Your golf specialist in Austria

Golf Austria stands for golf holidays in cosy golf hotels in the most beautiful Austrian golf destinations. Your friendly hosts are enthusiastic golfers themselves and offer you the perfect surroundings for playing and enjoying golf. Attractive green-fee reductions, high-quality rental clubs, a flexible shuttle-service and special offers for golf-beginners are only some the special perks the Golf in Austria hotels guarantee their guests.

Golf Austria is a holiday specialist group of the Austrian Tourist Board. All 80 golf hotels and 45 golf courses implement the 33 quality criteria, therewith they can be presented at the specialist for golf holidays in Austria.

Golfing in Austria really is a pleasure. The variety of landscapes, the nature, the top golf courses and last but not least all the additional delights that accompany a stay here: the food, the culture, the activities, the hospitality.

There are a few Austrian specialities golf-wise you probably won't have on your list of expectations when coming here and might find surprising – if not: strange. So to make you familiar with the conventions here in Austria, we've put together some "how-to" advise:

You need to have an official permission to play on an Austrian golf course, the so-called "Platzreife" The "Platzreife" can be described as the minimum handicap or the point where your handicap suggests that you are mature (= that's the "reif" in "Platzreife") enough to be let out into the golfing world. A handicap of 54 is definitely common in Austria as we don't stop counting at 28. So don't be surprised when talking to players with such a high handicap. It's not that unusual and doesn't necessarily imply that you are talking to a complete golf idiot.

Etiquette really is an issue here. Rules, regulations, politeness – you name it. Beginners can have a hard time remembering every rule that applies on the golf course (at least theoretically). The good news: etiquette doesn't equal stiffness. It's true, there are still some very traditional golf clubs where you still feel some sense of superiority in the air but in general it has become much more informal to play golf in Austria.

There are some really pleasant surprises though: Austria's alpine landscape (yes, beautiful mountain panorama views to enjoy but no, generally courses are not steep but quite flat). And then there's the thin air that comes along with this alpine climate. Why that is an advantage? Because golf balls tend to fly 10 % longer than they would surrounded by "normal" air. At least that's what' being reported.

Just come, try and see yourself!