TEE UP some SURPRISING COURSES
WE might not think of golf as an adventure sport — apart from what happens at the 19th hole! — or imagine that golfing and mountains go together but teeing off at 2,000m with rocky obstacles to overcome and Alpine scenery to admire brings something spectacular to the sport.
Golf is also a popular summer activity for ski fans so where better to play a few rounds than on some of the best mountain courses in the world? In no particular order, here’s our pick of top mountain golf destinations.
They say people played golf in Crans Montana (crans montana.ch) before they ever skied there. Set in the Valais region of Switzerland, the resort boasts four golf courses but it’s Crans Sur Sierre (which dates back to 1906) that hosts the Omega European Masters each September, attracting some of the world’s top players.
Set on a sunny plateau at 1,900m, this course offers wonderful views of the Rhone Valley and the impressive Mont Blanc and Matterhorn peaks with tree-lined fairways and open pastures.
Our tip is to visit right after the Masters to play the course just as the pros played it.
Kitzbuhel in Austria’s Tirol region (kitzbuhel.com, tyrol. com) is known for its picture postcard resort centre and the world-famous Streif World Cup downhill ski course on the Hahnenkamm mountain. It’s also sometimes referred to as the golf centre of the Alps.
The resort’s nine-hole Red Bull Golf am Rasmushof is located at the foot of the Hahnenkamm mountain and right in the finish area of the Streif, which becomes a major talking point among golfers as they soak up views of the Kitzbuheler Horn and Wilder Kaiser peaks.
Kitzbuhel also stages a golf tournament in mid-June each year with an added focus on great post-golf food and wine.
In France, golf fans can have the best of both worlds with a two-centre ‘montagnes a mer’ golfing holiday.
Start off in Chamonix (chamonix.com), an Alpine town that’s as lively in summer as it is in winter, with a game at the Robert Trent Jones-designed 18-hole Chamonix Mont Blanc golf course in Les Praz.
Then, indulge in a luxe stay in the spa town of Evian-LesBains. Play a round at the Evian resort golf club and stay at the five-star Royal hotel, where pristine gardens overlook the shores of Lake Geneva.
In central Switzerland, the alpine resort of Andermatt is in the news now that US ski resort operator Vail Resorts has bought into it.
A new kid on the golf block, its 2016 18-hole course, which is said to be ‘Scottish-flavoured’, is becoming popular with players who also enjoy checking into the fivestar Chedi hotel.
Let’s not forget Tignes in France (tignes.net), home to one of the highest golf courses in the Alps at 2,100m. Set beneath the Grand Motte glacier, players need to avoid hitting balls into marmot burrows or even the lake below. There’s a competition every two years during which competitors are challenged to reach the green of hole 18 by hitting the ball more than 420m. Because high-altitude Tignes gets so much snow in winter, the summer golf season is short, from late June to early September.
Bella Italia is also home to some great courses — Sestriere in the Milky Way area and Corvara/Alta Badia in the gorgeous Dolomites.
But our final salute goes to Telluride in Colorado in the US( tellurideskiandgolfclub.com), where golfers tee off at nearly 3,000m altitude. Course bosses say the air at this elevation creates less resistance to golf balls during flight, resulting in satisfyingly long drives that make players feel like total heroes.
ARE we ever going to get back to those glorious years, BC? Those carefree decades Before Covid when we thought the world was our oyster, masks were for Halloween and Zoom was what you did downhill on your bike.
As we gently crawl and sometimes even dare to fly into the new era of relative good health and normality, we’re slowly beginning to dream again, to think of sunny destinations that’ll help us forget the fourseasons-in-one-day norm of the Emerald Isle.
First up in that dream sequence for me is the Algarve region of Portugal, my mostvisited European destination BC and one I intend to keep in pole position for many years to come.
I’m not sure why. It’s not on top of everyone’s list, by any means, but to generalise for a moment, the people there always struck me as more relaxed folk than many of their European counterparts.
In many ways, I tend to view them as like ourselves, not inclined to sweat the small stuff. That they have much of the most beautiful coastline in the world helps of course, as does the selection of the best golf courses on the planet also.
Little did I think that my 2020 trip there would be my last for more than two years. But I can’t wait to get back.
There are a few reasons, but the principal one in recent years is that the children loved it. As anyone who has ever travelled with young persons in tow, 90% of the enjoyment of a break is determined by the reactions of those who are quickest to whinge at a moment’s notice.
So when you get around to debrief on a trip, you tend to check with those of tender years first.
Even better if memories are still there after two years of a pandemic. So when I checked the other day about the memories of the last holiday they were on, the essence of the trip was distilled quite quickly by the now 12 and 9-yearolds: The beach (especially the one we had to get a lift to access), the rooftop swimming pool, the street market and the trip on a boat to a fish restaurant.
I tended to agree with three out of four but I could also see the fun they were having on the rooftop pool at the Hotel Faro.
The proximity of a bar with outside rooftop tables near the pool was a perfect family mix as far as I was concerned. A win-win for all the family — and the views over the city are quite spectacular also.
I’ve also got to admit that Portuguese red wine has come into my life in recent years. A guided visit to a Douro vineyard over a decade ago turned my head from the more traditional vino hotspots and I’ve never looked back.
My most recent visit to Portugal was BC... just. It didn’t involve much wine, sadly, as we were en famille and hired a car. The vino was always going to lose in that threeway battle. Jonathan Swift had a typically forthright view on Portuguese wine: ‘I love white Portugal wine better than claret, champagne or burgundy. I have a sad vulgar appetite.’ Bit harsh on himself, in my view.
So if you’re planning a few days in the Algarve, I’d start in Faro because after your three-hour flight you may not be in the mood for any further travel and Faro is definitely worth a browse.
If you’re over for a week, I’d stay a couple of days in Faro and then head along the coast to somewhere like the Pine Cliffs Resort, about which more later.
Hotel Faro is a ten-minute drive from the airport. We hired a car, but there is a decent bus service which would have you there in less than half an hour also.
Car hire of course is a major problem across Europe at the moment with availability limited and prices through the roof.
Bear in mind, it’s a city centre hotel, so you may not need the car for the city end of your trip and every penny counts. The rooftop pool (and bar alongside!) were very early on our itinerary and the nearby street market are the must-dos as far as our junior reviewers were concerned.
Before you leave Faro, organise a trip to the Deserta Island, on the southernmost tip of Portugal and before you board the ferry (€10 one-way) to get you there, make sure to book a meal at Estaminé restaurant. Seafood is, obviously, central to its menu and the plate of beach prawns is worth the trip on its own.
That meal and the walk on the nearly deserted beach (at least when we were there in February 2020) would be hard to beat anywhere.
Now that you have found a good base, and had a day or two to soak in the urban vibe in Faro, you can plan the rest of your stay in some depth.
This small list might be a good start in terms of a weeklong stay:
■ Take a boat trip in Ria Formosa Natural Park, a unique coastal lagoon in central Algarve, one of the 7 Natural Wonders of Portugal.
■ Play golf on one of the many outstanding courses for which the region is famous.