The mountains may not be the automatic first choice for keen golfers but the choice of courses plus the spectacular scenery available should certainly put them on your “to do” list.
Have a look at your favourite ski resorts’ website to see what the summer activities are and you may surprised that probably not too far away from where you were skiing last winter there will be a golf course or two.
A ski resort’s summer programme can vary from adrenaline downhill mountain biking, white water rafting, extensive hiking, to more sedate pleasures such as music festivals, events celebrating local farming traditions, but amongst the activities on offer golf will usually be on the list. For a tourist-based economy, attracting visitors year round is important, so a summer clientele can be as important in many ways as a winter one. Getting golfers on board is a good strategy and many courses will offer good value for money.
Mountain golf courses have been designed in the most unlikely of places, on narrow plateaus overlooking the ski area, on ridges, in hollows, in valley areas – anywhere where they can fit 9 or 18 holes. Quite often the local topography will provide natural obstacles and challenges – no need for too many annoying bunkers when you’ve got a cliff face to hit the ball over instead.
The ingenuity of designers can be very much in evidence – and often a mountain course will double up as something else for the winter months.
The beautiful Chamonix course for example, sitting in the valley overlooked by Mont Blanc and the Aiguille du Midi, is part of the cross country ski area in the winter. And the golf course at Les Gets is part of the Portes du Soleil ski circuit – so you will be skiing over it in the winter!
The challenges of maintaining a course when for possibly half the year it may be buried under a few metres of snow require a lot of thought and planning – green keepers will have to think 6 months ahead at least, and will be at the mercy of the elements to a far greater extent than their counterparts elsewhere.
And what does an alpine golf course offer? Well part of it is the spectacular scenery. Reaching the green to find a fabulous panorama below your feet that stretches for miles, plus the effort in getting to that green – it quite literally takes your breath away! Yes often there is a tad more physical effort involved!
There are some well known courses too – one of the most famous is the Evian Masters on the shores of Lake Geneva, with views across to Geneva and Lausanne. Just within an hour or two of Geneva there are several courses available, varying in difficulty but all will provide stunning views and a unique alpine feel about the place. Chamonix, Megeve, Les Gets,Talloires, Flaine, Evian and at Geneva itself to name just a few.
The flowers are the local mountain flowers, gentians, wild pansies, hardy rhododendron bushes, the odd edelweiss or two.
I’ve played on the high altitude course at 1900m in Flaine and even found a resident marmotte basking in the sun near the tee on hole number 6. Losing balls on an alpine course will mean that they are often lost forever – plunging into a gully where there is no way they will be recovered!
So next time you’re looking for a different golf destination maybe take a look at your favourite ski resort first – there may be a golfing gem just waiting for you to discover it.
