Switzerland’s Golf Club Crans-sur-Sierre Not too many golf courses let you touch the sky Photo By Pierre-Henri Mainetti
Golf bucket lists, we’ve all got them!
Full disclosure, as an addict of the game, I have more than a few lists cluttering up my fevered golfer’s brain. One of them is my “Greatest Shots in Golf History” list. Another one I’m trying to work through, catalogues some of the most scenic holes on the planet. Sometimes there is a crossover on my lists. When this happens, I usually shift into travel-mode and start booking flights and tee times.
My most recent bucket list overlap took me to Switzerland’s famed Golf Club Crans-sur-Sierre, one of the most jaw-droppingly beautiful courses in the world. If you’re a TV golf junkie, you’ll recognize it as the ravishing track high up in the Swiss Alps you drool over every September when Golf Channel broadcasts the Omega European Masters, one of the European Tour’s oldest and most prestigious golf tournaments.
The attraction to this magnificent alpine track was twofold. The first draw, a mind-blowing trick-shot made by the late, great Severiano Ballesteros at the 1993 European Masters. Draw number two – Crans-sur-Sierre’s breathtaking #7 – one of THE MOST stunning par-4s ever created.
Two hours by car from Geneva, or a three-hour ride from Zurich, Crans-sur-Sierre is a semi-private club with four courses to choose from. The jewel in this alpine crown is most definitely the majestic Severiano Ballesteros course, a track the legendary Spaniard re-designed in 1999.
At 5000-feet above sea level, Crans-sur-Sierre’s 6710 yard Ballesteros course, and its neighbouring 9-hole Jack Nicklaus track, sit on a stunning alpine plateau overlooking the Rhône Valley with heavenly views of some of Europe’s most iconic snow-capped mountain peaks like Mont Blanc and the Matterhorn.
Ballesteros’ sunny Spanish spirit can be felt on every fairway and green at this course, but it’s on the 18th hole that you truly sense the presence of the Iberian shot magician. If you listen closely you can still hear the haunting echoes of the crowd erupting at the scene of one of the most incredible shotmaking feats in the history of golf.
The year is 1993, Ballesteros is standing on the 18th tee during the final round of the European Masters desperately needing a birdie to have any chance at beating Englishman Barry Lane. Ballesteros slices his 3-wood right, and the ball ends up seven feet away from an eight-foot cement wall near a public swimming pool, under a thick canopy of tall trees. It’s at this point that the Spanish wizard begins to cast his spell.
When he reaches the ball, Ballesteros crouches down and spots a dinner plate-sized opening over the wall and through the trees. Casting aside his caddy Billy Foster’s pleas to chip it out laterally, Ballesteros pulls out a pitching wedge and miraculously threads the needle. The flight of the ball – a trajectory for the ages! A 130-foot wedge over the wall, through the trees, clearing the swimming pool, and then over another bunch of 80-foot pines twenty yards from the green. When the ball finally lands at the front of a bunker guarding the green, the crowd goes wild! But the magic isn’t over, Ballesteros’ next shot is a chip-in for birdie!
Lane would end up winning the 1993 European Masters tournament, but its Seve’s shot over the wall and through the trees that is etched in the annals of golf history. Look for the large standing stone with a gold plaque describing the magic on that day when you’re walking toward the 18th green, its holy ground you won’t want to miss.
As mountain courses go, the Ballesteros course is not excessively hilly and is easy to walk. The meticulously manicured greens were fast but fair when I played, not unexpected for a course that was prepping for a professional golf tournament in a few weeks’ time. My ball flight was about 15% longer than normal, which is not unusual for courses at high altitude.
The golf club itself dates back to 1906 and has a definite parkland feel on some holes, with an abundance of mature trees to bend shots around. But golfers don’t make the trek to Crans-sur-Sierre to pay homage to its soaring pines, they come here to play in the shadow of the towering Valais Alps that surround this incredible piece of golf real estate.
The smorgasbord of views begins as you check-in at the clubhouse and continues as you make your way to Crans’ state of the art driving range and its breathtaking backdrop of snow-covered Alps. As mentioned earlier, golfers with a bucket-list of scenic holes to visit need to make Crans-sur-Sierre’s Ballesteros No. 7 a top priority. Having seen this hole on television during the Omega Masters so many times, I freely admit it was a bit of a Holy Grail-like obsession for me.
#7 a 320 yard par-4 overlooking the Swiss Alps
The first clue that you’re about to be blown away by a golf course mountainscape unlike any other is on the tee deck of #6, a 313-yard par-4 drive down a green alley lined by giant pines. The view behind you is one of the best on the course, a high altitude alpine art gallery made up of rock and ice behemoths that stretch all the way to the Aosta Valley in Italy’s Piedmont region. Once you finish marking your card on #6, get your popcorn out for the glory that you will behold on Crans-sur-Sierre’s otherworldly #7.
This 320 yard par-4 is a dogleg right but is drivable if you’ve got length in your game. If you aren’t going for it, your second shot is an uphill approach to an elevated green guarded by a phalanx of bunkers on all sides. Some call this green “7th Heaven” and consider it the unparalleled Mount Olympus of alpine golf. The highlight of this iconic hole is an emerald-coloured infinity green with unbelievable views of the Weisshorn, one of Switzerland’s highest peaks. Surrounded by a congregation of chic wooden chalets nestled high above a picturesque Swiss valley, this green is golf heaven pure and simple, giving those lucky enough to experience it firsthand the sensation of walking on clouds above the mountains.
The top of the world feeling you’ll have after playing at Crans-sur-Sierre is best served cold with cocktails at one of Crans Montana’s hippest 19th holes, the Terrasse Valaisanne. Located in the posh Crans Ambassador hotel, this outdoor bar, complete with fire pit and unbelievable views of the Valais Alps, is something you won’t soon forget. Order a Mountain Breeze (Tequila, ginger, basil and lime) or a Maple-Sesame Old Fashioned (Bourbon, maple-sesame syrup & orange bitter), and drink in the scenery!
WHEN YOU GO:
Air Travel
There are a host of U.S.and international airlines that fly directly to Zurich and Geneva from all over North America. For this trip, I flew on Swiss (www.swiss.com) to Zurich.
Train Travel
https://www.myswitzerland.com/en-ca/what-is-swiss-travel-system.html
Tee times
For tee times at Golf Club Crans-sur-Sierre go to http://www.golfcrans.ch/en/
Accommodations
While in Crans Montana I stayed at the five star Crans Ambassador hotel, for reservations go to http://cransambassador.ch/en/