Goodbye The International, Hello the Kennemer!
08 Jun 2026
Goodbye The International, Hello the Kennemer!
The KLM Open 2026 was, for now, the final edition held at The International. What a privilege it was to be hosted here! Next year, the tournament will return to Kennemer Golf & Country Club in Zandvoort. One thing both courses definitely have in common is that they provide a serious test for golfers…
The International has now hosted the KLM Open four times, placing it eighth on the “list of venues”. Since 1912, the Dutch Open has been played on sixteen different courses. Hilversumsche leads the list with 27 editions, followed by Kennemer (22), “Old” Haagsche (12), Noordwijkse (11), Koninklijke Haagsche (8), Eindhovensche (6), and De Pan (5).
The International (2012) is also the second-youngest course to have ever hosted the KLM Open (after Bernardus, 2018). In 2019, the KLM Open’s 100th anniversary was celebrated here near Amsterdam, and the victory of world star Sergio Garcia added extra excitement to the occasion. The Spaniard won with a score of -18. Later winners Guido Migliozzi (2024, -11), Connor Syme (2025, -11), and this year’s champion Eugenio Chacarra (-11) could not match that.
Kennemer is even more of a “links course” than The International, a type of course characterised by an open layout, firm fairways, deep bunkers, and the constant influence of (sea) wind.
The KLM Open has seen many memorable editions there. What about the Dutch Open in 1989, when stormy conditions required a nine-hole (!) playoff to determine a winner (José María Olazábal)? Thirteen years earlier, legend, and then still only 19-year-old, Seve Ballesteros won his very first European Tour event in Zandvoort. And thirteen years ago, Joost Luiten triumphed at Kennemer after a thrilling playoff against Miguel Ángel Jiménez.
Great golf, good memories…
