Austrian golf is rather like Austria itself: beautifully organised, quietly confident and just eccentric enough to keep things interesting. The courses are spectacular without feeling as though someone has butchered its god-given nature and overdeveloped it into an exclusive luxury resort. You get alpine fairways, vineyards, lakes and mountain backdrops – often within the same round.

Its quirkiness was demonstrated on our TV screens over the Whitsun bank holiday with a maiden DP World Tour stop at Golfclub Kitzbühel-Schwarzsee-Reith, tucked into the Tirolean Alps between the Hahnenkamm, Schwarzsee lake and the jagged Wilder Kaiser peaks. 32,000 spectators turned this debut DP venue into a full-blown alpine golf festival – 10,200 packed in on Sunday alone to witness Japan’s Kota Kaneko claimed his maiden European title.

Above all Austrian golf is fun. There is less of that stuffy, clubby solemnity and more of a come along, have a game, eat something magnificent afterwards attitude. Add superb hotels, excellent food, cold beer and a national obsession with getting outdoors and you have a winning formula.

It also helps that Austrians take sport seriously. They ski like lunatics (Klammer), produce world-class footballers (Alaba), Grand Slam tennis players (Muster) and F1 drivers (Lauda), and increasingly approach golf with the same competitive streak. Austria has produced top-tier players Bernd Wiesberger and Sepp Straka, reared on 160 courses spread over nine regions.

So Austrian golf manages the rare trick: serious golf in a hardly believable setting. Famed for its winter Alpine scenery and world-class service, Austria is now a real contender for affordable luxury golf. The new Austrian Golf Classic – a concept from golf-nut and premium hotelier Georg Imlauer – offers guaranteed tee times at the country’s finest courses, paired with luxury accommodation at the Imlauer family-owned 4* and 5* properties.

As green fees spiral across the Top100 Courses in the UK and Ireland, Austria offers its ten best-ranked layouts at a fraction of the cost – and without the headache of sourcing premium tee times. Expect seamless Teutonic organisation, exclusive access, and old-school hospitality at top courses in and around Salzburg, Vienna, and the province of Styria.

Forget any clichés about alpine golf. Austria is not all schnapps, skiing and The Sound of Music. Once the snow melts, golf courses recover quickly and are in prime condition by May. The golfing terrain is rolling rather than mountainous, with dramatic alpine settings, lush fairways, and playing conditions that remain superb into autumn. Bonus: if you’re a bit short off the tee, playing a few thousand feet above sea level means your ball flies further in the thinner air – or in my case, deeper into the rough and gorgeous alpine flora.

Greens are of a universally high-standard, often built to USGA specifications, and many layouts have serious pedigree. Course architects include Nicklaus, Olazabal, Langer and Carrick.

Austrian clubs are typically smart, stylish, and sociable. The 19th holes resemble bistros with well-priced wine lists and gastropub-quality menus. Golfers are welcoming – think the best of Italian warmth and German efficiency. For those who overindulge on schnitzel and schnapps – or just fancy a more relaxed round – buggies are available at most clubs to ease the strain of undulating terrain.

The Austrian Golf Classic Experience

The Austrian Golf Classic is a passport to the country’s golfing elite – pairing luxury hotels with guaranteed tee times on its most celebrated courses in Vienna, Salzburg, and Styria. I teed it up at Austria’s two crown jewels, Adamstal and Fontana, before discovering a lineup of alpine masterpieces in a nation that’s been perfecting the game for nearly 125 years.

GC Adamstal (No. 1 in Austria) is a jaw-dropping alpine course in the Lower Austrian Alps, designed by Jeff Howes. Its 27 holes weave through steep, forested slopes with dramatic elevation changes. The 18-hole Championship Course is both a visual and sporting delight. Highlights included the par 3 11th, a plunging tee shot to a green framed by mountains, and the par 5 13th, a sweeping dogleg with breathtaking views. Every hole has character, the condition is immaculate, and its remote setting only enhances the experience. The routing rewards strategic play, with major uphill and downhill holes that require course management and patience. You’ll never have played anything like this in your life. And you’ll be grateful you hired that buggy.

Fontana GC (No. 2 in Austria) lies just south of Vienna and is as elegant as they come. This par 72 private championship course, designed by Doug Carrick and Hans-Georg Erhardt, is American in layout but European in precision. From 2006 to 2010, it hosted the Austrian Open. Routing unfolds across open parkland, dramatic bunkers and water features that test you off the tee and on approach. The quality of conditioning is top‑tier: pristine bent‑grass fairways, slick, undulating greens and immaculately placed hazards define the experience. The par 3 17th is a beauty – carrying over a turquoise lake to a contoured green – while the closing par 5 18th sweeps around water and bunkers for a spectacular finish.

If you’re after an all-round summer holiday that offers more than golf, base yourself at the luxurious Schloss Pichlarn, a five-star spa hotel with a famous kitchen in the rural province of Styria. Three hours from Vienna and 90 minutes from Salzburg, it offers a first-rate course of its own – recently upgraded with a €2 million renovation by Jose Olazabal Design, upgrading Donald Harradine’s classic routing. The rolling Enntal terrain, framed by the Grimming mountains, now features sculpted fairways, refined bunkering and perfectly contoured greens. Unwind in the sauna and pool after this sporting test. Perfect your game at the practice faculty

Relax here for a few nights and use it as a luxury base to play nearby Schladming Dachstein GC (No. 10 in Austria) a clever 1991 Bernard Langer design that delivers a classic risk-reward challenge set against the Dachstein massif. Conditioning is immaculate: tight bent-grass fairways, quick undulating greens, and penal rough demand accuracy over raw power. Water comes into play early and often, with streams and ponds defending aggressive lines. The par 3 6th, one of Austria’s prettiest one-shotters, dubbed the “Crocodile Hole,” requires a high, nervy shot over water and sand. This is alpine golf at its finest – technical enough for low‑handicaps but scenic enough to mesmerize every player.

If time is tight, and you can only spend a long weekend, you could just as easily focus on the courses in the Salzburg region. The land of Mozart and The Sound of Music, it also boasts some of Austria’s best golf.

Gut Altentann GC (No. 5) is Jack Nicklaus’s first mainland European design. It’s a fine par 72 championship layout with rolling fairways, McKenzie-style bunkers, and water in play on over half the holes. The par 4 3rd and par 5 18th require bold carries and sharp thinking – Nicklaus to the core. The club mixes classic elegance with modern service: a converted stable block clubhouse, helpful staff and a calm but polished atmosphere.

Mondsee GC (No. 8), an hour east of Salzburg in the stunning Salzkammergut Lake District, is built beside the shimmering Mondsee. Originally opened in 1989 and unofficially refined by Robert Trent Jones in 2000, the course is flat but full of flair. The final four holes are its signature: the 15th is a 160-yard par 3 over water, and the short 16th bends tightly left with a peninsula green that juts into the lake. The 18th, a long par 5 with a central fairway tree and a cruel lakeside green, is a potential card-wrecker. It’s easy to be distracted with such beauty but the layout demands strategic play not brute force, playable for all levels thanks to five tee boxes. The lakeside clubhouse is one of Austria’s classiest.

Why Austria Works for Discerning Golfers

This is a destination for discerning club golfers who value world-class course design, high standards, and scenery that stops you in your tracks. For mixed groups, the cultural combination of cities, spas, and alpine trails seals the deal. The Austrian Golf Classic removes the stress, guarantees access, and packages everything in style.

From schnitzel to schapps to signature holes, this is a unique golf trip you’ll talk about for years.