Golfbaan Stippelberg - Championship course

Overview: Stippelberg’s Championship Course is an inland links-style layout south of the Stippelberg nature area in Gemert-Bakel. The course was built on former farmland and uses a large quarry lake, reshaped sand and restored heathland to create movement where the agricultural site had been flattened. Water and exposed sandy ground are recurring strategic features, while the bunker forms draw on classic heathland examples from Britain. The 18-hole course is the centrepiece of a 27-hole complex that also includes an Executive Course and extensive practice ground.

History: The first construction work for the complex began in 2009. The Executive Course entered play in 2010, while the Championship Course opened in 2011, with the remaining nine holes brought into use in March of that year. The design was led by Michiel van der Vaart with Philip Spogard and Gerard Jol. Their plan used the quarry and the site’s sandy subsoil as primary design materials rather than treating them as obstacles to hide.

Did You Know? Stippelberg takes its name from the old drifting dunes that once marked the estate like small spots or “stippels.” The course deliberately brings that lost landscape back into view: earth was moved to rebuild dune-like forms, while the quarry lake records the industrial history of the ground beneath the fairways.