Styria: Austria's latest destination

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger

Every year nearly three-quarters of a million Austrians head for the Loipersdorf Valley with its thermal springs, providing plentiful hot mineral water from beneath the local earth, home to a handful of golf courses.

In the shadow of the southerly rolling hills of Styria, which borders Slovenia, it was here where one of the Austria’s most famous sons, Arnold Schwarzenegger created a reputation as a body builder and ultimately a film star of whom his nation could be proud. A key incentive was to wipe away the memory of his father, who had been a Nazi police officer.

The region now has a further claim to fame as the birthplace of the Governor of California – a role the multi-millionaire film hard man added to his cv last year in a political landslide.

Schwarzenegger occasionally returns to his roots – close to the attractive, historic and romantic regional capital of Graz - to join the locals in savouring the spa water.

But from my brief experience he’s unlikely to find too much inspiration from the local golf courses, even though we’re told he regularly breaks the elusive 100-stroke barrier around several Californian courses where he’s a popular member.

Bad Waltersdorf

I played two Styrian courses, neither of which impressed. Bad Waltersdorf opened this year and measures only 5,700 yards and is pretty bland and featureless. Its saving grace is that it is built on one of Styria’s gently sloping hills so includes gentle elevations from tee to green, but its par-72 tends to flatter your score.

Thermengolf Furstenfeld looked a more serious proposition with its 27 holes dotted with bunkers and water hazards. With a corporate day taking priority, we were confined to the newest nine holes, opening with a challenging par-4 funnelling between a road and wood and with the green protected by a stream. The elevated second hole was quite difficult but the rest flattered to deceive, failing to make full use of the river, which snaked beside it. Mosquitoes were also a constant menace.

Thermengolf Furstenfeld

As for Styria's spa delights, I can see brownie points being accumulated from ‘the other half’ at the thought of it, but locals apparently prefer to do their healthy dipping without any kind of swimwear, so let this be a word of warning!

Ryanair is starting low cost flights to Graz, giving Britons a chance for a relaxing weekend with a partner to try the local cuisine and taste the wines of the region.

I can recommend the ‘pushenshank’ restaurants, exclusively flavoured with local produce, including the beers and wines. They’re so good, and the vineyards and breweries so small, that very little leaves the region, let alone Austria.

Food is typically Germanic, wholesome and inviting. With almost every menu featuring pumpkin – as a soup, in sauerkraut with a main course, drizzled as oil on salads or as a strudel or mousse dessert. And pumpkin chocolate tastes better than it sounds.

	The Golfmagic Verdict
Rating: 7/10 Verdict: My first impression was to consider the golf in this region merely as a bonus. It didn’t match up to the golf offered in the Lakes and Mountains region of Austria around Salzburg, but at least it’s good to know that golf is being promoted as an attractive ‘add on’ to the gastronomic delights.

	Fact file
Flights: Ryanair fares from a few pence (the lowest I found was 29p!) plus taxes of £31 return. Hotel: Life Resort, Loipersdorf. Three-night half-board from (£233) per person including massage, solarium, use of spa and airport transfers. Golf: Bad Waltersdorf, (£34) weekends, (£27) weekdays; Thermengolf Furstenfeld, (£40) weekends, (£36) weekdays. Tourist information: Styria Styrian Tourist Board and Austrian National Tourist Board.

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