The first Klenkes Open was held in 2002. The basic idea of the then three-man organising team of Sönke Morgenstern, Salim Azmani and Norman Lang was to create a major amateur tournament for Aachen and the Euregio, as Aachen’s surrounding area is called. Namely, up to that point there had never been a competition of that kind and of that magnitude. It was therefore decided to hold the first Aachen City Championships on the course of the Aachener Golf Clubs 1927 e.V..

But why is it called “Klenkes Open”? For all non-residents of Aachen, the name sounds Latin and surely not all of the young city-dwellers will know what the word means. Here’s the explanation: the city of Aachen used to be known for its needle production. However, before these needles were shipped out they had to be inspected and packaged. Bit it appeared impossible to have this fine motor-skilled work done by heavy-handed men. So the Aachen ladies and partially also children were asked, but they too frequently had problems gripping the individual small metal rods with their filigree fingers. A method was thus developed over the years whereby only the little finger of each hand was used for it. When you cast a glance into one of these factories, you would therefore see the funny image of countless women and children sorting the needles with their little fingers every day for hours on end. As the adjective for “klein” (the German word for “small”) is “kleng” in Aachen dialect, the derivative became “Klenkes” – i.e. the little finger with which they greeted and identified each other from then on …

But now back to Klenkes Open: over time the event turned into a tournament that attracted interest and became well-known far beyond Aachen’s borders. Each year registrations go way over the possible 120 participants. A “cut” was therefore unavoidable. And that sank steadily in the course of the years, which is characteristic of the upwards development of the sporting calibre. This is also underlined by looking at the list of players. Every year German national players and plus handicaps came to the Schurzelterstrasse.

In order to retain the fun aspect as well as the sporting ambition, the players have the chance to register as a team and to win the coveted team prize for either the best or the worst team. In the evening the winners will be celebrated with a lavish party that is at least just as well known as the tournament itself.