Weiland golf courses
| Golf facilities Weiland GmbH | |
|---|---|
| legal form | GmbH |
| founding | 1996 |
| Seat | Mannheim , Germany |
| management | Managing directors: Dirk and Hermann Weiland |
| Number of employees | 180 |
| Branch | Golf course operator |
| Website | https://www.golf-absolute.de |
The golf courses Weiland GmbH is the largest operator of golf courses in Germany . The company is a GmbH based in Mannheim and, together with Weiland Grünbau GmbH, Erdenwerk Mannheim GmbH and Weiland Servicegesellschaft mbH, belongs to the Weiland Group. This employs a total of 180 people and has joint management.
The golf course, which according to its own account has developed into the main business of the group, was founded in 1996 by the landscape architect Hermann Weiland (* 1949) and operates golf courses in Hesse , Rhineland-Palatinate , Baden-Württemberg and Saarland . Weiland planned the first systems before he founded his company in the early 1990s. In 2009 around 7,000 golfers were members of one of the association's golf clubs.
Hermann Weiland was named golf course operator of the year in 2018 with "GOLF absolute".
concept
Hermann Weiland calls himself the inventor of the rotation golf concept. He had this term protected by a word mark at the German Patent and Trademark Office in Munich.
The concept sees itself as an alternative to traditional membership in a golf club, which, thought for life, often requires a one-off admission fee of several thousand euros in addition to the annual membership fee, but on the other hand only grants the right to play on a single golf course - the "club's own". Membership in a club belonging to the Weiland Group, on the other hand, means the right to play on all the facilities operated by the company, which can be played alternately - so to speak "rotating" - without paying green fees. In addition, the model provides for monthly payments for a membership of at least 12 months, with termination at least 3 months prior to expiry, otherwise the contract is extended for a further 12 months; There is only a "registration fee" (2012 = 150 €) when signing the contract. The latter is primarily intended to enable a high degree of flexibility with regard to changing clubs, as the member has not made any one-off investments that would be lost when leaving the golf club.
Until 2005, when four golf courses belonged to the association, Weiland marketed the concept under the motto Pay one - play four . With the expansion to seven facilities in 2006, he changed the motto to Pay one - play more and introduced the term GOLF absolute as an umbrella brand.
Although the annual membership fee at Weiland was initially significantly higher than the average annual club fee for comparable established facilities, the concept was successful with young professionals and families. The advantages mentioned are the mobility and flexibility of the rotation principle; Job-related changes of location would become more and more frequent in the working world of the 21st century. In the meantime (as of 2008) the prices offered by the Weiland Group are average, as the golf market has picked up overall.
Golf courses
Between 1991 and 2006 Hermann Weiland designed and built four golf courses as extended resort facilities. All facilities include a short course for beginners without a permit, practice facilities and dining facilities. In the meantime (as of 2013) Weiland operates the 11 golf courses listed below under the name GOLF absolute .
- in the open field near Biblis - Wattenheim with artificial lakes and sandy waste areas , partly flanked by rock formations and sculptures (27 holes, completed in 1996),
- on the former French military training area near St. Wendel (27 holes completed in 2006; the hilly landscape surrounded by forest is largely natural here, and former bastions have been planted and integrated). In a reader survey by the "Golf Journal" in 2012, this place came second among the best golf courses in Germany.
- In addition, a 9-hole short course with driving range was opened at the Rheingoldhalle Mannheim in 2006 .
- The 27-hole course "Golfpark Gut Batzenhof" in Karlsruhe is currently under construction . The opening of the first 9 holes is planned for autumn 2017.
- In 2019 the KIAWAH Golfpark Riedstadt was taken over.
In addition, Golfanlagen Weiland GmbH has taken over the following existing facilities:
- Golfclub Deutsche Weinstrasse in the middle of a vine and fruit tree plantation at the entrance to Dackenheim on the Deutsche Weinstrasse (1995, takeover in 2000, expanded to 27 holes in 2004/2005),
- Dreihof Golf Club on the former Dreihof estate in Essingen (27 holes, 1993–1999, taken over in 2000),
- Golf course at Hof Gräbenbruch near Gernsheim (18 holes, 9 hole short course, acquisition in 2006, expansion with completion in 2013 to 36 holes without short course, 2016 construction of a hotel "HOTEL absolute")
- Golf park on Bachgrund near Büttelborn- Worfelden (9 holes when taken over in 2006, since then expanded to 27 holes and a 9-hole short course)
- Buchenhof- Hetzbach golf club in the Odenwald (9 holes, 2007).
The Lufthansa Golf Club (founded in 1976) has also been part of the association since 2008, but does not have its own course. The facility in Biblis-Wattenheim was used as the home ground until 2016. The Lufthansa Course in the Gernsheim golf resort has been the home course since 2017.
- Golf park Trages open court with aristocratic homestead (18-hole parkland course, 2014)
swell
- Golf in Hessen, magazine of the Hessian Golf Association and the PGA of Germany , issue 1/2006, p. 19.
- Fore , the company magazine of Golfanlagen Weiland, No. 12. Lorsch, 3/2006.
- Stefan Ludwig, Niels Gronau: Ready for the market? Challenges for golf in Germany. Study by Deloitte & Touche GmbH Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft from February 2008