German Open Hickory Championship 2025
Christoph Meister, Captain of the German Hickory Society, reports:
The 2025 German Open Hickory Championship, the 17th edition, was played over 36 holes across two days, from Aug. 15- 17, at Golf Club Föhr – a beautiful North Sea island venue that was celebrating its centenary.
The event was held in impeccable weather and surroundings, offering the perfect stage for the traditional and stylish challenge of hickory golf. Fifty-five participants donned period attire –knickerbockers, tweed caps, and vintage dresses – immersing themselves fully in the historic spirit of the game.
- Paolo Quirici from Switzerland claimed the champion title with a spectacular score of –7 (rounds: 74 + 63 = 137). His nine-under-par 63 on Sunday stands as the best round ever recorded in any German Open Hickory Championship since its inception in 2009
- In the Amateur hickory category, 18-year-old Louis Dudzus from Berlin Wannsee emerged victorious with a total of 146 strokes, including a three-under-par 69 on Sunday – making that round the second-best in the history of the German Open Hickory Championship.
- Among the ladies, Marie Kauder of Golf Club St. Leon‑Roth triumphed with rounds of 84 and 89, for a total of 173 strokes, winning the German Ladies Hickory Championship.
The 2025 edition continued the tradition of being a truly international event, welcoming players from across Europe and even China. This reflects a long-established pattern of broad participation in German hickory golf.
What’s particularly inspiring is the generational shift this tournament highlights. As seen previously in 2023 and 2024, even very young golfers like Louis Dudzus and Marie Kauder have shown they can outperform seasoned professionals, reinforcing that hickory golf bridges generations and welcomes talent of all ages.
(Young Mr. Dudzus is now 18 years old and has just finished studying at the famous Loretto School in Musselburgh, Scotland, where he was on the golf team. He plays off a plus 3.4 handicap. At 9 years old Louis was already showing signs of a prodigious golfing talent. He was featured on the back cover of the Autumn 2015 edition of the Wee Nip. He hopes to attend school in the U.S. and further his golf career. Keep an eye on this young fellow! – JD.)
We are very much looking forward to welcoming our worldwide hickory friends at Baden-Baden from 14 to 16 August 2026 celebrating the 125th anniversary of Golf Club Baden-Baden.
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- The players at the 2025 German Hickory Open Championship.
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- From left to right – Achim von Stutterheim (past president GC Foehr), Claus Maeland (Norway) and Olaf Dudzus (Hon. Sec. German Hickory Golf Society).
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- From left: Iain Forrester, Louis Dudzus, and Paolo Quirici.
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- Ferd Vrijmoed (Dutch Golf Museum / Dutch Hickory Golf Society), blasts from a bunker.
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- Petra Dudzus was one of the stylish lady players.
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- Boris Lietzow, aka ‘Jack White’, from Gullane, Scotland, shows his unique putting style.
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- enjoying the German Hickory Open are, from left: Ferd Vrijmoed, Andreas Hippe and Klaus Andree (both from Berlin).
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- From left – Heinz-Peter Thül, Inga Kramer (both from Cologne); Ralf Eisenmenger (PGA pro, Unna); and Christian Althaus (golf course architect, designer of Foehr golf course among many others and the German Hickory Champion 2017. Mr. Thül, or Thuel, is a former European Tour pro, longtime No. 2 behind Berhanrd Langer. He played four World Cups and in 1992 was in third place with Langer.
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- World traveler, golf historian, author, and organizer of the China Golf Museum, Wayne Xing putts at the 2025 German Hickory Open.
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- Michael Linke from Zwickau in Saxony drives off tee.
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- The Golf Club Fohr is celebrating its centenary in 2025.
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- Louis Dudzus receives his trophy for his low amateur finish. Others in the photo are, from left: his father, Olaf; Dr. Beatrix Behrends-Steins (vice president German Hickory Golf Society); and Christoph Meister, president of GHGS.
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- Marie Kauder receives her trophy for the German Ladies Hickory title. Others from left are: Olaf Dudzus; Christoph Meister, and Dr. Beatrix Behrends-Steins.
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- Paolo Quirici receives his trophy as the 2025 German Hickory Open Champion. With him from left are: Olaf Dudzus; Christoph Meister; and Dr. Beatrix Behrends-Steins.