Signature designer Colin Montgomerie officially opened The Dutch course in the Netherlands last week, shortly after the course’s developers learned they had not been selected to host the 2018 Ryder Cup.

Located at Spijk, near the town of Gorinchem, The Dutch was created by the company Made in Scotland, and is intended, says its developers, to be a place where golf is used to bring top executives together in an environment where business and social relationships can be created, developed and enhanced..

Montgomerie said: “It gives me great pleasure to return to The Dutch to mark the official opening of the golf course. I have been here several times over the last three years to keep an eye on how it has developed and I have to say I am absolutely delighted with the results. We’ve created 18 holes of real quality which look fantastic and I’m sure will be fun to play.”

Construction began in early 2008, dealing first with the engineering solutions required to shape flat farmland, several metres below sea level, into a golf course. Radical shaping has been used to create a rugged golf course character with undulating fairways, featuring many bumps and hollows, framed by dramatic mounding. Out of necessity on land which is below sea level there are also many water features, with several lakes, streams and canals coming into play.

Architect Ross McMurray of European Golf Design said: “The concept here was to combine influences from links and heathland golf courses with some modern flair to create an individual style, unique to The Dutch. We wanted to establish an immediate ‘wow’ factor and then back that up with good strategic design. I really like the way that the challenge builds as you go around the golf course. From a relatively gentle start the course keeps racking up the pressure and the back nine especially will represent a true challenge.”