This is as close as one can get to the American private country club model in Germany. While guest play is certainly welcome, there are a number of regulations in place to make sure the members don't notice it too much. All sorts of amenities are available, but surprisingly the air of exclusivity and the plethora of related services do not seem to marginalise the actual course. It's a very appropriate and fun track for average players and the management has an astute eye for the integrity of routing and playing surfaces.

Needless to say, conditioning is impeccable, perhaps even overly so in some places. The fairways are sand-capped, which is more or less a must in the largely boggy landscapes south of Munich, if a reasonably long golf season is to be provided. Of course this does not mean that the course plays firm and fast and it probably never will. Brown is certainly not the new green at Riedhof. But the quality of the layout cannot be denied and the flower beds and colorful shrubs play well with the parkland setting. Augusta syndrome it may be, but the strict environmental regulations in Germany should keep unsustainable ambitions in check.

The site is undulated, but not hilly and can easily be walked - laudibly the club doesn't have more than a handful of carts and reserves them for special needs. Almost every hole is interesting and memorable, even the walk behind the driving range between holes 2 and 3 doesn't feel particularly jarring. And most members will look forward to the 3rd, which is a very short and tricky par 4, immediately followed by a brutal double-dogleg par 5, a quirky par 4 and a long downhill par 3. Holes 8 and 9 are perhaps merely ok and the 15th could use a shot in the arm as well. The rest of the course is consistently good, but has the presence of mind to never quite step over the line to greatness and thus enter the fateful bucket list category.

The recently returfed greens deserve a special mention. Due to limited play and comprehensive care on part of the greenkeeping staff there is simply no putt going anywhere else than where the player hits it. Size, undulations and speed are well-balanced for member play, so good putters will make a bunch and bad putters will not be able to blame the greens. Combined with the overall presentation of the entire property this makes for a high quality experience that never loses track of its raison d'être: a very playable course.