The German Golf License

After spending Saturday morning on the golf course of Schloss Nippenburg with my friend "Yogi" (okay – we had only the permission to be on the driving range, but anyway) I go the whole hog:

Getting a golf license
which is necessary to play on German courses.

Michael T. and Mary Schumacher wrote a very nice article about this "license subject" in Spotlight:

So you’d like to play golf in Germany, and you’re packing your clubs and shoes to take with you on your trip. Don’t forget your license. License?
To play golf in Germany, most golfers must possess a license called a Platzreife before they can get on the green. To get a license, you can expect to pay at least $300 for a five-day course that involves several hours of training each day. Then you have to pass a series of tests.
The Platzreife is actually a legal requirement to play golf in Germany, instituted over 40 years ago. No other country in Europe requires such a license, but German golfing associations say it is necessary to prevent unskilled players from holding up the games of others. Germany has no courses open to all, like the public ones in the U.S. So, the Platzreife is a way to control who gets to play.
The Platzreife requirement is rigorous, and consists of two parts - a written test and a hands-on test. The hands-on test takes you out on a golf course where you have to prove your driving, putting and chipping skills, and then you join a pro to play 18 holes of golf with a maximum of 108 strokes.
The written test checks your proficiency on the rules of golf and etiquette on the course. If you miss six questions out of the 30, you’ve failed. Of course, the test is in German.
The Germans instituted these rules to keep hackers from slowing up play for others. Some players, however, think the Platzreife is a method to preserve golf for the elite. Getting it requires a considerable sum when you count up the training fees, hotel costs, and equipment.
German courses will allow foreign visitors to play but usually only if they can produce a handicap card from their home club. German clubs have been known to turn away foreign golfers because they couldn’t prove their level of skill.
Germans have found a way around the strict system by going on golf holidays to other countries like Italy, Austria or Switzerland where passing the tests is usually easier than in Germany. The training courses almost always end with the golfer getting a Platzreife, a practice that German golf associations abhor.
Some German golfers are trying to remove the Platzreife requirement for playing on German golf courses, especially golf course developers who want to grow the sport in Germany. It’s not clear if they will be successful in overturning the law.
In the meantime, remember to bring proof of your handicap, along with your clubs and shoes, for golfing in Germany. Or maybe just stick to playing at home.

So, Yogi & me are going to get this piece of paper in November this year at the Golfclub Schloss Monrepos.
November, another great golf-month in bitterly cold Germany ;-)

In the meantime I will practice a bit down in Batam – missy gave me the permission to do this :-D
Also, I think it's much cheaper to buy some golf equipment directly down in Asia… here in Germany golf is still for the "rich & beautiful" so that even the equipment is quite expensive.

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