Royal Marianske Lazne - Czech Republic

Originally founded as Marienbad Golf Club in 1905, Marianske Lazne received its royal prefix in 2003, becoming only the second club in Europe (after Royal Malta) to have this honour bestowed on it. Of course, Royal Homburger has since gained its royal title in 2013 but it’s still a rather exclusive little regal family of European clubs which is endorsed by the British monarchy.

In the book Golf’s Royal Clubs by Scott Macpherson, the author tells how the course managed to survive after World War II:

“Around 1953, a communist campaign began against ‘bourgeoisie decadence’ and golf came under direct attack. Many courses around the country were put to the plough… Marianske Lazne’s distance from Prague meant it was not in the first wave of courses destroyed and ultimately it was saved due to the tenacity of its members.

In the Czechoslovak Republic all things Russian were considered sacred by official state propaganda. With this in mind, a tournament of ‘Czechoslovak-Russian friendship’ was organized. The clubhouse and course were quickly decorated with red banners and as many Russians as possible were invited to the event.

When the squad of communist workers turned up with heavy machinery to destroy the nest of capitalism, locals exclaimed: ‘How dare you disrupt a festivity that honors our beloved Russian Communist brothers?’ Given that at that time an anti-Soviet remark could be treated as treason and result in the offender being jailed for 20 years the farm workers retreated.”

In more recent times, the St Andrews Trophy and Jacques Léglise Trophy were contested at the club in 2006, with both the GB&I teams overcoming their continental opponents. There’s certainly a wonderful feel to playing here, starting with the clubhouse, which is a very atmospheric old building adorned with many photos and other artefacts relating to the club’s royal heritage.

To be honest, the Old Course was far better than I’d expected as I thought in advance that it would be really tight but it never felt too restricted, even though most of the holes are tree-lined on both sides of the fairway. A lack of fairway irrigation is something that needs to be looked at, right enough, but overall conditioning was still really good.

A nice touch is a plaque placed next to the long coffin bunker beside the green of the old 2nd hole, which was in play from 1905 to 1978, until it was one of two holes replaced by the club. It’s important to give prominence to things like that, reminding visitors of a course’s historical provenance – if only more clubs would give some thought to informing golfers about course changes that have been made in the past.

Favourite holes here were the downhill 2nd (played to a green that sits behind a stream; the left doglegged 7th (where the approach shot is played uphill to the green); and back-to-back short par fours at the 14th and 15th (though there’s probably one bunker too many in front of the green on #15). There’s also a strong finish to the round with the par five penultimate hole rated stoke index 5 and the finishing hole rated stroke index 9.

Well worth a visit in conjunction with a game at one or more of the other clubs in the vicinity.

Jim McCann

Located in the south of the Czech western Spa-/Golf-corner, it is the oldest golf course in the Czech Republic with rich tradition, opened in 1905 by HM King Edward VII. In 2003 it has been granted the “Royal” title by HM Queen Elisabeth II, as one of the few courses outside Great Brittan. One of the first winners of the Czechoslavak Open played over this course was also Henry Cotton (in 1937). It is old parkland design with rolling fairways, most of them lined by trees and with intensive bunkering, but it is still a challenging layout for modern golf. It served multiple times as European Tour venue. The season here is bit shorter due to high altitude and location on the plateau of Slavkovsky Forrest almost 800 meters above the sea. Highlights are the short par 4 6th, dogleg left with the second semi-blind shot played steep uphill, long par 4 10th with the tree-lined bottleneck shaped fairway and short par 5 11th, a classic risk/reward hole, where the decision has to be taken on the tee. This course is in particular a great golf experience on sunny day late in September or early October, when the trees turn into various colours, contrasting with the green fairways.

I have played Marianske Lazne on 24 July 2015 and it definitely is not the best course in the Czech Republic. I could name Karlstejn, Konopiste, Benesov, Ypsilon, Ostravice and Celadna as the likely candidates. Marianske Lazne is not a challenging course - once you've played quality courses worldwide. There are maybe 2 or 3 interesting holes, the rest is just wide fairways, some bunkers, easy large greens. The greens were in an impeccable condition, while the fairways were not.

By far the best course we played in Czech Republic. Oldest course in CR and easily the prettiest and best conditioned we played. We were very dissapointed with other courses such as Casa Serena and Albertross but were pleasently surprised with this little gem. It had the feel of courses such as The Berkshire or Swinley Forest in the uk and was in great condition. Beautiful fairways and greens that were fast and true. A great day out with beautiful surroundings and great service. A must see.