Linz St Florian

Golf Club Linz St Florian was founded in 1960, which makes it one of the oldest clubs in the area of Linz, the Upper Austrian capital. In 1975 the club moved to its present location in the Danube Valley. British architect Donald Harradine designed the course in the rolling Tillysburg Estate.

Linz played host to the Austrian Open in 1992, which resulted in a victory for Englishman Peter Mitchell, but since then Hans-Georg Erhardt has redesigned the course.

Unusually, the round at Linz starts with three par fives in the first four holes so you may get your round off to a flier if you can pick up a birdie here – the only drawback at a couple of these opening holes (and a few others later in the round) is the unsightly presence of power lines from the tee, detracting a little from the isolation afforded by the tree-lined fairways.

The 177-yard, par three, 7th is a lovely short hole, played over a pond to a long green protected on three sides by bunkers. Similarly, the signature hole at Linz, the 171-yard, par three, 16th also features water, as its green is guarded by a lake to the right (and a large bunker to the left to catch those who bale out too far to that side).