Best Golf Resorts in Austria

The self proclaimed ‘Golf centre of the Alps’ Kitzbühel has 4 golf courses of its own as well as a whopping 30 more within easy reach. Designed by Kyle Phillips and host to the Austrian Masters in 2001, the challenging 18 hole Eichenheim is one of the best courses in the country. The 6104m Schwarzee, host to the European tour in 2003 has awesome views of the Hanhenkamm, Schwarzsee & Wilder Kaiser mountain ranges. The 9 hole Rasmushof, an ambassador of the Austrian Golf Association, navigates around the foot of the famous Streif ski run whilst the newly redesigned Kitzbuhel on the Kasper castle grounds, proudly features island greens and on-course castle architecture.

The Schmittenhöhe and Kitzsteinhorn are two parkland 18 hole championship golf courses with the ‘Leading Golf Courses’ label. Built by Donald Harradine, they’ve hosted the Ski & Golf World Cup as well as the LPGA and OVB Ladies Open. Greats such as Bernhard Langer, Greg Norman, Seve Ballesteros, Craig Stadler and John Daly have competed here and the David Shaw Golf Academy is at hand to help improve technique. Once you’ve covered this legendary course, there are 10 more under an hour away by car... If you’re staying in Zell am See, the course is moments away and access is also easy from Kaprun (usually less than 10 mins by car).

The 3 x 9 holes courses (called ‘Wilder Kaiser’, ‘Ellmau’ and ‘Tirol’) each have their own character and they all blend in harmoniously with the landscape, flanked by the impressive slopes of the Wilder Kaiser massif. With 6 par 5's, 9 par 3s and 12 par 4s, each course gives equal opportunity for both tactical and long hitting players to score birdies. Thanks to the course being mostly flat, it’s more forgiving for the higher handicaps, while well positioned hazards challenge even the lower handicappers to shoot low scores.

The Wildmoos course has been running for over 40 years and was designed by Donald Harradine - one of Europe's best course designers. The views of the Karwendel and Wetterstein mountain ranges from the green are fantastic and changes in altitude change across the 18 holes gives even more of a challenge. The 9 hole course at Seefeld Reith is much more than a pretty face (the lake and mountain landscape is stunning) – despite being mostly flat it’s one of the Alps most challenging courses for all handicaps.

As a province, Salzburg has 14 golf courses – if you’re staying in the city centre, Klessheim Golf & Country club’s 9 hole course in the palace gardens is the easiest to get to. Legend Jack Nicklaus has his name above the door at Gut Altentann (about 20 minutes from the city centre) – an Austrian Open venue set to test budding McIlroys, with trademark contoured bunkers, and tricky water obstacles on no fewer than 11 holes. The 18 hole championship course at Eugendorf is about half an hour’s drive/bus ride out of town.

Pertisau in Lake Achensee has the oldest course in Tyrol – the club was founded back in 1934 and it extended to 18 holes a few years ago. It’s also been voted the best golf course in Austria (Golf Revue Awards) and is another of Austria’s ‘leading golf courses’. At 1000m, the gradient is gentle for its altitude but it still poses a decent challenge. With the Karwendel Mountains on one side and the majestic Lake Achensee on the other, keeping your head down is a challege. The first tee off is in the centre of Pertisau – so if you’re staying in the village you’ll be moments away. Achenkirch is another 9 hole course nearby at the top end of Achensee (20 min drive or 50 min bus ride).

One of the oldest courses in Austria, Golf Club Salzkammergut has an 18 hole course which is right in the middle of the Salzkammergut, with mountain peaks and deep lakes in its surroundings. The fairways are challenging but the sights at the penultimate hole are worth it - Prince Edward, Jose Maria Olazabal and Gordon Fire are among the big names who have teed off here.

Next to the gorgeous Lake Fuschl and surrounded by the Salzkammergut Mountains, the Waldhof golf club has a superb 9 hole course (par 62). The driving range has 12 tee boxes and half of them are covered. The course is a 5 minute drive or 20 minute walk from the town centre and there are ten more courses within easy access including the legendary Golfclub Gut Altentann which hosted the Austrian Open in the 90’s.

Westendorf’s brand spanking new (par 72) championship course spans nearly 6000m and is less than ten minutes drive from the village centre. There’s a driving range and chipping green (which blend in well with the surroundings) and you’ll feel at home at hole 18 which has a Victorian London phone box... On top of this, there are 8 more courses within an hour’s drive.

Soll doesn’t have its own golf course, but if you want access to some of the best in the region it makes a terrific base. The Wilder Kaiser golf club in Ellmau is less than 15 minutes away by car and the new Golf Club Kitzbühler Alpen in Westendorf takes about 20 minutes to get to. You can reach Kitzbühel’s Schwarzee course in around half an hour and the famous Eichenheim is only about ten minutes further out.