Peter Merck and the Golf Lounge: How an Obsession Finally Became Profitable

Major business portrait of founder and managing director Peter Merck: in 2005 he opened the Golf Lounge in Rothenburgsort and received the Hamburger Gründerpreis – today he runs the 50-hectare leisure, event and golf resort between several arms of the Elbe in Moorfleet. By his own account, more than 50,000 visitors come each year; up to 80,000 golf balls are hit daily, the team is hosting 250 events with 20,000 guests in 2026, and the Golf Lounge now ranks among the largest outdoor event venues in the Hamburg metropolitan region. "The facility is now profitable – revenue has multiplied within a few years," says Merck.