the “no speed limit” on the German motorways (“autobahns”), where you will be overtaken by drivers doing in excess of 125 miles per hour. It is perfectly legal to drive at any speed on many German motorways — the German Highway code translates to English as the following:
Any person driving a vehicle may only drive so fast that the car is under control. Speeds must be adapted to the road, traffic, visibility and weather conditions as well as the personal skills and characteristics of the vehicle and load.
Where to stay
The beautiful Schloss Basthorst hotel is a 10 minute drive from Winston Golf. Accommodation is across a number of buildings (including a castle), with rooms from around $100USD/night (including a delicious buffet breakfast).
The hotel has a fantastic spa service with beauty treatments and massages too.
TIP: their website is in German, but you just need to email them to request a booking (they will reply in English).
The golf courses
Winston Golf offers two challenging 18 hole courses.
“The Open” course is a more traditional style of course, whereas “The Links” course is a very challenging links style course (especially the front 9).
Winston Golf hosts the European Senior Tour.
Green fees are about $100USD.
Winston Golf offers an excellent practice facility, with a large natural grass practice range, multiple putting greens and large practice bunker and chipping areas. If you’re playing multiple days, you can also leave your golf clubs in the clubhouse.
Some photos of the Links Course are below:
And some photos of the Open Course:
Both Courses are simply spectacular. The Links course is particularly challenging. You will definitely need to use a GPS app to understand distances and hazard locations on the Links course. We used the Golfshot GPS app on our iPhone which was perfect in giving us exact yardages to the green, distance to carry hazards and to get an overall view of the hole before teeing off. You will however need data on your cell phone to use the Golfshot GPS app, and for that you can pick up a pre-paid German SIM Card here in the USA before you leave on your golfing vacation.
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