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Alpine Wonder Better known as Austria’s premier skiing destination, charming Kitzbühel is well worth visiting during the summer months with your clubs in tow, reports our European correspondent Lewine Mair PHOTOGRAPHY BY J.HÖLZL / MEDIA LOUNGE
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HK Golfer・Dec 2009/Jan 2010
HKGOLFER.COM
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HK Golfer・Dec 2009/Jan 2010
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Mile-high marvel: the third hole at the Kyle Phillipsdesigned Golf Eichenheim affords one of the most dramatic views in continental Europe. 70
here are links courses where the mere sight of billowing rough from the first tee can dent the confidence. Similarly, any aggressive list of “do’s and don’ts” – we have all seen one of them – can play havoc with a man’s first-tee equilibrium. Head for Austria, on the other hand, and the early vibes tend to be rather more settling. With many of the Austrian courses at altitude, there is the happy prospect of getting more yards for your Euros than you might at any another European venue. A ball will travel some ten percent further through mountain air while, in Kitzbühel in particular, there are plenty of elevated tees to enhance this glorious fact of golfing life. Take the third hole at Golf Eichenheim, a Kyle Phillips-designed course which was voted among the top 100 in Europe in the 2006-2007 Peugeot Guide. The teeing ground at this particular par-five is so high as to inspire much the same feeling of eager anticipation known to skiers setting out on the world-famous Hahnenkamm Run (Hahnenkammrennen). Yet not too many visiting golfers latch on to what is happening to their ball-flight at the first time of asking – and that includes no less a player than Colin Montgomerie. Back in 1987, when Montgomerie was preparing to make his debut on the European Tour at Crans sur Sierre in neighbouring Swizerland, his clubs were delayed en route and he had no time for a practice round. T hough worr ied about h is lack of preparation, he found all his fears evaporating when he teed off from the 10th and hit the drive of a lifetime, one which sailed through the skies and travelled a country mile. “It was as if I had gathered an extra 25 yards simply through turning professional,” recalls the Scot. He strode proudly down the fairway where he found himself faced with a less-than-taxing second to the green. “It was 145 yards to the pin, just the shot for an easy eight-iron,” he remembers. That easy eight-iron was still soaring as it carried the putting surface and pitched into the trees beyond. The 2010 Ryder Cup captain amassed a double-bogey six and finished with a disaster of a 77. On top of those extra yards, golf in Kitzbühel is simply dripping with charm. The mountain views are one thing, the fastidious manicuring of the courses another. Even the old machinery chalets are apt to feature window-boxes filled to overflowing with geraniums. This should be the place where every professional repairs at those inevitable times
HK Golfer・Dec 2009/Jan 2010
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HK Golfer・Dec 2009/Jan 2010
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Need to Know Golfers visiting Kitzbühel can buy a Golf Alpin Pass (€280 for five rounds) to play on the following courses: Schwarzsee; Rasmushof, Wilder Kaiser Ellmau, Reit im Winkl, Walchsee, Kaiserwinkel, Larchenhof, Mittersill. Annual junior camps, weeklong affairs for children aged between six and 12, are run at Golf Club Eichenheim, while the 8th Kitzbühel Golf Festival – an annual event for all standards – takes place from June 20-27, 2010. For more information www. kitbuhel-golf.com
First-rate: KitzbühelKaps features two island greens and top-notch postround amenities.
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when golf becomes a bit of a chore – a stage reached by Nick Dougherty at the recent HSBC Champions in Shanghai. Dougherty, after he had amassed a nine at the water-laced 18th in his second round, came up with the rueful comment that he had had one of those days when a job stacking shelves in a supermarket seemed a not unattractive proposition. Kitzbühel has what it takes to encourage a player to do as the late Walter Hagen once recommended. Namely to stop and smell the flowers along the way. Golf in Austria dates back to 1901 when the Emperor Franz Josef became hooked on the game. He provided land at an annual rent of 1 Krone for a course at Wien-Krieau which was constructed by the French architect, M C Noskowski. This first course would become the home of the Golf Club of Vienna. Edward, Prince of Wales, following his abdication, played regularly in the city, while another aficionado of the Austrian way of golf was the late Sir Henry Cotton. The latter used to boast less about his three Open championship victories than the fact that his wife, “Toots”, who was never lower than an eight-handicap, won the 1937 Austrian Women’s Championship. In those days, the event was more of a social affair than anything else but, as Cotton used to say, a national title is a national title. Today, golf in Austria, no less than skiing, is a sport for the many rather than the few and one in which the number of golfers is proliferating all the time. Though there were fewer than 300 people playing in the late 1930s, there are now 68,000 plying their sport over 136 venues.
HK Golfer・Dec 2009/Jan 2010
Though most wil l assu me t hat t hese practitioners are all as fit as mountain goats and have to shoot up and down a series of slopes as dramatically elevated as a Phil Mickelson wedge, that is by no means always the case. In Kitzbühel, Golf Eichenheim may be best played in a buggy but there is no question of golfers having to hit with the ball above or below their feet all the time. Schwarzsee, the other 18-hole layout in the little city, is another championship venue of the highest order having, in 2003, come in for a host of tributes when it hosted the Challenge Tour’s 2003 Kitzbuhel Golf Alpin Open. Larchenhof, a little further out of town, boasts a challenging course along with a first-class practice ground where the mountain backcloth seems to inspire even the most unlikely of candidates to get his or her shots nicely lofted. Of the two nine-hole courses in the city, Rasmushof lies on the lower slopes of the Hahnenkammrennen and is correspondingly hilly. In golfing terms, though, the hills are merely the equivalent of skiing’s nursery slopes, the perfect place for beginners. In contrast, Kitzbühel-Kaps, has only one severe ascent – up the sixth tee. It is a bit of an effort, though rather less of one if you are making the ascent on winged feet following a par or better at the fifth. The course, which is attached to the stunning A-Rosa resort, closes with two island greens. Aside from adding up to a delicious test for the golfer, they can make for plenty of entertainment for those sitting on the clubhouse veranda. Après golf and the visitor can either languish in one of the five-star spas which seem to be integral to Austrian golfing resorts or enjoy t he delights of Kitzbühel. The latter are manifold. There are plenty of designer boutiques mingled in with the finest of highquality all-Austrian shops. Meanwhile, if you are simply looking for a sightseeing trip round the pretty streets, there is no better way than by horse and trap. Yet it goes without saying that the best sights of all are those from the top of the Hahnenkammrennen. There, from 5,617 feet above sea level, you can pick out the four courses which have made the city no less of an exhilarating destination in summer than it is in winter. HKGOLFER.COM
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