Amsterdam Old Course

The restored second green in front of the club house

View from the tee of the second hole

Overview of holes 1,2 and 9 that will be rebuilt

View from the clubhouse on building work hole 2

View on the newly constructed green of hole 3

The rebirth of a late Colt / Alison course in the Netherlands

Amsterdam Old Course was the last course that Colt & Co built in the Netherlands before Royal Hague. In both cases Hugh Alison was the lead man doing the design, given that Colt wasn't traveling anymore, and Morrison was busy in Germany.

The course originally was 18 holes but over the years the adjacent railways confiscated more and more of the terrain, resulting in the current rather small footprint, just barely allowing for 9 holes. The other issue of the course is that it is built below sea level on a very deep layer of peat, making the soil very unstable and prone to sinking, resulting is very wet playing conditions in the winter.

Some years ago the club struck an agreement with the Dutch Soil Bank, which allowed the club to rebuild and at the same time raise the complete golf course by 2 meters. This permitted a new course that would be dry in the winter and at the same time introduced some interesting undulations in the various fairways. The club consiously made the decission to get the original greens surveyed and subsequently rebuilt exactly as they were.

Work is being carried out by contractor AH De Man, and given the limited financial possibilities of the club IVGD is assisting AOC on this project on a pro bono basis.