What’s in a reputation? At this week’s Solheim Cup within the Netherlands, the query provides us lots to unpack.
The host venue is Bernardus Golf, a reputation that’s notable for what’s not in it. No point out of “membership.” No reference to “course.”
Robert van der Wallen, the Dutch entrepreneur who developed Bernardus, got down to create an upscale members’ enclave with out the starchy trappings of a rustic membership. He needed the property to really feel unique. He didn’t need it to be off limits. So he omitted “membership,” with its closed-circle connotations. And he overlooked “course,” with its utilitarian implications. What remained — Bernardus Golf — has the ring of a life-style model, an expertise anybody can entry.
And, it seems, anybody can.
For €255 (about $295) throughout peak season — the speed drops to €195 ($225) within the low season — non-members can turn out to be members for a day, with limitless entry to the course, the short-game space and observe vary, in addition to a sauna, spa and different non-golf extras.
“The entire place very a lot smells like exclusivity,” minus the fuss, stated Jan Swinkels, a member who lives 5 minutes from Bernardus. He joined for the proximity. But additionally for the perks.
Bernardus, which opened in 2018, is anchored by a Kyle Phillips-designed heathland course that hosted the Dutch Open from 2021 via 2023. (Phillips’ different notable tasks embody Kingsbarns in Scotland and the restoration of the Cal Membership, south of San Francisco.) Circumstances are pristine and trendy drainage permits for year-round play, preserving the grounds agency, Swinkels says, when different programs within the area flip squishy.
One other plus: Even with outdoors entry, the tee sheet is uncluttered. For the membership’s 300 members (roughly half are company memberships, the opposite half are people), Swinkels says it’s by no means onerous to land a time. Carts are permitted, however most golfers stroll. There are two consolation stations, at holes 8 and 13, the place many gamers cease for sandwiches and wine, maintaining a tally of TV displays that present when different teams are approaching. For company, the on-course food and drinks is included within the pay-to-play.
If all this smacks of high-end resort golf, you’re not far off. Bernardus has in a single day lodging — a boutique lodge with eight double rooms — and a Michelin-star restaurant, Noble Kitchen, serving a refined six-course menu. Among the many labels on the wine record are vintages from Bernardus Vineyard in Carmel Valley, Calif. — a vineyard Van der Wallen now owns, although he didn’t discovered it. Credit score for that goes to Bernardus Pon, a Dutch Olympian skeet shooter and race automotive driver who turned to rising grapes after many years of dominating on the observe. Pon established the vineyard in 1989; Van der Wallen grew to become an investor within the enterprise and took it over after Pon’s loss of life in 2019.
By then, Van der Wallen had already lower the ribbon on a golf property half a world away, naming it in honor of his pal and vineyard companion.
Bernardus Golf. It’s effectively branded, which isn’t any shock, on condition that Van der Wallen constructed his fortune founding a worldwide advertising and marketing agency referred to as Model Loyalty. The Solheim Cup is simply including luster to the title.
