Snowgolf

With the mild temperatures around (today we’ll have 8-12 degrees Celsius in Berlin), year round golfing isn’t really a problem anymore (global warming, anyone?). Golf on snow came out in the last couple of years as a special event in skiing regions in Austria and Switzerland. Meanwhile, you’ll find even permanent snowgolf courses like in Gstaad for example.

I will give it a shot at the Snowgolf World Championship 2007 in Abtenau, Austria as well as the Ice Open 2007 in Hamburg. The latter is a charity golf tournament, taking place at my home club Gut Kaden, host of the Deutsche Bank Players’ Championship.

n-tv’s report on the 2006 Snowgolf Classics in Abtenau

For those of you who’d like to take a more serious approach at snowgolf, there is only one place to go: the Ice Golf World Championships to be held in Uummannaq, Greenland. 600 km north of the Arctic Circle golfers from across the globe travel to a hard and extreme tournament for the coveted title of The World Ice Golf Championship. Extreme temperatures that can fall to minus 50º C with the wind-chill factor, players will face a challenge both physically and mentally. Organisers say that there is an unlikely risk of losing a ball to a polar bear. Let’s hope so.

Another interesting event – although it is not really snowgolf but the combination of snow and golf – are the Ski & Golf Wold Championships in Zell am See, Austria. The competition combines two giant slalom runs on the Kitzsteinhorn glacier and two rounds of golf on the course of GC Zell am See. Eligible are Ski- und Golfprofessionals as well as amateurs with a handicap of -18 or better.

Snowgolf dates:

28th Chivas Snow Golf Tournament in St. Moritz, Switzerland
11. – 13. January 2007
www.engadin.ch

12th Snowgolf Tournament in Tarasp/Vulpera, Switzerland
27. – 28. January 2007

SNOWGOLF World Championship 2007 in Abtenau, Austria
2.- 4. February 2007
www.snowgolf-wm.com

16th Winter Golf Tournament in Arosa, Switzerland
3.- 4. February 2007
www.arosa.ch/golf

Snowgolf in Gstaad, Switzerland
11. February – 12. March
9 hole course and driving range
www.gstaad.ch

14th International Ice Golf Tournament in Weissensee, Austria
15. – 17. February 2007
www.weissensee.com

Ice Open 2007 in Hamburg, Germany
24. February 2007
www.after-work-golf.net

Ice Golf World Championships in Greenland
22. – 27th March 2007
www.greenland-guide.gl/icegolf

Ski & Golf World Championships 2007 in Zell am See, Austria
16.- 20. May 2007
www.skigolfwm.com