Frankfurter GC | Golficiency

Frankfurter Golfclub, once a year tradition.

Posted on 26 July 201827 March 2019 by Alexander Rose

Once a year I play Frankfurter Golfclub, the poshest club around my place, that’s my rule. It’s a great course, manicured, designed by the famous Bernhard von Limburger and always well maintained. Even when the sun is burning everything else to death.

I played a tournament here and I really enjoyed it again here. Well, first I hated it, then I loved it.

For the first three holes I had to pick up the ball. No score possible. Total crap what I played but I remained calm. My playing partners began to whisper about me and they looked concerned but hey, it was a Friday, it was sunny, I was on a great golf course, I just wanted to have some little fun.

And the fun came later. After the 3 holes on which I had to pick up the ball I played really decent golf. On the remaining 15 holes I guess I a couple of bogeys, a couple of pars and just maybe two doubles.

I went home with a smile.

Blogger meeting at picturesque Frankfurt Golf Club

Posted on 2 August 20153 August 2015 by Alexander Rose

For two years I’m living in Frankfurt again after my time in London and since then I didn’t manage to play the best course in the region for a second time. A bit stupid, especially because the Frankfurt Golf Club is just 15 minutes from my place. To be fair it’s a bit tricky to get on the course on the weekend as they only allow guests who are invited by members. Yes, the Frankfurt Golf Club is one those elite clubs who seem to be stuck in time, but on the flip-side it’s one of the best courses in Germany. So what do you do, exactly, you take a day off on a Friday because the course is absolutely worth it.

As a matter of fact it wasn’t my own idea to play there on that particular day. Fellow golf blogger Andreas (Reisegolfer, http://www.spieltgolf.de) planned a small golf tour and the FGC was on his list too. So he asked me if I would like to join him and no question I was in. Always good to meet a colleague and if it’s possible to combine that with playing a top-notch golf course, what else would you do?

We met up on a Friday, had a 8.30h tee time and the day promised to become fantastic.

The club was founded in 1913 and therefore is one of the oldest in Germany. After an initial 9-hole setting it was completed in the late 1920s by Harry Colt and John Morrison. It is a classic parkland course and pretty much looks like the famous heathland courses in Surrey, south-west of London. If you want to compare the style to another German course, it’s probably pretty similar to another great German golf course, Hamburg Golf Club. This doesn’t surprise at all as the north German gem also is a product of Harry Colt and John Morrison during the late 1920s. So it’s no coincidence that both courses feature a similar style, comparable routing and bunkering. And it’s most likely the reason that Frankfurt Golf Club still ranks so high in the course lists although it’s too short nowadays to host a professional tour event. Couple of years ago the German Open regularly teed up here.

But those days are gone. Today the FGC is a club focussing on members, some guests, the FGC teams playing in the highest country leagues, youth support and to maintain their great course and the heritage around it to the biggest extent possible. Top nobs meet up on the beautiful sun terrace after a round, green keepers do everything to create a true masterpiece of a classic golf course delight and players of all age enjoy a great day on the course.

The FGC is just minutes south of the Frankfurt city centre, almost halfway between the city and the airport. With this you obviously have to expect some air traffic over the course which is a bit unfortunate but after all it’s not that big of a deal that you would be disturbed in any way.

The weather on this day has been excellent and the sun came out on our first holes. So we had a great course in impeccable condition, fantastic sunshine and obviously enjoyed the round during which we discussed course characteristics, other global golf destinations as well as the overall golf media landscape. As Andreas has seen and played so many course all over the world he seemed to have a story for almost every course we discussed. What a blessed lifestyle to collect golf courses! I guess I have to reduce my time in the office from now on…

And by the way, the Frankfurt Golf Club is definitely a recommendation to play if you have the chance. As the classic parkland course it is you don’t find any crazy architectural gimmick, just pure golf history. Greens and fairways and the course in general have been in excellent condition, the staff is very friendly, routing doesn’t get boring and the facilities are fine. So I would rate it with a good 7/10 points.

Photo credits: Reisegolfer, http://www.spieltgolf.de

Ball Showcase: Frankfurt Golf Club

Posted on 2 November 20142 November 2014 by Alexander Rose

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It’s been a while ago that I played the Frankfurt Golf Club but I remember that was a very fine day. I was invited to a BMW tournament which was hosted at this premier Frankfurt course. The club is somewhat the poshest you’ll find in the area and becoming a member there is both tricky and expensive. I wouldn’t go so far and say that I’d prefer being a member here, but the course is a pretty parkland-styled layout by Harry S. Colt, the teams are very, very good and get well supported by the club. It’s not normal that a golf team has one million Euro in the back to spend over a year only for training, equipment, travel, clothing and stuff. So it’s fair to say the Frankfurt GC members care for their teams.

In terms of course, as I already mentioned the course is a classic parkland. It is situated south-west of the city-centre, between downtown and the football arena or the airport and features a lot of forest. And this is basically what the course looks like. It’s a Wentworth-style I’d say, fairly straight holes, little bunkering when I remember correctly but trees wherever you look. So it’s the long and straight drive you are after standing on the tee. If you can’t do that, leave the big sticks at home.

Overall it is a great place to spend the day. This club is members only on weekends, so it’s pretty tough to get to play unless you know some people which invite you as guests. I keep my fingers crossed this will happen next year.

The club hosted some remarkable tournaments over the last decades: German Masters, German Open, International Amateur Championships, etc.

More information: http://www.fgc.de

BMW golf cup international… what a day!

Posted on 4 June 201119 October 2015 by Alexander Rose

today was a wonderful day! not only because i had a day off and we had the most beautiful weather ever, but because i had the rare chance to play the BMW golf cup international in the most famous and elite golf club in frankfurt.

i was looking forward to this day like months. and yes, the waiting was totally worth it. everything today was kinda perfect: the sun was shining all the time, the course is a real must-play, a gorgeous venue for this tournament, catering at the half-way-house or in the club house was delicious, the club with all its facilities is just amazing and the BMW organization was absolutely brilliant!!

the course and the club made such a good impression, that i really consider a membership. it’s very expensive, yes, but where in the region can you get such combination of perfect course, perfect organization, perfect member’s attitude and real nice club house facilities. just to give you an example, the free towels in the shower room have an embroidered FGC on them, same as all the dinner plates and cutlery that had the club logo printed or engraved. just marvelous! i like that. i don’t know why.

at 1pm we had a shotgun start and there were two gentlemen joining my group. we had real fun! not because of the good strokes but we just enjoyed the day and ourselves. we were getting along with each such good, that we exchanged email-addresses and planned to play some more rounds together in the near future.

after the game, some cool fresh-up in the shower room and some severe up-dressing, we enjoyed a perfect three-course dinner with the best roast beef i’ve ever tasted so far. the wine flowed freely and i had no reason to go back home really :)

to sum up: frankfurter golf club is a really nice course to play golf! it’s very upperclass, yes, but when you can cope with that, you’re in love with this place, i can assure you! you definitely should consider a round here. required minimum handicap is 28 and weekend play is only possible as a member’s registered guest; that’ the downside.

i made some photos for you, maybe you can grasp the beauty of the course, which is a huge parkland area in the woods of frankfurt-niederrad. have a look: