The 2026 Solheim Cup has given European golf travelers a reason to look at a country that rarely tops the golf itinerary. Bernardus Golf in Cromvoirt, North Brabant, hosts the matches from 11–13 September 2026, with practice rounds running from 5 September and the opening ceremony on 6 September. It is the first time the Solheim Cup has been held in the Netherlands, and the course that will carry the event deserves attention well beyond the week the professionals arrive.
What Bernardus Golf Is
Bernardus is a Kyle Phillips design that opened in 2018. The course plays 6,808 yards off the championship tees with a par of 72 and sits roughly 20 kilometres south of ’s-Hertogenbosch on former agricultural land that Phillips converted into open sandy heathland. The routing sends two out-and-back nine-hole loops through three distinct parcels: the opening and closing holes flank the clubhouse, holes 2 through 8 move through more aquatic terrain, and holes 10 through 16 occupy a broader northeastern section.
Before the Solheim Cup, Bernardus had already hosted three editions of the KLM Dutch Open on the DP World Tour (2021–2023), so the course has been stress-tested at the professional level. What those events confirmed is that the turf runs firm, the fairways reward position over power, and the par-3s are genuinely demanding. Hole 12, a long one-shotter across water, is the kind of hole that determines scorecards.
Practical Visitor Details
Bernardus is open to the public on a visitor day-ticket basis at €185, which includes multiple rounds and full access to the practice facility and clubhouse. Green fees at this level come with expectations — the conditioning here is maintained at tournament standard — and a day spent here is broadly comparable to a high-end links day in terms of experience.
The on-site Bernardus Lodge offers eight rooms directly alongside the course, along with a heated pool, sauna, and the Noble Kitchen, a Michelin-starred restaurant. It is a compact lodge rather than a resort hotel, so rooms book out quickly around events.
The nearest international airports are Amsterdam Schiphol (approximately 90 minutes) and Eindhoven (35 minutes). The town of ’s-Hertogenbosch, known locally as Den Bosch, is worth including in any itinerary — it is a medieval city with a functioning Gothic cathedral, a canal network, and a food scene that takes no cues from tourist expectations.
Playing Before the Tournament
The period from late July through the first days of September is the window to play Bernardus in normal conditions before the course is closed to public play ahead of the event. During this stretch the course operates on its standard visitor structure and the queues that will define the September media period have not yet arrived.
Travelling golfers coming specifically to see the Solheim Cup venue before the tournament will find a course that plays quite differently from what televised coverage will show. The heathland sections are genuine heathland — exposed, windswept when conditions dictate — and the aquatic holes on the second nine carry enough visual intimidation that club selection becomes a real conversation on every tee. The fairways in summer run fast when dry, and the sand-based construction means the course drains quickly after rain. It is a markedly different profile from the parkland tracks that dominate the Netherlands’ existing course stock.
Watching the Solheim Cup on Site
The Solheim Cup operates as a ticketed stadium event. Matches run Friday through Sunday (11–13 September) with practice and pro-am activity across the preceding days. For travelling golfers, the appeal of attending is partly the golf and partly the chance to walk a course with crowd movement that you cannot replicate on a normal visitor day. Access to the heathland interior holes during competition — standing at the crossover sections between holes — gives a ground-level reading of the routing that no video review provides.
Stadium-style events at golf courses tend to compress the course’s natural character in certain sections and make other sections feel remarkably exposed. Watching from the natural bowl around the par-3 12th or along the tighter heathland corridors on holes 14 and 15 will tell a visiting golfer more about the course than any preview-round walkthrough.
Playing After the Tournament
The post-Solheim crowd thins quickly. By late September and through October, Bernardus returns to a more settled visitor pattern, the grandstands are dismantled, and the fairways — which will have taken considerable foot traffic — are given recovery time. Courses after major events often present a brief window of slightly softer conditions before greenkeeping work restores full tournament pace. For golfers who want to play the actual Ryder Cup or Solheim configuration, the autumn window is sometimes the quieter route.
’s-Hertogenbosch in late September is also a more comfortable city break than during the tournament week, when hotels across North Brabant mark up sharply.
What Else Is in the Region
The Netherlands is not a deep golf market by European standards, but there are other courses within driving distance that merit consideration on a multi-day trip. Toxandria Golf in Rijen (30 minutes southwest) is a respected inland heathland course. Crossing into Belgium for Limburg-region golf — Royal Hasselt or Golf Termolen — extends the trip without long travel.
The Netherlands holds one significant draw that pure golf destinations do not: the practical infrastructure for non-golfers travelling in the same group is considerably better than an isolated links destination. Anyone combining the golf with time in Amsterdam, Utrecht, or Den Bosch has a complete trip without the golf carrying the entire itinerary.