This 9-holer sits in the Italian Alps (Dolomite region, near Corvara) at an altitude of 1700 meters (5100 feet) and is playable from June to October only. There's no clubhouse, just a wooden shack, where you pay your greenfee. There are no tee-times and you can play as many holes as you like. Although I would think that 18 holes are plenty, considering the elevation changes.
I absolutely loved this course. Teeing up on the first, the mighty Sassongher lies before you:
The course is used as a ski and snowboarding piste in the winter, here you can see the cables of the platter lift crossing the second fairway. Unlike many mountain courses, Alta Badia has glorious width:
Hole #5 is all laid out in front of you. If the mountain to the left seems familiar, yes, it's part of the well-known Sella massif. From the Passo Pordoi you can take the famous cable car to the top plateau at 3000 meters (9000 feet):
Second shot to the green, after making it through the gap. Plenty of width again, although the ondulations, as always, flatten out a bit in the photographic process:
Hole #8 is Alta Badia's small scale version of the Devil's Cauldron. Light conditions didn't permit me to capture the spectacular Sella and Marmolada glacier backdrop. The right part of the green is blind and I'm sure it makes for some interesting pin positions in the club championship:
Standing on the 9th tee, a longish par 4, I wasn't sure where there was supposed to be a golf course. Turns out you have to hit your drive over the trees to the left of the footpath - or lay up straight with a fairway wood:
After finding the fairway, the 9th green is straight ahead, but not straight forward to attack:
To me Alta Badia is the embodiment of a mountain course. While I haven't seen Banff or some of the other usual suspects, this is as good as it gets in Europe.
Ulrich