Golf Stories

Golf & Ecology – a flagship project
The Montfort Rankweil Golf Park is a flagship project that demonstrates how golf and nature can coexist harmoniously. The golf park has deliberately implemented measures to have a lasting positive impact on the environment. Biotopes, ponds, lakes, seasonally wet ditches and twice-mown meadows have been created across the golf course. 1,500 trees have been planted and orchard meadows established. Beehives and insect hotels are being set up. Thanks to these newly created habitats, a wide variety of animal species are visiting or have settled here permanently. The golf park also sets an example in terms of water and electricity management. The various lakes, ponds and the stream are fed by groundwater and rainwater. For cleaning tasks, such as washing the mowers, a closed-loop system is being used for the first time in Austria, which biologically treats the used water. Energy requirements are met by photovoltaic systems on the clubhouse and the greenkeeping building. Control units have been installed to optimise usage during off-peak hours.

Pick-your-own fruit
Can golfers in Rankweil simply pick their own snacks straight from the tree whilst out on the course?
At least in the right season. Orchard meadows have been created with numerous old varieties of apples, pears, cherries and plums, and 150 standard trees have been planted exclusively with Walsch pears. A harvest of around 30 tonnes is expected by this year, with plans to produce their own juice, sparkling wine and schnapps.

Golf in Vorarlberg began around 30 years ago in the Montafon valley, in Tschagguns. And it was all down to Sweden.
A group of enthusiasts had brought the idea and a golf instructor back from Sweden and, on a tiny plot of land – where the current clubhouse and holes 1 and 2 are now located – set up the region’s first 9-hole golf course.

And the club is still successful today: the Montafon Golf Club has produced a national champion and a national runner-up from its own ranks in the form of Janika Rüttimann and Julia Unterweger.

Golfing in the Nagelfluhkette Nature Park at the Bregenzerwald/Riefensberg Golf Park – naturally – unique
The Nagelfluhkette Nature Park encompasses 14 municipalities in the northern Bregenzerwald and the southern Allgäu.
It covers an area of 401 square kilometres. The Nagelfluh Range consists almost entirely of countless large river pebbles that have been compressed into a conglomerate known as Nagelfluh. Stretching for 24 km, it is a magnificent natural phenomenon. The Bregenzerwald Golf Park is situated in the heart of the nature park. It stretches over 57 hectares on both sides of the Weißach river within the municipal areas of Riefensberg and Sulzberg.
To draw the attention of golf course users to the uniqueness of this natural and cultural landscape, a Nagelfluh rock garden was created at the tee of hole 10. An information board provides further details about the nature park. The rock garden has become a real ‘eye-catcher’ for club members, visiting golfers and also walkers between Riefensberg and Sulzberg.

Golfing in the mountains for that extra swing
The Lech golf course’s altitude of 1,500 metres above sea level has the advantage that balls fly around 10–15% further, which is sure to delight the odd amateur golfer. It is no coincidence that the slogan of the Lech am Arlberg Golf Club is ‘Golf at the highest level’. However, this advantage is more than offset by the idyllic River Lech and other strategic obstacles, making precise play essential. A real challenge for players of all abilities.

After more than 10 years of preparation, Austria’s highest-altitude golf course opened in 2016. Situated at an altitude of 1,509 metres, the Lech golf course lies in the beautiful and completely flat Zugertal valley and is accompanied for much of the way by the picturesque River Lech.