Metzenhof

Designed by Hans Georg Erhardt, the Metzenhof golf facility is a family owned and operated enterprise which is situated in the heart of Upper Austria, between the towns of Enns and Steyr, in the rural Kronstorf region.

First opened for play in 2004 as a 9-hole course, the golf complex has since been extended to a full 18-hole layout, along with a 3-hole short course, a 5-bay driving range and practice area. It’s been home to the Austrian PGA since 2009.

The clubhouse also includes a comfortable boutique hotel and restaurant – both of which are open to golfers and non-golfers alike – and it’s easy to see why such a well-appointed set-up is used as a national training base for professional golfers.

Set out on the wide floodplain of the River Enns, which forms the state boundary between Upper and Lower Austria, the course occupies two distinct parcels of land within a rather flat farming landscape. Holes 1-11 are generally orientated in a north/south direction, whilst holes 12-18 are laid out on a mainly east/west bearing.

The course at Golfpark Metzenhof starts and finishes with a par five hole, offering birdie opportunities at the beginning and the end of the round. Three of the five par threes on the card are played on the front nine, contributing toward the comparative shortness of the outward half.

On the back nine, there’s a formidable pair of holes positioned around a menacing little lake: the par three 15th requires an heroic carry across water to the green and it’s followed by the short par four 16th, where the fairway cuts across the same hazard as it doglegs to the green from an offset tee position.