Wien

Located less than six kilometres for St Stephen’s Cathedral in the city centre of Vienna, the golf course at Golf Club Wien dates back to the start of the 20th century, with most of the holes contained within a racetrack.

The following edited extract is from Willie Park Junior: The Man who took Golf to the World by Walter Stephen:

“In 1901 the ‘Wien Golf Club’ was founded, and Willie Park was invited to lay out its course (but) the course in its present form dates from 1949 and was laid out by an Austrian, clearly influenced by the old course.

Because it is on an island the course is basically flat. River terraces are cut by old river channels, so that there are swells and some ponds and small lakes. There are not too many trees, and many of those are mature willows and Lombardy poplars.

The outstanding feature of Vienna is that holes 2 to 17 are within a racecourse, and that the last tee is on the inside of the track and the green is on the outside.

Every Willie Park course has fine qualities, and Vienna has plenty of these. It is beautiful and well maintained. Although the basic terrain is unexciting, it has a satisfying variety built into it.

But it also has a touch of excitement and exoticism, partly because the land is shared with a working racetrack, and partly because of the great city in which it lies.”