The Duke Club

Overview: The Duke Club’s 18-hole course lies on sandy ground near Nistelrode, moving through a mix of woodland, heathland and more open newly shaped areas. The old and new sections do not feel like separate courses: fast-running fairways, firm approaches, substantial bunkering and a handful of water features connect them into one modern championship routing. Alan Rijks’ work gives the course a clean strategic rhythm, with positional choices becoming more important as the holes move between trees and open ground. The setting is polished, but the underlying landscape remains recognisably Brabant.

History: The present course grew from an earlier nine-hole layout associated with the former Hooge Vorssel facility. The Van Eerd family commissioned Alan Rijks to renovate the original holes and extend the property to 18 holes. That work was completed in 2015, alongside a new clubhouse and the broader development of The Duke Club as a business and hospitality destination. The current 18-hole profile therefore dates from the completed Rijks renovation and expansion, not from the earlier nine-hole course.

Did You Know? The seventh hole is an island-style par three whose concept has been compared with the famous 17th at TPC Sawgrass. It is not a copy of that hole, but the reference reveals the design intention: a short hole where the target is visually simple, the surrounding hazard is decisive and a precise iron matters more than length.