Travel Caddies

The Royal Castle

A flight of little more than two and half hours will take you to the city of Krakow in Poland, an architectural beauty that’s more than a match for the nearby Prague

Krakow is one of few Police cities to avoid bombings during the war.  It has therefore retained many of its fabulous buildings including the Koscio Mariacki (St Marys Church).

There’s plenty to see and do with Wawel Castle and Auschwitz two more entries for our ‘must do list’.

Incredible as these places were – particularly the experience at Auschwitz – our venture into Eastern Europe was to sample the fairways of Krakow Valley Golf & Country Club.

The set-up is stunning and boasts excellent standards of golf and hotel accommodation.  Not only does it present an amazing course with natural beauty it gives five teeing areas from professional to beginner.  No matter what level your game is at you’re in for a real treat. The course was designed by American Ronald Fream and gives it the feel of a Scottish links with rolling fairways and massive greens surrounded by a dense, thick forest with elevated greens and high challenging faces.

The complex also boasts central Europe’s largest golf teaching academy and offers exceptional opportunities for beginners and those seeking game improvement.

Buggies, trolleys and clubs are all available for hire at very reasonable prices along with an impressive driving range.

Due to the hills and undulating fairways a buggy is advisable.  The course will offer the lower handicapper a stern test off the back two tees or a great experience for the beginner from the front.  With four rounds of golf in three days I still wanted more, that’s just how good the course is and no doubt why they play the Volvo Masters Amateur there along with the Polish Open (the biggest Open tournament in the country) and the annual Poland –Czech Republic match.

This is a place for all golfers to stay.  You will never have played a course or visited a place quite like this – you have to see it to believe it. To make your trip even more pleasing the club boasts something I have never seen at a golf venue – a professional shooting range.

Take your Smith & Wesson rifle, pistol, or, as I preferred, a Glock 17 and shoot till your heart’s content.

The range’s staff will arrange a shooting competition for our society following your golf.  If this is still not enough, horse riding is also available on the site or, if it’s a winter visited an added bonus of Krakow Valley is that it possesses a ski –lift next to the 18^th green for access to winter sports.

To top off your round of golf, shooting or horse riding why not catch a beer or three in what seem to be a pint and a half glass for the equivalent of about £1 sterling.  You will need a good feed too and I recommend the local favourite, goulash, which I must say was delicious.  What more could a golf want?

The staff are a happy bunch and are ever willing to help.  We had a lot of laughs with them all even if we did have to play a game of charades at times to make ourselves understood!

The complex offers corporate conferences with golf packages and with a restaurant boasting interior decoration of the middle ages, the fireplace, wooden tables and armours on the wall gives you a treasured feeling. An average three course meal and a bottle of wine for two at the 3* Krakow Valley will cost you an amazing 100 Zloty which works out about £17.

The Royal Castle is worth a visit – preferably before you hit the hotdogs (Polish traditional vodka shots).

A visit to the Salt Mine was also planned but too many hotdogs the previous night put paid to that!

There’s something for everyone from galleries full of exhibitions, restaurants, pubs, clubs, cafes and this is just the tip of the iceberg.

The restaurant we visited ‘Szabla I Szklanka’ is definitely a tongue twister.  It’s also a ‘must visit’ as the foods lovely and don’t panic the menus is translated into English

We took a visit to take in the tragic events of what happened in the Second World War to see the Auschwitz – Birkenau memorial and museum in Oswiecim.  Admission to the grounds is free of charge; however you can have a guided visit for about a fiver.

Twenty –five million people from all over the world have visited the museum and memorial and you can see why, this is a great part of history which is well worth seeing – beware though it is quite moving too.

I never thought the home of the late Pope John Paul II would provide such an amazing opportunity. Not only can you come and play a championship golf course, you can experience things you’ve never done before like shooting, horse riding and visiting wonderful historical places.

For golfing packages to Krakow Valley Golf & Country Club call golfbreaks4u Tel: 0800 098 8302

Overview of Prosper Golf Resort

The Czech Republic is probably better known more for its ice hockey.  Prague and more recently football than golf, not for much longer as Prosper Golf Club Celanda is like a concealed precious stone rather than a hidden gem as we say, tucked away in the Beskydy Mountains to the north west of the former Eastern Block country. 

You may be surprised to learn that there is a long tradition of top quality golf in the Czech Republic.  The first golf courses were established in the west of Prague in the early 1900’s. Furthermore, across the country golf clubs have boosted many international and European PGA tournaments and Prosper is looking in 2008/09.  The Prosper Golf Resort complexes has two championship standard 18 hole courses.  The Old course and the New course designed by European tour and Ryder cup player, Miguel Angel Jimenez and what a place to put your name to. 

This place is breathtaking as it is completely cocooned within the Beskydy Mountains and the views are spectacular, but most importantly the courses are equal to the views, not a bad combination. 

The Old course has wonderful picturesque settings with challenging tree lined fairways and holes with big greens that will test any golfer. Three of the four par fives are designed where accuracy is more important than length as they meander quite stunningly through the trees.

The par 4 12^th hole sweeps from an elevated tee leaving you with a second shot to an elevated three tiered green with surrounding  pine trees, but while taking your second shot you cannot help but stand and admire the Old courses signature hole. I’m thinking of my tee shot for the 15^th on the 12^th fairway as its quite a spectacular green hole with a cascade water feature , it makes my second shot to the 12^th feel a whole lot easier. The aforementioned 15^th hole on the Old course is worth the visit alone, however it has 17 others just as good.

The New course starts off with a Scottish links “feel” with some tightish Out of Bounds lines on the front 9 holes; this is quite a strange feeling when you’re in the middle of a mountain. The back 9 is quite different to the front and is a similar style to the Old course, yet which ever hole you play out of the 26 holes you will be surrounded by pure natural beauty. Hole 18 on both courses finished in front of the modern alpine featured club house with more spectacular water features and some cracking traditional food and beer awaiting you – a pound a pint! 

The Golf Academy has an impressive 24 – bay driving range with chipping and putting areas. The attitude of the place is amazing, with friendly happy people, without any stuffiness whatsoever.

Pablo Novo Hojas, the Head Pro has caddied for Seve Ballesteros and is heading to Birkdale next year for the open qualifiers.  He brings such an element of fun to the place with his happy positive attitude and the place has a party atmosphere like no other golf club I’ve seen. 

Accommodation is four star and you have a choice depending on the size of your group and needs. Groups of up to 10 wanting self catering can stay at the Mountain Golf Hotel which sits nicely in between both courses and includes Jacuzzi baths, massage showers, electric blinds, kitchen facilities, a conservatory and balcony.

The Mountain Golf Hotel, located within a stone’s throw of the club house accommodates larger groups on a B&B or Half board basis.  This is much different from the normal sized twin rooms in the UK.  The place is luxurious and spacious.

If the golf is not enough for you, passing the 9^th hole on the Old course you will notice the horse ranch where you can saddle up, or, if you are more of a lover of mad adrenalin sports, try a tandem paragliding flight for £85. At the local aqua park you can swim, slide and sunbathe away if you are looking for something a little more relaxing that is involves beer and food, well you’re in for a treat no matter what level you want to take it to – literally.

Take a 40 minute cable car trip to the top of the mountains where you will find 7 pub/restaurants with sites that are truly exceptional – this trip can be done by taxi if the cable car is not your thing.  

Silvie Golova, the marketing PR for Prosper kindly invited us for dinner at the Libusin restaurant in the Pustevny mountain range of Beskydy.  A large main course meal and a pint costs about £4.00 and the food is delicious. This is most definitely worth the trip and the scenery and view are awesome. Depending on what rocks your boat when not playing golf, why not take in a bit of Czech culture and visit the wooden town of Valachian and the museum in Roznov Pod Radbostem.  The local town of Frydek – Mistek has a Spanish restaurant La Bodega, the Irish pub, Jiny Svet,  a disco and the Depreso bar are just some of the places you will find on a night out down here. 

If drinking/eating in the mountains is not your cup of tea then get yourself down to Stodolni Street in Ostrava, where you will find more than 70 pubs, clubs and restaurants. If you do decide to venture out here, leave it until about 9.30pm as that’s when most people tend to arrive.  It has everything for everyone of all pages, Bastila, Sherlock Holmes, The Drink, The Dublin and Deparados bars are the ones I can remember being in!  Don’t plan golf early the next day unless you like only having a couple of hours sleep as Stoddy Street will be kicking until 6am and can be hard to pull yourself away from.

What makes this place special is the high level of English they all speak and the ironic thing is the identical northern sense of humour these people have. I’d call it heaven!

Visit www.golfbreaks4u.com for further information…

A course that wouldn't be out of place anywhere !

As a Tour Operator, we decided to look away from the traditional golfing destinations and look at countries that offered our clients more value for their hard earned pound. After a trip to Kraków Valley Golf Club and visiting the magnificent city of Kraków, we knew that Poland ticked all the right boxes when it came offering our clients the perfect golf break. We have to be very careful about recommending new places because if anything goes wrong it is the tour operator who normally gets the blame, especially when it is an unfamiliar golfing destination! The criteria we look for when choosing a golf course to promote are; value for money, cost of essentials like accommodation, eating out, and what the group can do after the golf – but the most important box to tick is the standard of the golf course. After all it is a golf trip. Kraków Valley Golf Club ticked every box and left us wanting more. In our opinion, the hardest part is convincing golfers that Poland has great golf facilities and that visiting Poland is a real adventure, one which they will enjoy immensely. “Isn’t it too cold to play golf in Poland?” or “do they have 18 hole golf courses?” are typical reactions we get when we suggest Poland as golfing destination.

Having booked through Premier Golf a number of times, Pat Flannery tells us why he decided to visit Poland again. “We first visited Poland as a group in 2008 and everybody enjoyed the trip to Kraków. Normally out a group of 25 people, four or five don’t enjoy the trip as much as the rest of the group. However, not one person complained about anything and we were all pleased how much value we got for our money.” Pat added “When it came to choosing our 2009 trip, we didn’t think twice about choosing Poland again. We made a call to Premier Golf who, after a discussion about our exact requirements, recommended a golf tour near Gdańsk.” The golf tour to Gdańsk incorporated a stay at two local hotels and three rounds at the Gdańsk Golf & Country Club in Postołowo, just outside the city, which is ranked by Golf Digest as the best golf course in Poland. It is a very interesting course with a number of holes that wouldn’t be out of place on any of Europe’s top courses.

Read The Magazine Article Here