Gut Altentann Golf Club History
Tucked into the peaceful countryside near Salzburg, Gut Altentann Golf Club holds quite a past—one where centuries of history blend seamlessly with the spirit of the game.
The story goes all the way back to 1243, when the estate—then known as “von Tann”—was first mentioned as a fortified castle. It sat on the front lines of medieval power struggles between Bavarian and Salzburg nobles. Fast forward several hundred years, and the land took on a very different purpose, but the charm and significance of the place never faded.
Jack Nicklaus’s first golf course design in mainland Europe
By the mid-1980s, golf in Austria was still finding its feet. Around that time, a forward-thinking entrepreneur from Salzburg—fresh from golfing trips in the U.S.—came back inspired. He wanted to bring something different to Austria: a course with big, inviting fairways, stretching bunkers, and a layout that flowed naturally with the landscape. To make that vision a reality, he called on none other than Jack Nicklaus.
At first, Nicklaus wasn’t fully convinced. But once he saw the site in person—the scenery, the sense of history—something clicked. From that moment, he was all in. It ended up becoming his first course design in mainland Europe.
What followed was a major transformation. Over 43 kilometres of drainage were laid, ancient trees were protected, and tonnes of sand were moved to sculpt a course that was tough but fair. It wasn’t just built for the big hitters either—it rewards smart play and thoughtful strategy.
Then came the big moment. In 1990, Gut Altentann hosted the first-ever Austrian Open. Bernhard Langer won it in a dramatic playoff against Lanny Wadkins, and Nicklaus himself played, finishing a respectable 12th. He even said the greens were among the best he’d ever designed—high praise from the Golden Bear himself. A young Markus Brier was also in the field that week. He missed the cut, but later made history as the first Austrian to win on the European Tour.
The club hosted the Austrian Open for three years straight and cemented its spot on the European golfing map. But that wasn’t the end of the story. In 2022, the Murhof Gruppe and Johannes Goess-Saurau stepped in to give the course a thoughtful update. They looked back at Nicklaus’s original plans and set about a redesign that stayed true to the course’s roots while giving it a fresh edge.
These days, Gut Altentann might not be on everyone’s radar, but it’s clear the course was born through thoughtful craftsmanship. It’s got history in its soil, quality in every fairway, and views that stretch for miles.
And now, as it hosts the Austrian Alpine Open for the fourth time, Gut Altentann will once again bring elite-level golf—and the crowds that follow it—back to the rolling hills just outside Salzburg.
