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By Bill Fogarty Just out of playing range, between the 17th and the 18th holes on the Unterseen/Interlaken golf club, at least 20 deer make their home. And, as an added bonus, golfer’s sensations will be tweaked by the sights and sounds of the Thun Lake, just behind the deer’s playground, with the further breathtaking backdrop of the beautiful mountain range made up by the Eiger, The Monch and the Jungfrau. All this and their favorite sport/pastime/social life too. In case you are rummaging through the closet for your clubs and stuff, let me hasten to add that you will not be able or permitted to play this marvelous, scenic and difficult hole, nor holes from number 10 through it, until at least August of this year. But yours truly had a bit of a treat recently. So much the better for you as a visitor to this website, I am going to share this significant insight with you. Here’s how it all came about. I would like to introduce you first to John Chilver Stainer, a guy I have known for some years. We met in Zermatt where he played a number of musical instruments and sang with a group called the Slaves of Jazz. He is a qualified civil engineer and put his considerable skills and obvious creativity to work on classic ships, hotels and now, with some great success and mounting recognition, to the design - and in the case of Unterseen/Interlaken, - redesign, of golf courses. I looked him up in Interlaken in the hopes of a dinner and some good wine and to rekindle an old and warm relationship. I got far more knowledge and insight than I bargained for. We met in the restaurant of the Unter/Inter golf club (if I get lazier I’ll call it the UI golf club,) had a snack and the usual pleasant banter between two friends that have not met in a long while. Then I was asked by John if I would like to join him while he showed the plans for the redesign of holes 9 through 18 to Sylvia, the lady that is responsible (I hope I get this right) for the ratings on difficulty or lack of same of Swiss golf courses. Hey, it was a pleasant and warm spring day, why not? I am at the very best an extremely casual, infrequent and horrible golf player. Notice please I did not say golfer. I play at it, very rarely. But the knowledge I got from eavesdropping on the hole-by-hole explanation John was providing Sylvia, plus the stimulation provided by learning a new and popular subject, highlighted by the inner peace that one gets when surrounded by mother nature at her finest and most spectacular, made me feel very fortunate indeed. What a great opportunity. Sylvia’s feedback and knowledge caused John to go into great detail on each hole, and I was the benefactor. But I digress. I wanted to tell you about the changes being made to one of Switzerland’s oldest and-dare I say it-most predictable golf courses. Not any more Tiger, not any more. As I see it, as I understood it, the old course was rapidly outgrowing its charm and unpredictably. If I have it right, UI golf course favored long straight hitters, and required much more in the form of brawn rather than brainpower. OK, but no longer. John has used his creative prowess to redirect the player’s game somewhat from brawn power to gray matter. And from what I heard of the conversations between himself and Sylvia, John is redesigning the look and feel of the old course into, if not exactly a polygamous relationship between course, player and the beautiful surroundings of lakes, mountains, animals and birds, then one that certainly appreciates, respects and enjoys the other. Ah if human relationships could only go that far. New bunkers and lakes abound. Some holes are made more difficult, some relatively easy, but as far as I gathered all will require some thought, some choice and a large dose of risk and reward. How good are you? How confident are you? But as a rare golfing animal I got the greatest appreciation from the surroundings and the TLC that went into the arrangement, the relationship, between man and nature. I also wondered (aloud?) if the members and frequent players to the Unterseen/Interlaken golf course were truly appreciative of the beauty in which they could pursue their sport. What a great place and what a way to improve it. The holes mentioned above open in August if all goes to plan. This writer has neither the expertise nor the plans to give you a detailed description of each hole. But I strongly suggest that if humanly possible you grab your clubs and look for yourself. Even if you play as badly as I you will still have a memorable day out. Bill Fogarty is the CEO of The Activelifestyle Travel Network, (www.activelifestyle.com) producers of www.alpinegolf.com, www.luxuryalpinedestinations.com, www.thailandgolfmaps.com, and 100 other travel orientated www.domains. He can be reached for comment on this article at bf@activelifestyle.com. |