A continued blog piece to coincide with our filming releases in The Netherlands…

in partnership with

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Prelude – Rye

Regular listeners of our podcast will know that a trip to the Netherlands to play golf has been a long term aspiration for the Cookie Jar Boys. In Sam’s case, it might be better described as a borderline unhealthy obsession, prompting more than the occasional outburst about how great it would be to see ‘The Old 9’ – the oldest clubs in the Netherlands, many of which were designed by the great H.S. Colt – soak in some Dutch culture, and enjoy a ‘shmoke and a pancake’ (said in his best Austin Powers’ Goldmember accent).

So it was with a great sense of anticipation that our tour finally arrived. After the disastrous KLM debacle (of which more can be heard in the first episode of the Tour Diaries podcast on the 31st Jan), we had decided that driving to the Netherlands via Folkestone and the Eurotunnel would be the most prudent option. Admittedly, there had been some back and forth between Bruce and Sam over the merits of this method of travel – mostly due to Bruce repeatedly making the mistake of referring to it as a ‘ferry’ rather than a train, and Sam understandably concerned about the possibility of spending 8 hours quite literally at sea. But once these minor failings of vocabulary were resolved, the team soon realised that there were several clear advantages to driving. One being that significantly more equipment and general ‘clobber’ could be taken, and perhaps an even greater advantage being that we could begin our journey at the place where Harry Shapland Colt’s career in golf truly started – Rye. 

The coat hangers at Rye: some of the best in the business

Tom and Sam hit the road from Blackwell at circa 9.30am, arriving in good time to enjoy a couple of glasses of white wine while sitting in Darwin’s chair, soaking in the history on display in the clubhouse. Unsurprisingly, Bruce arrived fashionably late, blaming the central London traffic which is notoriously bad on a Wednesday lunchtime. Stepping onto the tee just after 3pm, we enjoyed a brisk ‘Rye-some’ in under 2.5hrs – taking it in turns to play 6 holes as a single versus the other pair as a foursome, and adding up one’s combined stableford points. With light fading on the 15th green, Bruce and Sam were level pegging on 28 points. Despite calls from the patrons to continue play, an honourable half was agreed.

Rye: 3rd Green

The initial plan was to have a relaxing evening in Rye and then bunk down at the Travelodge in Folkestone, so we could catch the Eurotunnel at circa 5am the following morning. Whether it was the magnificent autumn afternoon we enjoyed at Rye, the pep talk over dinner from Friend of the Jar Oliver Daws, or Bruce’s sudden burst of energy after consuming an unconscionable amount of sugar for dessert, we don’t know, but it was quickly decided that we should catch an earlier train and drive as close to the Dutch border as we could manage. Ghent was targeted as the suitable choice and so, to quote Roy Orbison, we drove all night…

Healthy eating in the jar

Day 1 – Eindhovensche Golf

Ghent: a far cry from the medievalist architecture we had envisaged

Reaching Ghent after 3am and pulling into a full hotel carpark – seemingly the result of our hotel playing host to Belgium’s largest technology conference – we quickly made our way to our room, desperate for some shut-eye. 6 hours of sleep in a room touching 40 degrees centigrade wasn’t ideal, but our day-1-of-tour enthusiasm remained high and we made our way downstairs to the breakfast buffet. After being told that three coffees, two bowls of cereal, an omelet and some toast wasn’t, in fact, included in the room rate and would cost us an additional €95, Sam entered into his first negotiation of the tour. After very little persuasion, the restaurant waiter soon informed us that he would be willing to accept €40 in cash if we gave it to him while no one else was watching. Begrudgingly, we obliged, and made the final hour’s drive to Eindhovensche Golf.

We arrived on a sunny autumn morning at Eindhoven to be greeted by our first host, Cees. Cees has become a good friend of ours from playing foursomes matches between the Wigorns and the Foursomes Club of Holland, and he’s also the current Chairman of Sustainable Golf at the R&A. Striding towards us dressed immaculately in jacket and tie, Cees gave us his customary warm handshake and eagerly beckoned us toward the club he has called home for many years.

The first car park of the tour certainly didn’t disappoint. The state of the art practice facilities are immediately noticeable on your left as you drive in (more on those later), and a collection of thatched buildings lead towards the main clubhouse. With an enormous club flag whipping away in the wind, it felt like the tour had begun in earnest. 

With most of the day still ahead of us, we enjoyed a short tour of the club’s history from Cees and then headed to the terrace. The terrace really is one of the great spots in Dutch golf, an area that looks out across the 1st and 9th holes, with the large lake shimmering in autumnal sun. In fact, the lake is still used for winter pastimes in colder months when it has frozen over, and looking directly out across to the far side you can faintly make out the 16th green in the distance.

Bruce was fatigued, Tom was busy with the drone, and Sam was desperate to sample the local cuisine. Some cold refreshing Heinekens were ordered, along with a coffee, some croquettes and other fine Dutch fare.

Bitterballen: MVP of the tour

Thanks to its natural, woodland setting, the course at Eindhoven enjoys peaceful seclusion from the industrial city which is just over 5 km away but this tranquility doesn’t mean long, arduous transitions between holes which break the flow of the routing. You could easily fit two or three courses on this site but, to the credit of Eindhoven’s members, Colt’s vision remains intact – indeed, all 18 of the original Colt greens have been largely untouched.

The first plays away from the house and slightly uphill, and is followed by one of the standout holes of the entire tour – the short par four-second is a gentle dogleg with severe undulations and bunkering which make this a classic risk-reward decision.

There’s wonderful variety here at Eindhoven: short holes with intricate greens, as well as longer, challenging tests which demand two powerful strikes through the corridors of burnt orange and red foliage which frame each hole. The club has recently undergone significant tree removal to open-up some of the wonderful vistas, improve the playing surfaces and (hopefully) regenerate the heather – you can be sure that Eindhoven will keep going from strength to strength.

Bruce was clearly quite jaded from driving through the night – later stating that he felt as if “his face was about to slip off his head” with tiredness – manifesting itself in several one-handed finishes which can be seen in the footage leaving his partner Cees responsible for bringing the competition against Sam & Tom who were balancing their duties as DOP & Assistant DOP respectively. 

A three putt par on the par 5 9th by Sam played back into the clubhouse meant the Anglo-Dutch combo of Fitzpatrick & Collart were 1up heading into the back 9. The match was close and there was never more than one in it, until Sam & Tom began to dovetail quite remarkably. When one was rustling around in the foliage, the other was on the green and this led to a flurry of pars and birdies. Bruce & Cees had no reply to the birdies on holes 14, 15 and 17 and with that, the match was swiftly over. 

The famous ‘bitterballen’ and some cold beers followed on the terrace – with the tourists slowly slipping into continental customs; drinking beers in smaller ‘demi’ measures – before a short loop around the 5 hole short course and a tour of the state of the art performance centre. This is the product of a wealthy member who wanted to do something to promote the junior game and nurture talent. This building located away from the clubhouse and tucked away on the left as you drive in is simply magnificent. A two tier driving range (seemingly very popular in The Ntherlands), a gym, indoor short game area, outdoor chipping and short game area, several bays all equipped with Trackman and the latest biomechanic technology, as well as indoor simulators… They even have an area for kids to complete their studies upstairs. Be under no illusion, this really is state of the art. No stone was left unturned!

And to cap off a glorious first day, we took refuge in the clubs’ committee room with Cees to record a podcast and enjoyed some dinner whilst meeting a group of the regular gang that roll up on a Wednesday. The podcast with Cees is a great discussion on all things sustainability in the R&A. Concepts like wet and dry greenkeeping and their individual merits were all a revelation as well as the fact that you can have sustainable agronomy in the middle east – who would have thought!

Cees Collart: Head of Sustainable Golf at The R&A

A full day of Eindhoven, spirits were in the sky, we had arrived in the Netherlands and the tour we had been so excited about for so long was finally here. Only a short 50 minute drive to the student city of Utrecht where things were about to get worse…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKV11Ui2a1Y