55 Christian Althaus dramatically reshaped the ground at Föhr to create sand dunes Golf Club Föhr in Germany’s North Frisian Islands celebrates its centenary this year with a wholly reconstructed golf course. The club was founded in 1925 and played over a nine-hole course designed by Bernhard von Limburger, but this was lost after the war. AngloDutch architect Frank Pennink built nine holes on a new site next to the island’s airstrip in the 1960s, and the course was extended to 18 in 1990, built by the locals to a plan from Don Harradine. German architect Christian Althaus, in his first project as a lead designer, added a third nine in 2008. Althaus returned to Föhr in 2014 and totally rerouted the Harradine nine, creating three nines that all started and finished next to the clubhouse. Twelve entirely new holes were constructed during this phase of the project, which also saw the creation of a substantial irrigation lake – the course had previously relied on boreholes for its irrigation water. The course was completed with a third phase that took place in 2022-23, when six more holes were built, some more rerouting undertaken to ensure that the three nines all flow well, and a nice short-game facility was built near to the clubhouse and car park. Föhr is a shining example of the use of golf to restore a lost landscape. Before this land was farmed, it would have been heathland, but the heath was lost when the site was used for agriculture. Golf courses are better the more embedded they are in their landscape, so the restoration of the heath was a natural choice. Because the site is sandy, it gives the golf architect the opportunity to use their creativity to the maximum; they do not have to shape the course a certain way just to make it drain. Althaus’s design style at Föhr has naturally evolved in the 15 years since the first work was done. Those holes were built on flat farmland, so he chose to do a dramatic reshaping of the ground to create sand dunes; they are a triumph, appearing wholly natural. Photo: Fabian Sixt
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