Returning to the Hilversumsche Golf Course for the second consecutive year and sixteenth time overall, this year’s KLM Open promises to be a cracker. For four action-packed days in September, some of the top names in European golf will come together to fight it out for the title that the late, great Seve Ballesteros won when he was just 19.

Germany’s Martin Kaymar returns to the event he so ruthless dominated last year, and after losing his world no. 1 ranking to Lee Westwood earlier this year, he’ll be eager to retain his title – a feat that has not been achieved since New Yorker Bob Byman won back-to-back titles in ’77 and ’78. Standing in his way, however, is the sport’s current golden boy and pride of Co. Down, Rory McIlroy. McIlroy has been on fire this year, and comes off the back of victory at the US Open, where he set a course record of 16-under-par.

Flying the flag for England is the ever consistent Lee Westwood, who hopes to add a second KLM Open title to his impressive career collection, which has seen him win a tournament on every golf-playing continent. Local support will be divided between five men: up-and-coming dynamos Tim Sluiter and Floris de Vries; Robert-Jan ‘The Laughing Dutchmen’ Derkson; Joost Luiten, who holds the record for the most prize money won in a single season ever by a Dutch player; and Maarten Lafebar, who triumphed in the KLM Open 2003.

The hordes head to Hilversum

Situated in the attractive North Holland town of Hilversum, the Hilversumsche Golf Course is one of Europe’s most highly visited golf courses, with around 45,000 golf fans expected to attend this year. This beautiful course, which has been often compared to the top courses in Surrey, has rolling forests of pine, birch, oak and beech lining the fairways, and forms part of a protected National Park. The course has been recently remodelled by respected golf course architect Kyle Phillips, and features a contemporary and challenging design for amateurs and professionals alike. This year’s tournament is held between September 8th and 11th and consists of 72 holes, with the professionals playing 18 holes per day. The play format is stroke play, so the total number of strokes taken by a player will be added up after four days, and the player with the lowest number of strokes will win. The prize money is a staggering 1.8 million Euros, which will be divided between the 70 players who make the cut. The tournament winner will take home 300,000 Euros – not bad for four days work…

Hilversum is only 25 miles from Amsterdam, so the tournament provides the perfect opportunity to visit one of Europe’s most magnificent cities with a break to Amsterdam. Although many visitors to the tournament choose to rent a car, the local public transport system is exemplary, and will prove to be a rather stress-free experience to regular users of the British train and bus infrastructure! Trains to Amsterdam Centraal run from Hilversum Train Station four times an hour, and take around 20 minutes directly or 30 minutes with the stopping service. There is also a regular bus service from outside the train station. Amsterdam itself is very compact, so travelling around the city will be no problem at all.

Café culture and coffee shops

Once the day’s play comes to an end, head into Amsterdam and enjoy the city’s famously liberal nightlife. Since the counter-culture days of the 1960s, Amsterdam has had a chic café culture the envy of many a city. Beer cafés are everywhere, and usually feature a huge smorgasbord of local and Flemish lagers – expect lots of head and alcohol content rising over 10%! Bruin cafés are akin to British pubs and provide a friendly, laid back venue for unwinding in the evenings, whilst for a more refined experience, head to a grand café. If you can’t find a café to your liking, just ask a local, Amsterdammers are justifiably renowned for their hospitality. Of course, you’ll probably come across plenty of ‘coffeeshops’ which are likely to be packed full of blurry-eyed Brits, so take that as it comes.

If you’re planning on enjoying a big night out on the town (and you are in Amsterdam after all!), the areas of Leidseplein and Rembrandt Square have the highest concentration of nightclubs, and there is always the chance of bumping into a celebrating Darren Clarke! Those who prefer a night at the theatre are in luck as Amsterdam is home to over a hundred; two of the finest are the Muziektheater and the Stadsschouwburg.

Ample attractions in Amsterdam

Whether you arrive before the tournament, or stick around for a while after, be sure to leave some time to explore Amsterdam and its many celebrated attractions. A relaxing wander around the Grachtengordel is a really pleasant way to spend an afternoon. The Grachtengordel is the picture postcard image of Amsterdam that everybody has in their mind – a crescent shaped ring of 17th century canals, which were once a trading post for galleys coming in from the Dutch colonies in Indonesia. This is without a doubt the most beautiful and charming area of the city, lined with trees and home to a miscellany of elegant 300 year old houses and winding, cobbled streets. Last year the Grachtengordel was awarded UNESCO World Heritage status.

For art-lovers, Amsterdam is paradise. The first port of call should be the Van Gogh Museum, which features the largest collection of the Post-Impressionist’s work in the world, as well as many works by his friends and contemporaries such as Gauguin, Monet and Anton Mauve. Until September 18th the museum is hosting an exhibition on the time Van Gogh spent living in Antwerp and Paris, where he painted many of his most famous self-portraits – a must see. Other top galleries include the Rijksmuseum, which features a world-class collection of Dutch art and the former house of Rembrandt, which has been converted into a fascinating museum.

Arguably the most famous of attractions in Amsterdam and certainly the most moving is Anne Frank’s House, which draws over a million tourists each year. A rather poignant reminder of the grotesque atrocities of WWII, the museum focuses on the hidden annexe or achterhuis, where the young diary writer would record the words that transformed her into a symbol of the fight against oppression. Get there early or late to avoid the crowds. If, after the melancholy of Anne Frank’s House, you need a drink – then the Heineken Experience is the place for you. Housed in the company’s old brewery, this interactive exhibition charts the rise of one of the world’s most famous beer brands. Oh and when I say ‘interactive’, I mean you really get a taste for how the company works! For those of that have taken the kids, and they’ve behaved themselves whilst the golf was on, you can treat them with trip to the mind-boggling NEMO Science Museum, or the famous Amsterdam Zoo.

The KLM Open offers a great chance to enjoy a major sporting event and a city break in a vibrant, cosmopolitan and fun city Amsterdam. The chilled-out lifestyle of the Dutch is sure to be the perfect counterpoint to the familiar stresses of the course, although expect the putting greens to be as flat as pancakes anyway. So why not pack for a break that gives you more than just great golf!