Why the 2026 Solheim Cup Host Isn't Called a Club or Course

Bernardus Golf, the Netherlands venue hosting this year's Solheim Cup, carries a name with no mention of "club" or "course." That's intentional.

Who built Bernardus Golf?

Dutch entrepreneur Robert van der Wallen developed the property, opening it in 2018. Van der Wallen, who built his fortune founding the marketing firm Brand Loyalty, wanted an upscale members' venue without the closed-off feel of a traditional country club, so he left "club" and "course" out of the name. A Kyle Phillips-designed heathland layout anchors the site; Phillips also designed Kingsbarns in Scotland and restored the California Golf Club near San Francisco. Bernardus hosted the Dutch Open from 2021 through 2023.

What does it cost to play as a visitor?

Non-members can buy a day membership for €255 (about $295) in peak season, dropping to €195 (about $225) in the off-season, which includes the course, short-game area, practice range, sauna and spa. The club has roughly 300 members, split about evenly between corporate and individual memberships. Two on-course comfort stations, at holes 8 and 13, serve sandwiches and wine.

Bernardus reads like a lifestyle brand rather than a country club, because that was the entire design brief.

"The whole place very much smells like exclusivity," said Jan Swinkels, a member who lives five minutes away.

Why is there a California winery on the wine list?

Bernardus has eight guest rooms and a Michelin-star restaurant, Noble Kitchen, whose wine list includes vintages from Bernardus Winery in Carmel Valley, California. That winery was founded in 1989 by Bernardus Pon, a Dutch Olympian skeet shooter and race car driver. Van der Wallen, a friend and later investor in the winery, took it over after Pon's death in 2019 and named his Dutch golf property in his honor.