Golfbaan Stippelberg

Golfbaan Stippelberg: located 25 km northeast of Eindhoven, this modern championship layout now enjoys "must play" status in the Netherlands. The course sits below the old Stippelberg estate and adjacent to a more recent sand and gravel quarry. Comprising two nine-hole loops (and a nine-hole executive course), the heathland layout was crafted onto an area that was originally a mix of open heath and farmland.

With its sandy soil base, this relatively open course is imbued with many natural heathland traits. There's plenty of heather and gorse to be avoided, as well as large sand-faced bunkers, which pose a significant threat on your approaches to most greens ... not least at the par-3s. The greens themselves have a distinctly roller-coaster character.

The back-nine continues the open heathland theme, with good-width gently-rolling fairways throughout. For this inward half, the flat farmland beyond the course is complemented by a good-sized lake (the result of the area's sand quarrying activities). The par-4 10th, par-3 14th and par-5 13th and 17th holes are all played along the lake's shoreline. The island-green short par-4 9th (with its testing approach) serves notice of the waterscapes to come on the back-nine.

Pick of the holes: the good-length par-3 opener may leave an indelible mark on your card. It is arrived at after a reasonably lengthy walk from the thatched-roofed modern clubhouse.

Equally testing is the par-5 17th, which captures the lakeside spirit of the course rather than the equally memorable heathland aspects. The 17th's teeing-ground almost sits in the lake, while the hole doglegs right-to-left around the lakeshore. A testing bunker-defended approach is required to yet another opulently sized green.