Crop farmer and crisp manufacturer Henk Scheele is chairman of Kiemkracht (Germinative Power, Growth Vigour), a joint initiative of the agriculture sector and InnovationNetwork. A year or so ago he was at our office and his eye caught a Golf Belt brochure. That set him thinking. Back at the Hoekse Waard, he discussed the idea with his colleagues of Delta Natuurbeheer, a farmers’ cooperative dedicated to good countryside stewardship. And that’s when the ball started to roll.

On 27 May we all came together in the Hoekse Waard: Henk Scheele and his colleague Aad Klompe, golf course and landscape architect Gerard Jol and three other participants in the design consortium, and Nico Beun and myself. The sky was blue and it was about 20 degrees Celsius: perfect, in other words. We gathered at Woud Niemandsverdriet’s splendidly-situated farm in Goudswaard. He’s giving up farming to enjoy a well-earned retirement…and as yet there is no one to continue the business.

The Golf Belt concept is seeking to effect a breakthrough in the construction and operation of golf courses (of which a further 100 are planned in the Netherlands). The crux is to link farming with a lucrative spin-off activity. The golf course will meander like an elongated ribbon across the land of several farmers, who can continue farming the surrounding land.

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The farmers will have a stake in the golf business and thus generate extra income, possibly also by doing maintenance work. The age-old tension between golf and farming can thus be defused. The golf course will be blended into the landscape in a much more natural manner and can be combined with other recreational functions. Golfers can thus enjoy the countryside as they make their way from hole to hole.

We wasted no time: regional maps were spread out on the table and studied, aerial photos were scrutinized and then, after coffee and gingerbread, it was off to the fields.

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The Hoeksche Waard is now an official National Landscape and the plan is to strengthen its recreational function. A Golf Belt fits in perfectly with that plan and has the backing of farmers and authorities alike. The golf course architect, too, revelled in the possibilities of this unique situation. Instead of having to squeeze a course into a limited number of hectares, he could now let his imagination run riot over an expansive area complete with fields, winding streams and woods. What an opportunity! Gerard Jol’s Danish colleague was equally enthusiastic about this concept’s possibilities in other countries. We agreed to jointly write an article about it for an international golf magazine.

The meeting ended with an excellent lunch. A collective sense of enthusiasm had sprung up. A further meeting with the farmers will be arranged some time soon. Gerard Jol and his colleagues are going to make a design, test the commercial feasibility and search for a location for the club house – Woud’s farm may be a good spot. Driving back after lunch through the beautiful sun-drenched landscape, I thought to myself: life as an innovator certainly has its advantages.