Koninklijke Haagsche Golf & Country Club (Royal Hague)

Overview: At Wassenaar, the Royal Hague’s current 18-hole course uses the natural relief of the Mijendel dunes to create a distinctly undulating round. The club describes each hole as offering a different view and challenge, while its course guide identifies Harry Colt and Charles Hugh Alison as the designers, with Alison responsible for most of the work. The sandy ground, rolling dune ridges and carefully retained landscape shape the strategy: lies are rarely uniform, and the player must judge how the ground will influence both approach and recovery. The target is the Wassenaar course, rather than the club’s earlier sites in The Hague.

History: The club was founded in 1893 and is the oldest golf club in the Netherlands, but that is not the opening date of today’s course. The current Wassenaar property was built in 1938 for Daniel Wolf and acquired by the Haagsche after the Second World War; the club moved there in 1947. Colt, Alison & Morrison Ltd designed the course, and the club guide notes that Alison carried most of the design responsibility. The club’s earlier nine-hole course at Clingendael and later 18-hole course near Waalsdorperweg were separate routings, so their dates should not be attached to the present 18 holes.

Did You Know? The Royal Hague’s current identity joins two histories: a club founded in The Hague in the nineteenth century and a dune course created in Wassenaar before the club moved there. The landform remains central to the experience, with the course guide describing a naturally undulating dune landscape and a distinct view from every hole. The word ‘Royal’ was granted in 1993, the club’s centenary, and is part of the later name rather than the original 1893 title. This chronology helps explain why course histories sometimes report 1893, 1938 and 1947: each date refers to a different milestone.