This is the main attraction of a new golf resort close to Weimar, where Goethe lived and worked for many years. While not quite as brilliant and inspired as the legendary poet, it does its job as a professionally designed resort course. The remote and unspoilt area is an asset, but the concrete site is not ideal in the sense that it is a rather narrow valley. This meant that it would have to be routed in a somewhat static out and back manner, which does make things a bit tedious when the wind is up. On the positive side, the limitations of the routing did create some width within the holes themselves.

The style is eclectic and decidedly American, inspired by the likes of Robert Trent Jones and as such feels a bit out of place here. Nevertheless, the course is presented in an immaculate condition and has a good number of interesting holes with some variation (except for the par 3s, which are too similar). The greens are all gently sloped and pretty fast, which makes it quite difficult for an average player to stop a chip or pitch, since he can't produce the required amount of spin. The fairways, while not sandy, are running nicely as well, thereby making the course a bit shorter than the scorecard suggests.

All things considered, this track is great fun to play. It makes good use of the nicely rolling terrain without going overboard with blindness and the green complexes are mostly open to a running shot. Some holes can be a right slog into the wind, others are short and quirky, but thankfully never tricked up artificially or overly narrow. The course is probably not a core golf attraction, but certainly a very good tourist offering. Whether it can carry the large and luxurious golf hotel remains to be seen, although the hotel could conceivably become a destination of its own. There is another 18 hole layout available, also by the Städler firm, which is named the Lyonel Feininger Course after another Weimar pundit.