Going for Golf

Zell-am-See

Anyone who wants an outright macho experience will find it at Zell-am-See in the southern reaches of SalzburgerLand.

Since breaking my neck (with a standing fall, if you please) I confess I had not skied for two years. But at Zell-am-See came a unique opportunity to ski and golf in a day, and I took the bait. Like my golf swing, nothing about my skiing had changed on the summer slopes of the Kitzsteinhorn glacier. As before, a preference for turns favouring the right leg.

The afternoon brought the outward nine of Zell’s par-73 Kitzsteinhorn course, designed by Donald Harradine. The neck was all right; the score-card wasn’t.

The 6,633-yard course – 340 yards shorter off the yellows – is flatness itself, perfect for the walker-golfer. But boring it isn’t, with water hazard in abundance, expert bunkering, and tree, barn and bush a guide or threat. The prerequisites are a good supply of spare balls, and a full commitment to the short iron for all those water-protected greens. Once there, putting is a joy.

The Europa Golf Region’s circus here is Austria’s largest, boasting a further fine course in the 6,890-yard, par-72 Schmittenhoe. If anything, it is the more challenging of the two, over the years drawing the admiration of Bernhard Langer, Seve Ballesteros, Greg Norman and Annika Sorenstam, who had her first European Tour win here.

For a change of scene, nearby courses have much to offer, notably Urslautal, Mittersill and Goldegg. Then there is Zell itself – medieval streets, lakeside entertainments, mountain views to Grossglockner, the country’s highest, waterfalls, caves, excursion trips. Little wonder that the five-star Hotel Salzburgerhof is so proud of itself.

It is a family-run concern that provides warm welcome to any seeking an upmarket experience in a pleasingly casual way. That, I think, serves many golfers. There is architectural warmth to timbered chalet, however large, and here it is set cosily round a set of pools and thermal facilities which are all in accord with the two-star Gault-Millau cuisine.

More to the golfing point are regular shuttles to the Europa courses, guaranteed tee times, and access to a variety of other courses from a Golf Alpin set of programmes.