Houtrak Golf Club (Noord/Zuid)

Overview: Located near Halfweg, between Amsterdam and Haarlem in the Netherlands, the Noord (North) and Zuid (South) nines at Houtrak Golf Club form an 18-hole parkland championship layout designed by Gerard Jol. Set on a flat, reclaimed polder landscape, the course features wide fairways, massive, interconnected water hazards, and large, subtly contoured greens. The course is heavily exposed to wind, demanding creative ground-game shots and precise trajectory control.

History: Opened in 1999, the course was built to provide a high-quality, championship-caliber venue in the Amsterdam metropolitan area. Jol utilized the massive drainage canals necessary for the polder to create a highly strategic, target-style test that has hosted multiple Dutch national amateur championships.

Did You Know? Because the course is built on a polder (land reclaimed from the sea), the entire facility sits significantly below sea level. The extensive network of water hazards is actively managed by a complex system of historic dikes and modern pumping stations.