Golf in Flanders DID YOU KNOW… Part 2
FA C T S A N D F I G U R E S A B O U T G O L F I N F L A N D E R S
THE REGION IN AND AROUND ANTWERP
Golf in Flanders DID YOU KNOW…
THE NAME ANTWERP COMES FROM THE LEGEND OF THE GIANT ANTIGOON WHO TERRORISED SAILORS AND ASKED FOR TOLL. HE WAS BEATEN BY THE ROMAN SILVIUS BRABO WHO CUT OF AND THREW (WERP) HIS HAND IN THE RIVER SCHELDE. ONE OF THE MAJOR PORTS IN EUROPE, ANTWERP IS A COSMOPOLITAN AND INTERNATIONAL CITY.
ANTWERP BUSTLING PORT AND CITY WITH CULTURAL INFLUENCES FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD.
ROYAL ANTWERP GOLF CLUB SECOND OLDEST CLUB ON THE CONTINENT
CLEYDAEL GOLF & COUNTRY CLUB BUILT AROUND A 14TH CENTURY MOATED CASTLE AND 10 MIN FROM THE CENTRE
RINKVEN G&CC 36 HOLES BUILT ON SANDY SOIL IN THE MIDDLE OF PINE FOREST
TERNESSE GOLF RECENTLY REDESIGNED AND 10 MIN FROM CENTRAL ANTWERP


PART 2 IN AND AROUND ANTWERP GOLFINFLANDERS.COM
Did you know that after Bruges’ access to the sea became restricted, Antwerp took over as trading capital of Europe. In the 1500s Antwerp was the sugar capital of the world where imports from Spanish and Portuguese run sugar plantations got refined and traded and hence, Antwerp became the ‘richest city’ in Europe with a fully functioning ‘bourse’ or money exchange. At the beginning of the 16th century, Antwerp was responsible for 40% of the world trade ! Did you know that the Royal Antwerp Golf Club, founded in 1888, is the second oldest golf club on the European continent after Pau. The club started on a military domain near the city but had to move when Antwerp expanded outside it’s city walls. They managed to buy 40 hectares North of the city where Willy Park Jr. designed a golf course. The club added 30 more hectares and in 1928, Tom Simpson redesigned the whole layout to what it currently is. The bunker on hole 4 is the crater of a V2 bomb impact in 1944.
Did you know that Cleydael Golf Club is named after the 14th century castle near Aartselaar. The name is derived from the Clay found in the region famous for its red brick baking. Above the entrance the latin verse ‘ex valle pinguedo’ translates as the Valley of the Clay. It’s a square 4 tower fortified and moated castle. Famous guest were Cromwell and the Duke of Alva. The 16th century outhouses are now used as the clubhouse for the Cleydael Golf Club. It’s an 18 hole championship course laid out partly within the old park and adjacent farmland and hosted the European Ladies Tour in the 90s and recently a Belgian Challenge tour event. Did you know that North of the city, in the sandy pine forests of the ‘Kempen’ a couple of Antwerp businessmen decided to start a golf club. These were the 80’s and there was a real golf boom going on in Belgium. The Rinkven G&CC now has 36 mature golf holes meandering through gentle swaying pine trees. It hosted the European Amateur Championship won by Marcus Thorp with Joost Luiten and Rory McIlroy joined 4th and a Belgian Challenge tour event with Lee Slattery as winner. Did you know that Ternesse Golf Club, founded in 1971, was laid out in the grounds of the Ternesse Castle, the foundations upon which the current clubhouse sits. The 27 hole complex is a real members club and prides itself on having the ‘cosiest’ club house in Antwerp. Following an extensive renovation whereby the course was rerouted and all green complexes upgraded, the course is ready for the next phase. Did you know that around Antwerp there is also Bossenstein Golf Club, again laid out around a medieval castle and the 9-hole Beveren Golf Club, next to the port extension on the left bank of the river Schelde.


Did you know that Antwerp's towering architectural monument is the Gothic Cathedral of Notre Dame, with a spire 400 feet high. Construction started in 1352 and completed nearly 200 years later. The largest cathedral in Belgium, it contains two of the finest works of Pieter Paul Rubens (1577– 1640), The Raising of the Cross and The Descent from the Cross. The Church of St. James (15th–16th centuries), where Rubens is buried, and the churches of St. Paul (16th century) and St. Augustine (17th century) are decorated in baroque style. Did you know that Antwerp is known as the Diamond Capital of the World; more than half of all diamonds sold in the world pass through the four block diamond district there. So, you probably didn’t know that there is more to Flanders than chocolates and beer ? There is plenty of excellent golf, abundant
restaurants and bars but indulging in the chocolates and having a beer once in a while is for sure not a bad thing. Did you know that golfinflanders.com is the reference for golf tourism in Flanders. Promoted via the European Golf & Travel Media Association, the aim is to convince European golfers to consider Flanders as an alternative golf destination.
Golf in Flanders Did you know …
E U R O P E A N G O L F & T R AV E L M E D I A A S S O C I AT I O N W W W. E G T M A . C O M - I N F O @ E G T M A . C O M