golf tours

1. Ypsilon

Ypsilon bas designed by Austrian -based architect Keith Preston and it become an instant hit with local golfers when it opened for play, voted course of the year by readers of Golf Digest´s Czech edition in 2006 and 2007.

Holes have been expertly routed in two returning nines over a hilly landscape, with plenty of elevation changes to ensure a round here is no easy walk in the park. Nevertheless, bunkers are generally shallow and fairways open so a game of golf at Ypsilon is far from arduous.

The signature hole is regarded as the 220-yard three 13th, where the tee shot is played to a green perched on the other side of a small valey. The advice here is not to underclub, ?otherwise you will find yourself watching the ball land on the opposite slope and wondering why it was so short.?

Golf Club Website: http://www.ygolf.cz/cz/

2. Karlovy Vary

This historic spa town is located to the west of the Czech Republic, about 100 km from Prague. Golf here dates back to 1904 and a nine-hole course was originally laid out on the southern outskirts of the city, with the objective of expanding the range of sporting activities available for guests visiting the spas.

Golf become very popular and it soon became necessary to expand the course to a full 18 holes. In 1933, the Parisian architect C. Noskowski was commissioned to build a new Karlo Vary course. Today´s course measures 6,226metres against a par of 72 and the club now boasts the largest golf club membership in the Czech Republic, with more than 640 members. It´s traditional parkland layout, which uses the natural undulating land to great effect. Each hole is flanked by a wide variety of mature deciduous and evergreen trees. Bunkering is light and the three water hazards rarely come into play. The key to scoring well is positional play from the tee.

The Czech Republic is certainly steeped in history and the spa town of karlovy Vary is romantic and enchanting. But we think that the classic Karlovy Vary golf course is well worth a visit in its own right.

Golf Club Website: http://www.golfresort.cz/

3. Royal Marianské Lázně

Marianske Lazne is the second largest spa town in the Czech Republic. His Majesty King Edward VII conducted the opening of the original nine-hole Marianske Lazne golf course in 1905. Marianske Lazne is the second oldest club in the Czech Rebublic.

The lyout is routed across an upland plain, which is perched at more than 700 metres above sea level. The turf was once reported to have ?healthful radioactive emanations and ground as soft as Persian carpets?. Pine trees surround the Marianske Lazne property and this majestic parkland course will test your driving skills and flatter your distances in this altitude. You´ll also need accurate iron play to find the sanctuary of the small and well-protected greens. 2003 heralded perhaps the proudest moment in Marianske Lazne´s long history when Her Majesty Queen Elisabeth II granted golf club royal patronage.

Golf Club Website: http://www.golfml.cz/

4. Karlštejn

Opened in 1993, immediately after the demise of the former Czechoslovakian nation, it was one of the first European ventures undertaken by Golf Design Services, the company of architect Les Furber and Jim Eremko, who have constructed dozens of golf cources in Canada since the mid 1980s.

The 6,433-yard course lies in the ground of Karlstejn Castle (which dates back to 1348) and is routed over a hilly, wooded landscape with limestone outcrops, ravines and a couple of lakes. As the architects say, the holes were designed as ?easy to bogey, but difficult to birdie? and, as a consequence, Karlstejn presents to golfers of all abilities.

The strenght of the course is its short par four holes with half of the ten two shotters on the card measuring less than 350 yards in length. The 308-yard 2nd hole is the most thrilling, played downhill to a green that kinks to the right, protected by a pond on the left, a large bunker on the right and a small ditch in front ? a classic easy bogey/difficult birdie hole.

Such is the demand at Karstejn, a relief 9-hole course was built 2007 to take some pressure off the 18-hole course, allowing the 600 meembers to still play when there ara corporateand tournament days on the main course.

Golf Club Website: http://www.karlstejn-golf.cz/

5. Casa Serena

Casa Serena located 53 km from Prague and was completed in 2008 by European Golf Design. It is top quality course, which hosting professional tournaments. The course at Casa Serena is routed with returning loopsof nine holes over ground that was previously used as farmland, secluded from the modern world by dense forest. The fairways wind their way through three separate plots, each of which are significantly undulating. Designed to be both strategic and beautiful, these immaculate emerald green fairways are sharply contrasted by vast areas of fescue.

Plenty of earth was moved to create the desired contour on the course an although the shaping isn´t natural, it doesn´t look or feel out of place at all. Many regard the par four 12th hole as the best on the scorecard. It features a long, sweeping fairway that rises gradually to an offset putting surface set into the hillside with deep bunkers protecting the front of the green.

One of the few private golf cources in the Czech Republic, Casa Serena does not accept pay and play customers. But the club signed a three-year agreement with the European PGA in 2008 to host the Casa Serena Open on the European Senior Tour.

Golf Club Website: http://www.casaserena.biz/golf-course/

6. Prosper (Old)

The Prosper Golf Resort Celadna is one of the most easterly golf complexes in the Czech Republic. Located in the Moravian-Silesian village of Celadna, near the Polish and Slovakia borders. Prosper is laid out within a property that extends to 350 acres in the Beskydy Mountain region. In addition to its two 18-hole golf cources, the resort extends to a 27-room, four-star hotel with swimming pool and a ranch, complete with a horse riding area, stables, indoor and outdoor arenas.

Designed by Miguel Angel Jiménez, Prosper´s Old course can be extended to a massive 7,177-yard and it opened for play in 2001. The new course is only a fewer yards shorter and was inaugurated in 2004. Both parkland courses have been shaped by earth moving equipment with several man made lakes created to assist irrigation.

The Old course, on the southwest side of the property, is configured as two loops of nine holes, with each ending near the clubhouse. Four doglegged par four holes are played in succession on the back nine before the feature hole on the card is tackled ? the 169-yard, par three, 15th is played to an island green where anything other than a very good tee shot will be severely punished. The Czech Open is scheduled to remain at Prosper Golf Resort for next eight years.

Golf Club Website: http://www.prosper-golf.cz/

7. Kunětická Hora

The village of Dříteč lies just to the north of the regional town Pardubice and it´s where golfers will find one of the most modern course designs to open in the Czech Republic. Laid out on a plain beneath Mount Kunětická, a cone-shaped hill topped by a 15th-century castle ruin, the Kuneticka Hora fairways spread out round three large lakes on an imposing 350-acre site.

Australian architect Graham Marsh constructed this course, which was opened in 2007, is only the second European layout that he has put his stamp on. Eye catching clusters of distinctive, large clover-shaped fairway and greenside bunkers are found on most holes ? the lakeside, par three, 13th has a very extravagant collection of sand traps sitting front left of the green ? and many of the putting surfaces are laid out as large, multi-tiered greens that can offer a variety of pin placements.

The signature hole is the 560-yard par five 16th, one of six holes at Kuneticka Hora which bring the lakes into play. With water threatening all the way up the right hand side, the fairway doglegs sharply in that direction to a green surroundedby sand ? anyonewho tries to reach the puttingsurface in two shots from the tee is either a highly accomplished golfer or a sadly delusional individual!

Golf Club Website: http://www.grkh.cz/

8. Konopiště

Konopiste is one of the new Czech golfing complexes opened in 2002. The resort´s two 18-hole championship courses and 9-hole beginner´s course are laid out withinthe Tvoršovice Estate, together with a renovated chateau clubhouse and 50-bed hotel.

The course is the creation of John Burns from the European PGA along with head greenkeeper Frantisek Stepan. Both layouts are a mix of parkland and hilly woodland, with delightful changes in elevation throughout. Water is brought into play sparingly and only a few fairways are tight as many are divided by saplings that will take time to mature. Greens are generally well proportioned and gently contoured though many are heavily bunkered.

Following a relatively gentle introduction to the course on the first three holes, the next hole is reached by following a path through the forestto the fourth tee. This slight right doglegged par five plays all the way from tee to green down a narrowchute of tall, dense trees with a creek running all the way down the left to add further pressure. The steep climb to the elevated tee on the fifth hole is actually a welcome respite after the near claustrofobia of the preceding hole!

The back nine begins with the shortest of the four par threes on the card, the 140-yard 10th hole. A couple of holes later, the massive (600 yard) 12th plays downhill with a right-angled dogleg to the green which may tempt big hitters ? and the foolish ? to fly the trees with their second shot. The 18th is another downhill hole, featuring a tree in the middle of the fairway, a pond in front of the green and two bunkers to the front and back of the putting surface.

Golf Club Website: http://www.golf-konopiste.cz/

9. Monachus (Mnich)

Opening to great acclaim in 2001, the 27-hole Monachus Golf Resort lies close to the Austrian border in a delightful area known as Czech Canada. Here the terrain is rather hilly, covered in dense forests, rocky outcrops and unspoiled natural lakes.

The 9-hole Nova Bystrice academy course at Monachus is a very good warm up layout for those who want to get their eye in before tackling the 7, 200-yard, par 73 Monachus championchip track.

Designed with tournament golf in mind by Austrian Gerold Hauser, the 18-hole Mnich is an enormous course carved out of the wooded slopes and many of the holes are framed on either flank by large mature trees. Huge stones and boulders are also dotted around the property, but thankfully, they rarely present themselves as hazards.

The left doglegged par four 5th is the toughest hole on the front nine whilst back-to-back par fives at holes 12 and 13 are stamina sapping tests early on in the back nine. The 531-yard 13th is regarded as Mnich´ssignature hole. The second longest par five on the scorecard, it has a pond protecting the green front right with two bunkers on the left to punish over cautious or pulled approach shots.

Golf Club Website: http://www.golfmonachus.cz/

10. Astoria Golf Resort

The Astoria Golf Resort is one of a new wave of Czech Rebuplic golf facilities that opened for business at the start of the new millenium. In addition to its 6,149-yard, par 70, 18-hole golf course, the resort also has a golf academy, short game course, driving range and practise putting green, as well as a 64-bed hotel located a pitching wedge distance from the 1st tee.

The Gary Player Design Company were responsible for the layout at Astoria, this is one of only five courses that they have worked on in Eastern Europe. Set in western Bohemia, in the beautiful Slavkovsky forest, near Karlovy Vary, the Cihelny course is laid out on the flood plain of the river Tepla with holes 1 to 5 plus 18th located higher up the side of the valley and the remaining holes routed along the banks of the meandering river.

The pick of the front nine is the second of the three par three holes on the outward half, the downhill, 116-yard 5th hole. Three of the remaining par fours after this are good, old-fashioned short holes ? each less than 315 yards in lenght ? and at two of them, the doglegged 9th and 12th holes, bogiesare as likely to be made as birdies.

Golf Club Website: http://www.astoria-golf.com/