Want to Play a 700 Yard Par 5? They Are in Europe This Week

Typically, I don't pay much attention to the European Challenge Tour - the across-the-pond equivalent to the Nationwide Tour. But a message from Golf365's Matt Cooper caught my attention.

The tour is in Hamburg, Germany, for the Ecco Tour Championship. They're contesting it on the North Course at Green Eagle, just outside of town. The course is a monstrous 7,882 yards - making it the longest in Europe. For the pros, it is a par 73 course that goes out in par of 35, back in 38 grueling shots.

The back nine has four par 5s, ranging in yardage from 632 yards to an astounding 702 yards. Two of the fives are longer than the pair of par 6s in Europe. In 2005, the Asian Tour played an 800 metre hole as a par 6, so this kind of thing isn't unprecedented - just nuts.

The back nine is 4,486 yards, which is just about a thousand yards longer than the front. The three par 4s on the back measure no less than 460 yards. There's a par 3 at 268 yards. The other hole? Another par 3 at 170 yards. 

We sure we're not measuring this in some newfangled system based on the Kelvin temperature scale?

There's no explanation that I can find for the disparity between the two nines. This was done on purpose by the designer Michael Blesch, who also did the South Course and a 6 hole par 3 track on the property.

Reading some reviews, it sounds like the course is just boring, long parkland golf. So, it should be a treat. At least it's not an 830 meter par 3, or 850 miles long (though it will take four days to play it).