Krakow Valley Golf

Before the end of the millennium, only a handful of golf courses existed in Poland. Since 2000, over a dozen new courses have sprung up all over the country and Krakow Valley Golf and Country Club is home to one of the very best of these new designs.

Situated between Krakow and Katowice in the south of Poland, the country club offers more than just a 7,200 yard 18-hole championship golf course – it has a wide range of amenities including a hotel and restaurant, shooting range and horse riding club.

American Ron Fream and his Golfplan design company are better known in Europe for their work in Finland, France and Portugal so it was quite a departure from those countries when they made this their first foray into the east of the continent in 2004.

Laid out over a forested, undulating landscape, Krakow Valley’s generous, wide rolling fairways are tempered by massive, steep-faced greenside bunkers that defend par on many of the putting surfaces.

Krakow Valley was proud host to the European Seniors Tour, venue for the 2008 Polish Seniors Championship. Ian Woosnam emerged victorious, claiming his first European Seniors Tour title.

Ron Fream – course architect writes: “Krakow Valley Golf Club has transformed a former Communist collective wheat and barley farm into a visually dramatic, memorable golf course. Dealing with local conditions and people educated in the Communist ideals and methods added to the challenge.

The design intent was to capture the existing natural flow and contour of the open site. The golf holes have been laid out to capture the diversity of the terrain without extensive earthmoving and the adjacent beach forest areas give a nice frame edge to some holes. There are scenic long vistas to surrounding mountain outcrops that design solutions captured.

Golfplan tried to introduce “Scottish style” feeling within some holes. Bunker arrangement and strategic placement blends the almost links contours with the Scottish looking bunkers. Large, well-contoured green sites offer six to eight distinct pin positions and large, diverse tee areas join to add very distinct playing alternatives and variety within each hole.

Krakow Valley has true tournament ability yet is user friendly for average golfers. The practice facilities are some of the largest, most comprehensive in Europe. Learning to play and refining ones game here is well met and our design objective was also to encourage new players.”