Karlstejn (A & B)

Prague does not instantly spring to mind when thinking of good golfing destinations in Europe but there are a number of fine courses worth checking out within a short drive from the city centre of the Czech Republic’s capital – Konopiste, Ypsilon Liberec and here (30 kilometres south west of Prague) at Karlstejn Golf Resort.

Opened in 1993, immediately after the demise of the former Czechoslovakian nation, it was one of the first European ventures undertaken by Golf Design Services, the firm of architects Les Furber and Jim Eremko, who have constructed dozens of golf courses in Canada since the company was formed in the 1980s.

The original Red course (now the A and B nines) lies close to Karlstejn Castle (which dates back to the reign of King Karel IV in 1348) and is routed over a hilly, wooded landscape with limestone outcrops, ravines and a couple of lakes. As the architects say, the holes were designed as “easy to bogey but difficult to birdie” and, as a consequence, the layout presents a formidable challenge to golfers of all abilities.

The strength of the course is its shorter par four holes with half of the ten two shotters on the card measuring less than 350 metres in length. The 323-metre 2nd hole is easily the most thrilling, played downhill and right to a green that's protected by a pond on the left, a large bunker on the right and a small ditch in front – what you might call a classic easy bogey/difficult birdie hole.

Such is the demand at Karlstejn, a relief 9-hole course was built in 2007 to take some pressure off the 18-hole course, allowing club members to still play when there are corporate and tournament days on the main course.

In 1997, Karlštejn hosted its one and only Czech Open – then under the sponsorship of the import/export company Chemapol. Bernhard Langer won the event, posting a final round course record of 63. We’re sure Karlštejn would have played host to more Czech Opens but sadly, due to terrible flooding, the 1998 event was cancelled and the Czech Open disappeared from the European Tour schedule until it was resurrected in 2009 and hosted at Prosper Golf Resort.

In 2019, Scotland’s Carly Booth ended a seven year wait for her third Ladies European Tour title with victory in the Tipsport Czech Ladies Open, a dual-ranking event with the LET Access Series.

We were curious to know how Canadian architect Les Furber became involved in design projects in the Czech Republic, so we asked him, and he kindly provided the following explanation:

“I have a friend named Roger Schmidt from my home province of Saskatchewan who excelled in World Curling Championships and represented Germany numerous times at many curling tournaments. As a successful curler he was engaged in teaching curling throughout Europe.

Roger was asked in 1989 by the Minister of Sports in Czechoslovakia to help create a new golf facility for the people to play.

We became involved and worked closely with a local group to identify a good site and procure the land from more than 60 landowners. The project was the first modern golf course design in the country after communism ended in 1990 and was completed in 1993.

In 2006 we were asked to return Karlstejn Golf Resort to add the third nine holes to the facility.”