Royal Golf Club Mariánské Lázne

Overview: Royal Golf Club Mariánské Lázně is a historic parkland course in the Slavkov Forest, created for the international spa community of the old Marienbad. Robert Doig of Musselburgh designed the original layout, which uses gently rolling ground, small greens and surrounding conifer woodland to create a precise, strategic test. The course is mostly level, but its compact greens and carefully placed hazards reward controlled approach play rather than brute force.

History: The club was founded in 1904 and its original nine-hole course was ceremonially opened in 1905 in the presence of King Edward VII. The course expanded to 18 holes during the interwar period, and the club later restored its independent identity after the political changes of the late twentieth century. In 2003, Queen Elizabeth II granted the club the right to use the title Royal.

Did You Know? The course is one of the few golf venues outside the Commonwealth to hold a Royal title. Its relationship with the British royal family began at the opening in 1905, when Edward VII attended the ceremony, and the connection was renewed nearly a century later when the modern Royal designation was granted.