Ahead of the second D+D Real Czech Challenge Open, europeantour.com goes inside host venue Golf & Spa Kunetická Hora – home of one of the country’s longest layouts and this week’s test for the Challenge Tour’s best…
Designed by 14-time European Tour champion Graham Marsh, the 7,337 par 72 layout, located 95 kilometres to the east of Czech capital Prague, was opened six years ago in 2007 and first hosted the Challenge Tour for the inaugural edition of the D+D Real Czech Challenge Open in 2012.
The course, based in an area of environmental protection, is spread over 140 acres of land and built on 15 metres of ash pile sourced from a local power plant and deposited in the area over a period of 45 years.
There is plenty of history in the area, too, with the resort standing in the shadow of the nearby 15th-century Kunětická Hora castle, from which the golf and spa resort takes its name.
Course management is at a premium as the course winds around two lakes – one large and one small – while Kunětická Hora is also well-known for its numerous and distinctive bunkers – one of which stretches over 140 yards.
Michel Voigts, course superintendent at Golf & Spa Kunětická Hora, sat down witheuropeantour.comto provide the inside track on what the Challenge Tour members will face this week in Czech Republic…
Overview
“It’s a long, modern track with fairly generous fairways but the rough and semi rough are quite penal and can make it tough-playing if you are not accurate from the tee,” said Voigts. “There were low scores last year (Andreas Hartø won with a score of 24 under par in 2012) but the weather conditions were perfect whereas this year they could be tougher and therefore harder scoring.
“If you want to score on this course it is through the par fives generally, while if you walk away from the par threes with par you will be happy. For example the 17th is very long and normally into the wind, so sometimes I even have to use the driver if it’s blowing that much so it can be quite hard to score on those.”
Greens
“I would say there are two types of green on this course. The easier greens can be found on the harder holes, while the more difficult, undulating greens are on the easier holes such as some of the par threes. They will be running above 10 feet on the stimp meter so it could be quite difficult to score on them this year as there are lots of options for some tricky pin positions.”
Special Features
Bunkering
“The variation in height across the course is at the most only three or four metres, so when Graham was designing the layout he thought one way to make the course more interesting and more difficult would be to put in some very interesting and large bunkers. There are over 95 across the course but one in particular – on the 13th – stretches over 140 yards and has 15 tongues jutting out of it, all with five or six fingers each, too, so it looks very much like a flower. Some of them might not be in play for these great players but they provide a distinctive feature for the course.”
Key Holes
“We have two holes in particular that offer both conservative and heroic options in terms of the way you can approach them.The 11this 656-yards long from the championship key and is certainly one of the signature holes on the course, but most memorable is probablythe 16th(588 yards) the par five which winds around the big lake, and it is an excellent strategic hole. If you need to score you can go for the green in two shots and when you do get up to the putting surface there are lovely views. On the front nine, the seventh(545 yards) is also a par five and offers strategic options but is certainly an eagle opportunity. If you can birdie and eagle the par fives all week and make pars at the short holes you will be right at the top of the leaderboard for sure.”
Weather
“During the last two weeks we have had more than half a year’s worth of rainfall, including 150mm in three days last week, but thanks to the soil and the construction on top of the ash we have an excellent drainage system and the course is still in very good condition. There are lots of closures at others courses in the area so that shows how resilient Kunetická Hora is and I hope it will provide a great venue for the players again this year.”
How it played last year
Voigts’ suggestion that the par fives and par threes are where the D+D Real Czech Open could be won or lost at Kunetická Hora ring true when held up against the scoring averages and winning performance of 2012.
Hartø, en route to his three shot victory last year, played the four par fives in nine under par over the week, while he negotiated the four tricky par threes in five under par – not making bogey on a short hole throughout the tournament.
At the testing 224-yard 17th, ranked most difficult hole in 2012 at 3.14 after 66 bogeys or worse were made on it during the week, the Dane made three pars before signing off in style with a birdie in the final round.
With nine eagles yielded last year, the long seventh provides the best scoring opportunity on the course so players will be disappointed to walk away with par – or worse – here when the second edition of the D+D Real Czech Open begins on Thursday.
