German Bundesliga Division 1

In addition to playing individual tournaments, I will be representing my men's team at Golfclub Olching, in the Division 1 German Bundesliga.  A quick summary of what this entails: In Germany, club teams compete in a season long competition in hopes of moving up divisions, and thereby bringing prestige to their clubs and ultimately being crowned German Club Champion.  There is a tremendous push to build strong club teams, and players are often incentivized (like many other professional sports).  Club teams are a mixture of professionals and amateurs, however a pro must have played at least 3 years of golf at the club they plan to represent.  Amateurs have no requirements, other than they must be good enough to play for their club team.

There are 5 teams in our German Division-1 South.  We have 5 tournament days, one at each home course with all 5 teams present at each.  A day consists of 36 holes, 8 singles stroke-play scores and 4 alternate shot stroke-play scores.  The total scores are compared and the 5 teams earn points based on their finish.  1st place = 5 points, 2nd place = 4 points, last = 1 point.  At the end of the season, teams with points at rank 1 & 2 are eligible to compete for the National Championship, rank 3 holds the Division and place 4 & 5 are relegated into the second division.  There is the same system for the lower divisions, with their goal being to reach the first division.

Our team won its way into Division-1 last year in epic fashion, as one of our youngsters shot 66 in the final group to put us through by 1 shot, for the first time in our club's history.  We are incredibly excited to tee it up against the power-houses of Germany.  Nearly all division 1 teams have playing pros from as high as the European Tour.  Our Golfclub Olching is 100% home-grown amateurs.  Our goal is to hold the division, which would be quite a feat.

A good photo of our Men's and Women's team.  Our life-long friend Tim turns 50!  Spunky, you are the best!

In addition to competing as a club, there is german individual ranking which is comprised of the individual scores and finishes of all the tournaments.

Matchday 1 - Stuttgart

The first tournament was played at Golfclub Stuttgart May 11 & 12.  The conditions were very poor - just barely above freezing, rainy and windy.  Nearly unplayable.  In a strong field, including European tour pro Mo Lampert, not one player was able to break par.  The best round of the day was a 72.  I shot 76 (+4) and finished a remarkable T-4 given the score, which helped me gain some individual points.  Finishing 4th in division-1 south as an individual put me in place 44 of 920 in the German Liga rankings.

Despite the miserable weather, there was still a respectable gathering of spectators.  Beer and Bratwurst stands were set up for those who could handle the storm.

Our team was shown that division-1 is not for the faint of heart, and despite being in place 5 for most of the day's live scoring, we ended strong with some team birdies and finished in 4th, ahead of Golfclub Feldafing and secured 2 points.

Matchday 2 - St. Leon Rot

The second tournament took place the weekend of June 1 & 2 in Golf Club St. Leon Rot.  Again, the weather was not cooperating.  It has rained for days on end and much of Germany was under flood watch.

The first green - one day prior to the tournament.

In the nearby city

However, the skys cleared on Sunday morning and we were able to play under sunshine.  For the first time in 9 months, I was able to put a round together.  I was 100% off the Tee and the putter was... decent.   I managed to shoot 67 and win the individual title at St. Leon Rot.  It felt great to put this round under my belt.  It's about time.

Even more exciting was our success as a team.  At half-time (after the individual rounds), we were in second place.  I was very frustrated with some comments a few weeks back along the lines of "What is Golfclub Olching doing in the first division?"  Today, individual positions 1 & 2 were taken by GC Olching and we were (at the time) in second place as a team.  As I later made clear in an interview - "We are here to stay"

In the end we finished 3rd, 6 shots behind first place and about 20 ahead of 4th.  3 points.  

After Matchday 2, Golfclub Olching is in place 3 and, for the time-being, out of the relegation zone.

  

With the 67 in St. Leon Rot, I moved up to place 2 in the German Liga Rankings.  

More to come soon...