Golf
Cleydael Golf & Country Club
Cleydaellaan 36, 2630 Aartselaar
Organising a round does not book a tee time: book directly with the golf club.
The course
Championship Course
- 18 holes
- Par 72
- Length 6,250 m
- Opened 1987
Cleydael combines two experiences within one round. The opening holes breathe more freely across parkland where views extend between specimen trees and long woodland edges. The second half gradually tightens among mature trees before the medieval castle and its moat return as the focus at the finish.
Learn more
Architecture
Rolin avoided imposing one aesthetic across the entire estate. The outward nine uses the space of the park and changes direction around selected trees; the return employs narrower corridors, doglegs and the visual depth of woodland. Difficulty comes less from raw length than from a sequence of angles, well-positioned bunkers and surfaces protected by water or tree lines.
Several holes return close to the castle without reducing the monument to incidental scenery. The eighteenth instead provides a genuine conclusion: its perspective towards the stronghold, moat and outbuildings gathers the course’s themes into one coherent final image.
The course in detail
Cleydael is played across broadly level ground, but changes in vegetation and moisture create distinct sequences. Open areas present more exposed fairways bordered by specimen trees and planted groups. In the wooded half, corridors become more clearly defined and doglegs use trunks, edges and natural angles.
Ponds, ditches and the castle moat recall the estate’s historically wet character. Greens and bunkers introduce the contours absent on the wider scale, while turf conditions respond to shade and the Belgian seasons.
Address · Cleydaellaan 36, 2630 Aartselaar, Belgique
Editorial source: The Round public Atlas
The club
Learn more
History
Golf occupies a setting whose history long predates the club. Cleydael Castle, a moated stronghold with medieval origins, was altered, repaired and extended across successive centuries. The drainage of marshy land shaped the park visible today. During the 1980s Baron Paul Rolin was commissioned to integrate eighteen holes without erasing that inheritance.
The clubhouse and restaurant occupy historic outbuildings rather than a detached new structure.
Club experience
A driving range, putting and chipping greens, trolley and buggy hire, changing rooms, golf shop and dining allow a complete day to be organised on site. BarCellar occupies castle outbuildings and extends the heritage atmosphere after play. The course remains walkable, while its proximity to Antwerp makes a visit possible without a resort stay.
Geography and setting
The estate lies south of the Antwerp conurbation, close to the A12 yet screened by woodland, meadows and former castle land. This position makes Cleydael readily accessible from Antwerp, Brussels and Mechelen while allowing the urban setting to disappear quickly. The landscape belongs to lowland Belgium: slight relief, moisture held in the ground, ditches and ponds, and broad tree canopies rather than distant horizons.
The moated castle remains the estate’s historic anchor.
Where to play
Golf
Club affiliation
Declaring an affiliation gives you no management rights.