Oberzwieselau

Configured as two returning nines within a compact 130-acre property in the grounds of the Oberzwieselau Castle, the course at Golfpark Oberzwieselau is the perfect example of how to squeeze a terrific golf track into a tight, landscaped parkland setting.

Plans to build a course here were first discussed in the late 1960s but twenty years would pass before construction work finally got under way. Under the guidance of landscape architects Wolfgang Barth and Rupert Schelle, the fairways were fashioned to create the 18-hole layout that’s now in operation. 

At last, on the 11th June 1993, the club’s first president, Baron Wolffersdorff, welcomed the great and the good of Bavaria – including honorary member Franz Beckenbauer – to the official opening of the course.

Today, the layout measures just under 6,000 metres from the regular tees, playing to a par of 72, with holes laid out as two returning nines. Water hazards (in the shape of ponds and ditches) feature on several holes, most notably on the par five 1st and par three 14th.

A pond protects of the front of the green at the former hole, while another pond circles the back portion of the green on the latter. The Mühlbach water course meanders through the course, cutting across the fairway close to the greens at the par four 4th, the par five 6th and par four 18th.

Other holes of note include the tough par three 7th (rated stroke index 7); the left doglegging short par four 8th; and the last of the par fives at the 467-metre 17th, where the tee shot must carry a pond and the green is guarded by a large bunker on the right side.