Percy Alliss is shown in front of the Golf- und Land-Club Berlin Wannsee clubhouse for the 2020 German Hickory Championship poster.
Despite all Covid restrictions in place, 42 players were able to attend from Austria, the Czech Republic, Poland, Switzerland, England, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands; Mexico, Scotland and Sweden, to compete in the 12th edition of the German Open Hickory Championship, played over 36 holes at Kallin Golf Course just outside the German capital, Berlin.
The Championship started on Friday, Aug. 14, with a four ball best ball net match play Germany vs. Rest of the World. The match was won by the Rest of the World by 5:3.
The course played 5,365 meters long for gentlemen and 4,661 meters for ladies. The pin positions on the final day were extremely demanding. As a result of this the scores of the professional players and amateurs were almost without exception higher than on Saturday.
The 2019 German Open Champion Brian Gee played a par round on Saturday which gave him four stroke lead over Iain Forrester. Davey van Mulken from the Netherlands followed 6 shots behind the leader. On the final day local professional Rolf Kinkel, lying in 4th place, had to give way to Tony Ristola from Finland, who played the third best round of the tournament on Sunday with 77 strokes. No one could have imagined a more exciting final, as Iain Forrester, the 3-time German Open Hickory Champion (2009, 2013 and 2015) showed his best golf playing a 73 (149 final score) finishing 2 strokes ahead of Brian Gee (151 strokes). Davey van Mulken finished 3rd with 159 strokes.
On Sunday Louis Dudzus (13 years old, handicap 7.1) played the best amateur round of the weekend (79 strokes) including 3 Birdies thus overtaking German hickory veteran Toni Kammerer (85 + 86) from the Garmisch-Partenkirchen, who was leading after the first day. Louis final score was 168. Last year’s German Open Amateur Champion Alexander Huchel from Munich (87 + 86) finished 3rd.
This meant that young Louis was able to take home the challenge trophy of the German Open Hickory Amateur Champions, the Tanfani-di-Montalto-Cup.
This trophy is the amateur trophy of the German Open played in Baden-Baden in 1912, which was won in the professional player’s section by five-time Open winner John Henry Taylor.
Tatjana Thoss from Wiesbaden was the best lady winning not only the 2020 German Open Hickory Ladies Champion title but also taking home the Lilies Trophy.
The men’s net competition was won by Rainer Ersfeld from Golf & Country Club Schloss Langenstein (net 70 + 73 = 143), while the women’s net was won by Petra Dudzus from Golf- und Land-Club Berlin-Wannsee.
We hope that all participants are back home safely. BGCS member Paul East received the 4 volume centenary book of the German Golf Federation from us so that he has some reading to do while spending his 2 week quarantine at home in Truro, Cornwall. It is amazing to see what people go through only to play in our humble championship.
We hope to see many of you next year in mid-August 2021.
Auf Wiedersehen!
Christoph Meister
Captain German Hickory Golf Society
Winning players at the 2020 German Hickory Championship.
Iain Forrester is the 2020 German Open Hickory Champion.
Louis Dudzus, 13, is the 2020 German Amateur Hickory Champion.
