Construction is under way on the first phase of a new 18-hole golf facility – Tosovice Golf Resort – at the Heipark resort near the town of Odry in the east of the Czechia.
Located around 35km from Ostrava, the country’s third largest city, the resort is established as a popular year-round destination, with a hotel and restaurant, plus a ski area and other facilities for use in both summer and winter. The golf course is planned to add to these facilities enabling the resort to attract more visitors. It is owned by the Hein stove and fire manufacturing company, which is based nearby.
English golf architect Jonathan Davison of Create Golf has designed the facility. When complete, it will include a nine-hole course and a nine-hole academy course. The resort already has a driving range and putting green, but these will be replaced by enhanced versions as a part of phase two of the project.
Davison said: “Heipark is already a great resort that is extremely popular with families from around the area. This project will enhance the facilities and make it even more attractive. Given the clientele, we anticipate that a lot of people will learn to play golf from scratch here – that is why we are doing the academy course as the first phase.
The site for the new course is around 49 hectares (121 acres) and, unsurprisingly given the resort is also used for skiing, is heavily undulated. “There is around 70m (230 feet) of elevation change on the golf course site,” Davison said. “That made finding the right routing especially important, so that the course can be comfortably walkable – we’re pretty confident we have a solution that will work, and golfers will enjoy the walk.”
The course will be built in-house, under Davison’s supervision, with the first phase expected to take between three and four months.
Hein manager Jiří Šindler said: “Golf has grown rapidly in the Czech Republic in the last ten-fifteen years, and it is a natural way to extend the appeal of our resort. We are delighted with the work Jonathan has put in, and we’re really looking forward to seeing the golf course finished and in play.”
The academy course should open in spring 2016, with the nine-hole course following the year after.
