Personal information: Susanne Altenberg, German and Belgian, retired official of the European Parliament, Member at Royal Bercuit CG, current Handicap 10.
Susanne, you are an active female member of the EUGC for many years; tell us a bit more about you and your “golfing career”, please?
I have a “golfing career” in two stages. The first stage began when I was a teenager. My parents played golf, which was very unusual at the time of my childhood in Germany. I started to play in the Aachener Golfclub (founded 1927) when I was 13. In my youth, it was not allowed to start any earlier! It was not really a choice - all the family played except my youngest sister! I liked it though and progressed reasonably well. I still remember our junior lessons on Sunday mornings at 7h30!!! Winter included! My parents would not drive us at this early hour, so my older brother and I cycled 4km to the course. This dedication and training paid off: After a few years, I made it to become a member of the North Rhine Westphalia Junior Team!
But when I left school to go to university - and later, when I left Aachen altogether - I stopped playing golf. Not enough time - not enough money. And then, years later, after I moved with my family to Belgium, it was my husband who started to play golf with the sport village in Lasne and ATGolf. I was busy working and with four children, I had very little time - golf seemed far away. To be honest - I did not miss it at that time!
The second stage began in Belgium. When our younger kids reached “golf age”, I remembered my wonderful teenage years in the golf club, and we tried to join the one that was close to our home — then in Genval. Not knowing much about golf in Belgium, we picked a very prestigious one that would not accept us as members! “Golf in Belgium is snobbish,” we thought and abandoned the project for many years! Then two things happened. First, we travelled to the Isle of Harris, where my husband played golf. When I set eyes on this marvelous Links course on the pristine beach of Harris, I absolutely wanted to play it. And second, at about the same time, I joined the Cabinet of the then Secretary-General of the European Parliament, who was a golfer. And he invited me to a round of golf. Panic - I had not touched a golf club in 35 years! I dug out my old clubs from the seventies - including my parsimon woods and driver - and somehow, I still knew how to swing. The short game was a disaster though. I also played the Belgium Couples Cup with my husband, and we managed to get through it without a divorce ;-)!
After all this, the golf virus infected me strongly and I wanted to continue. Because of our previous experience, we did not want to join a golf club right away. I had vaguely heard about the European Golf Club and contacted Christian Ehlers, who gave us a very warm welcome and convinced us to join. Since then, the EUGC is very close to my heart as my second “golfing career” really started there. During Covid - when greenfee playing was difficult - we joined Royal Bercuit GC (without any problem this time). We remain members of EUGC though and enjoy playing with them whenever possible.
You have recently earned the “instructor” certificate from the AFGOLF; what did this programme require, and what motivated you?
After my retirement, I enrolled to the initiator training of AFGolf. The exact title is “moniteur sportif initiateur”. It is the first year of training if you want to become a teaching pro in Belgium. You need a max WHS of 18 to participate in the one-year training. It starts with an online course with ADEPS (the sports administration of Wallonia and Brussels) on, among others, general sport physiology for adults and children. After completion, the training starts with monthly evening theory sessions and weekend practical lessons. This is complemented by 40 hours of traineeship in your own club plus 10 days with AFGolf.
With AFGolf, we reached out to schools and introduced the pupils to playing golf. It was extremely gratifying to see the happiness in the faces of those kids when they hit a good shot for the first time. Many of them would never have a chance to even get close to a golf course. I also enjoyed the paragolf sessions with handicapped golfers. In my own club, I assisted the pros with the junior classes. At the end of the training year, you have to sit a four-hour written exam plus a practical session where you initiate a group of total beginners to golf. It is a serious programme! After successful completion of the course, initiators can introduce newcomers to golf under the supervision of a pro.
I participated in the course because I wanted to gain more knowledge about golf in general, about organising competitions, and many other aspects, to give me a more solid background when volunteering in my club and as captain of an Interclub team. No regrets - the training was fantastic, with great teachers, and I can only recommend it. I was very lucky that the main teacher of the programme, head pro in Bercuit and director of education at the Royal PGA of Belgium (Anthony Otterström), accepted to be my maître de stage. I would love to do the second year, but for that, I need a WHS of 7.4, which seems far off now, but one can always have dreams, no?
What are your ambitions as a “golfeuse” for the future and how do you see the playing programme of the EUGC – is there more we could do for beginners and/ or women?
I stated one of my ambitions above - but more down to earth - I want to enjoy my second “golfing career” as long as I possibly can. I like challenging myself and love the competitive side of our sport. I enjoy playing competitions! My wish is to get more women and girls into golf and to make golf more accessible for everybody. The playing programme of EUGC is fine - with a good mix of nice courses! The pace of play remains an issue though. As a club without a course, it is more difficult to attract beginners who need easy access to practice facilities and lessons. The cooperation with Pierpont is therefore important and the “Gateway to Golf”-training group at Pierpont is certainly a good start! We need to reach out more to all those EU officials who either play golf already or who are interested in starting. Organising initiations or “open days” - maybe even a “ladies’ day” could be useful. After the initiation, golf lessons by a good teaching pro are essential though. What about organising group lessons for EUGC members on all aspects of the game? Competitions where members can invite a friend might also help. After all, the EUGC offers an excellent opportunity to play golf for a reasonable budget in good company!
