A Dutch golf magazine sent two writers to Rosendaelsche Golfclub for a round of matchplay against co-founders Jeroen Korving and Leonard van Nunen, and a look at how The Centenary works.
Golfers Magazine, a Dutch golf publication, recently dedicated a feature to The Centenary. Rather than a desk interview, the magazine sent two of its writers to Rosendaelsche Golfclub in the Netherlands for a round of matchplay against co-founders Jeroen Korving and Leonard van Nunen — a way of testing the idea behind the platform on the course where it matters, rather than in a boardroom.
A fitting home ground
The match was played at Rosendaelsche, whose back nine dates back to 1908, making it home to the oldest holes still in use in the Netherlands. Only the Koninklijke Haagsche and De Pan predate the club itself, but both moved to different sites over the years. Leonard van Nunen, a Rosendaelsche member, opened the round with a story from the club's history: during the German occupation in 1944, a club member tasked with supplying timber to the occupying forces is said to have steered the felling toward areas he had in mind for a future second nine — trees that, as it turned out, were never used for that expansion.
Why The Centenary exists
Between shots, the founders explained the reasoning behind the platform: reciprocal arrangements between historic clubs have existed for decades, but they tend to be informal, poorly known among members, and dependent on individual secretaries and paper introduction letters. The Centenary replaces that with a digital network limited to clubs of 100 years or older, selected against a transparent, published set of criteria, where clubs keep full control over rates, availability and which requests they accept, and every visit is tracked to keep the relationship between clubs balanced.
At the time of the interview, four clubs had joined The Centenary: Rosendaelsche (1895), Royal Ostend (1903), Royal Latem (1909) and Mortonhall (1892). Golfers Magazine also reported that the founders' initial screening of the world's 100-year-and-older clubs had turned up more than two thousand candidates, narrowed down through an algorithm weighing age, royal status and standing in recognised rankings to a shortlist of around 300.
Since the interview, the network has grown. As of today, 6 clubs have formally signed on as founding members of The Centenary: Bramshaw Golf Club (1880), Mortonhall Golf Club (1892), Rosendaelsche Golfclub (1895), Royal Ostend Golf Club (1903), Royal Latem Golf Club (1909) and La Paz Golf Club (1912).
The match
On the course, the two sides traded holes for most of the round. The Centenary's team took a three-hole lead with four to play, before the Golfers Magazine pair closed with four steady pars to edge the match 1-up on the final green — with a short, and reportedly not entirely unintentional, concession on the last putt.
Read the full piece
The full article — including the club-by-club history of where the world's 100-year-old golf clubs are found — was published in Golfers Magazine. It is in Dutch; an English summary is above, but the original is reproduced below, with permission, for readers who want the full piece, with photography by Poeke Collet and Koen Suyk.
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About The Centenary
The Centenary is a non-profit platform founded by Jeroen Korving and Leonard van Nunen, connecting historic golf clubs — 100 years or older — through a digital network for reciprocal play.