Adamstal Golf Club (Championship)

Adamstal is one of the world's most beautiful golf courses and it's certainly one of Austria's very best. The Alpine mountain air is clean and crisp and the wooded, undulating valley setting is simply breathtaking.

Former Austrian rally driver Franz Wittmann brought Adamstal Golf Club to life in 1995 when a 9-hole course was laid out in the heart of Lower Austria. Canadian-born Jeff Howes was commissioned to replace this initial layout with an all-new 18-hole track in 1998. Howes has accumulated more than 25 years experience, working closely with the world's top architects, including Jack Nicklaus. The Adamstal layout follows the natural lie of the land and this amazing mountain course is one of his greatest achievements.

All the holes at Adamstal are named and each paints its own enchanting picture. Maintaining concentration in these surroundings is key to scoring well.

Panoramic views of the Unterberg summit are on offer at the 5th, where rock formations (discovered during construction of the fairway), are a prominent feature on this medium-length par four.

After refreshment at the excellent halfway house, the short par four 10th is the highest point on the course (named Unterbergrast or lower mountain) and from here you can enjoy (on a clear day) the drama of the 4,400-foot peak.

The 11th "Hausbergkante" (taken from the Streif in Kitzbühel) is also set at altitude and the view is spectacular. From the elevated tee, you can't help but reach for your driver on this 345-metre par four. The ground falls away in an alarming manner. Reaching the green in two is no problem, but the green also slopes from front to back, so staying on the putting surface is easier said than done.

The Championship course also features a settle-the-bet par three 19th hole which is located in a pretty valley where there's a mountain spring that's provided Adamstal with drinking water for more than a century.

The beautiful, restored late 19th century clubhouse offers excellent guest accommodation for golfers wishing to stay and absorb the delights of Adamstal beyond a single round of golf. Additionally there's also a 9-hole course called Wallerbach and it's well worth playing.

Some of the Wallerbach holes formed part of the original 18-hole Adamstal course, including the short par four 3rd "Bärenschlucht" or "Bear Ravine" in English. The ideal tee shot is down the right side of the fairway but the fairway slopes from right to left making positional play extremely difficult. Just before Adamstal opened for play back in 1998, a bear took a liking to the soft, newly-laid green and, to the greenkeeper's horror, left its paw prints all over the green – hence the hole's charming name.