Photo of WINSTONgolf (Open course)

WINSTONgolf

Kranichweg 1,

Vorbeck, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern D-19065

  • Office

    +49 (0)3860 5020
  • Pro shop

    +49 (0)3860 5020
  • Fax

    +49 (0)3860 50 22 22
  • Golf pro

    Stephan Peters (PGA Professional).

About the course

  • The Course:

    18 holes. Open and tree-lined parkland. Undulating terrain - several slopes to climb.

  • Surroundings:

    Woodland & open countryside.

  • Designer:

    Holger Rengstorf

Back
tees
Club
tees
Front
tees
Metres
6284
5537
5011
Par
72
72
72
SSS or slope
73.8
70.2
73.1

At the same location:

Above distances are for the WINSTONopen course. Also at WINSTONgolf is the 18-hole WINSTONlinks course (par-72, 6459 m from back tees, course rating 76.3) and the nine-hole WINSTONkranich course (par-27, 824 m).

Location

Latitude:

53.653833

Longitude:

11.595601

How to get there:

3 km NE of Gneven / 18 km E of Schwerin.

WINSTONgolf (Open course)

4-PLUS: Must play course - excellent standard; worthy of 4½ stars.

Est. 2001

WINSTONopen course at WINSTONgolf: Set a few kilometres east of the Schweriner See (a large natural lake), here at WINSTONgolf you will find two excellent and very contrasting 18-hole courses. The David Krause designed WINSTONlinks course typically steals top honours, but our favourite was the smoother-lined and enjoyably testing WINSTONopen course.

Unlike its more "contrived" links-style stablemate, the parkland WINSTONopen course gracefully glides across pleasantly undulating terrain, with one excellent golf hole following another. The gently rolling good-width fairways lead you to individually sculpted, well protected greens.

Wonderfully natural and expansively laid out, this impressive, modern and predominantly open parkland course benefits from an excellently crafted layout. Good-width rolling fairways and a generous band of first cut rough, ensures you're given plenty of width from the tee. The smooth lines of the Open course contrast markedly with the sharp pyramid-shaped dunes on the Links.

Water comes into play on a few holes, most notably greenside at the tightish par-5 1st, and then more threateningly on your drive and approach at the dog-legging second. The closing pair also bring water into play, as does the par-3 7th, with a stony brook to be cleared in front of the green.

Pick of the holes: the par-3 4th plays downhill from a crow's nest tee, with two railway-sleepered bunkers guarding the front of the green. Railway sleepers again feature in the large fairway bunker at 18. Your approach at the last needs to clear a good size pond in front of the green, where you putt out in full view of the "gallery" on the clubhouse terrace.

List of courses: Germany - North

Visitors

Who can play and when?

Visitors welcome on weekdays and weekends.

Must book in advance. Maximum handicap: 45 men & women.

Green fees

Visitor fee, 18-holes in high season (mid-March thru' Oct) on the Open course: €120 (all days). Links course €160.

Contact club for full details, discounts, Stay&Play packages (with partner hotels), etc. [Last updated: 2023].

Other information

Players generally walk this course. Golf carts available for hire (but they are not allowed on the Links course).

Practice facilities

Excellent

Did you know?

The Open and Links courses at WINSTONgolf have hosted numerous top level tournaments, including the European Senior Tour's WINSTONgolf Senior Open; see WINSTONopen tournament venue

Discounted green fees are available to guests staying at any of the three WINSTONgolf partner hotels: Gut Vorbeck, which almost sits alongside the 13th hole of WinstonLinks; the 100-room Schloss Basthorst, located 15-minutes drive from the golf, and the historic castle hotel of Schloss Kaarz, which offers a truly high-end experience, whether you're golfing, dining or simply relaxing.

WINSTONgolf is the vision of Wijnand Pon, the son of Dutch automotive entrepreneur Bernardus Marinus "Ben" Pon Sr. Wijnand's late brother Ben Pon Jr was also much into golf, and created the Bernardus golf facility in the Netherlands.

The club logo features a pair of cranes (in German, kranich). These large, long-legged and long-necked birds are quite commonly seen in this area.

Published ranking

Open course:
Germany's 25th best course (Golf World, 2022).
Continental Europe's 195th best course (Golf World, 2023).

Where2Stay

  • Schloss Basthorst4-star

    Schlossstrasse 18, OT Basthorst, D-19089 Crivitz, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.

    +49 (0)3863 52 50

    Visit website

    The Schloss Basthorst hotel includes 92 guest rooms and suites, in which historic charm is combined with modern chic. Here you can enjoy fabulous culinary creations in two restaurants, while the 1,300 m² spa includes a swimming pool, sun terrace, sauna, massages and numerous spa treatments. The bar and wine cellar also await, together with eight spacious conference and banqueting rooms. The large outdoor terraces are ideal vantage points from which to view the English Park, which sweeps down to Lake Glambeck.

    • Golf at this hotel:

      No

    • Golf within 10 km:

      WINSTONgolf (Links, Open and 9-hole Kranich courses).

    • Golf within 30 km:

      No

  • Hotel Gut Vorbeck4-star

    An der Warnow, 19065 Gneven, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.

    +49 (0)3860 502 996

    Visit website

    The Hotel Gut Vorbeck, with 19 guest rooms and one suite, is located in close proximity to the 13th hole of the WINSTONlinks golf course. On the banks of the rippling river Warnow and just over half a mile from the golf clubhouse, the relaxed atmosphere of this luxury hotel awaits. In addition to the lovingly decorated rooms and a cosy café, the Gut Vorbeck estate also offers riding stables, bicycles and a canoeing boathouse, from which to discover Mecklenburg’s untamed wilderness.

    • Golf at this hotel:

      WINSTONgolf (Links, Open and 9-hole Kranich courses).

    • Golf within 10 km:

      No

    • Golf within 30 km:

      No

Find a course

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Tournaments

Ryder Cup: Rome plays host to the first ever Ryder Cup to be staged in Italy, with the USA defending golf’s greatest team trophy at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club (Sept 29-Oct 1).

Solheim Cup: also in September, also in southern Europe, the 18th Solheim Cup will be contested at Finca Cortesin on the Costa del Sol, with Europe defending after their surprise win in Toledo, Inverness Club (Ohio) in 2021 (Sept 22-24). 

Who's Who

Céline Boutier: with many successes as both an amateur and professional golfer, Boutier added a major championship title to her impressive résumé at this year’s Evian Championship.

Alex Cejka: buffeted by rain and high winds, especially on the high-scoring final day, Čejka prevailed over Pádraig Harrington in a playoff at Royal Porthcawl, to scoop the Senior Open Championship title.

Marco Simone Golf & Country Club

Marco Simone Golf & Country Club: With a clubhouse that might befit a Roman Emperor, and a golf course to match, you can be sure of a memorable outing at Rome's most talked about golf facility.

Jim Fazio's original layout was much changed to create a modern Ryder Cup course ... now one of the Eternal City's (and Italy's) most revered.

Prince's Golf Club, Kent (UK)

Here at Prince’s Golf Club you'll find 27 excellent holes of links golf. Just over the fence and sharing similar terrain is Royal St George’s; but Prince’s is far from overshadowed by its venerable neighbour. The three nine-hole loops at Prince's, laid out over gently undulating terrain, are sure to bring a smile of satisfaction to all lovers of links golf.

Stay&Play at Prince's: excellent onsite Lodge accommodation available

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