Hey, it's Jen from Dream Prague. I'm here at the Czech Masters at Albatross Golf Course just outside of Prague and if you're interested in learning how to golf in Prague then this videos for you. Okay, confession. When I filmed that intro it was August 2019 and to be honest, I really wasn't a golfer. But my husband was. I'd gone to a few golf tournaments
in the Czech Republic. I'd taken some ugly whacks at the driving range. And I'd caddy for him which essentially meant that he'd carry his own bag and he'd tell
me about the rules of golf. Mainly, I did the bare minimum so I didn't end up as a golf widow. So close. And he'd put off playing golf for seven years— basically since we moved to Czech Republic. We heard there was some sort of
card you had to have and so he kind of put off looking into it, and he wasted a lot of time.
But there's something about being locked in your apartment all winter… and then March… and then April… to make you really long for a good walk spoiled. One of the few outdoor activities that we've been able to partake in during quarantine is to go to the chipping and the putting greens and so we've been doing that as much as possible and I've really gotten hooked. And I think this is the year that I'm gonna start taking golf more seriously. So in this video, I'm gonna explore my options for golf in the Czech Republic There are over a hundred golf courses
in the Czech Republic and that's up from only five courses back at the end of communist times in the late 80s. The Communist Party considered golf to be unsuitable for the working class and so they did not encourage it and they tried to shut down some golf courses and the golf courses that existed had to really fight to stay open during that time. But the first golf course in the Czech
Republic predates even Czechoslovakia. It all started with a Czech man named Jiří Stanislav Guth-Jarkovský.
He founded and became the first president of the Czech olympic committee. In 1896 he attended the first [modern] Olympics in Athens, and there he met many athletes of different sports and he came back
really enthusiastic about the game of golf. Reportedly, while travelling in London and Paris, he picked up some golf clubs in shops. He brought them back to Prague in 1898 and those clubs were purportedly the first of their kind in
what is now Czech Republic. He gave them to some hockey and tennis players and they would practice playing golf on a little island that is in the Vltava River
called "Císarská Louka" meaning the Emperor's meadow.
Something about swinging a big stick at a ball must have come naturally to them. If you've ever been up to Vyšehrad and looked down into the Vltava, you've probably glimpsed the island. Right now the golf area is called Cinda, and you can practice putting, chipping, and they've got a double-decker driving range there. The first nine-hole golf course was in Karlovy Vary and it was created in 1904 because international guests who used to come to go to the spa wanted to play golf. The following year, another course was
opened up in Mariánské Lázně and it was such a big deal that King Edward VII came down for the opening ceremony. He not only supported the club financially, but he was one of the first members. In 2003, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II of England gave this golf course in Mariánské Lázně
the privilege and the right to use Royal Golf Club in its title. And now it's called "Royal Golf Club Mariánské Lázně," and it's the only golf club outside the Commonwealth to be able to use that title.
So all of this seems very delightful, very fancy… But how did the rest of us golf? What about regular Joe's or regular Honza's? Fortunately I have a Honza here to tell
you how he did it. In order to play on any golf course you have to prove that you have a handicap of 54 or better. You could do this with some official documentation like a membership card in a foreign golf
Association… but I didn't have that so I had to take a nine-hole test with a golf professional. So first I found a golf course near me, and on their website they had a list of qualified golf professionals. I contacted the pro directly and set up the test. He had played golf in the United States at
college, so his English was perfect. On the day of my test, I played nine holes.
He walked along and assessed my abilities. He also tripped me up with some
questions about the rules of golf— which are the same as in the United States, but I didn't know all the answers. (You could still pass if you don't know all the answers.) He was making sure that I could keep up the pace of play, which is about 10 minutes per hole and that I knew the rules and the etiquette of the course.
The tests cost 1000 crown plus green fees for the nine holes. When I passed the test, I was able to get my Czech green card (or what they call now the handicap 54 card). I then joined the club where I took the test — Hodkovičky in Prague. They took care of the registration with a Czech Golf Federation for me. So what if you're a beginner like me? I'm certainly not ready for a nine-hole test. If you're a beginner you can go to BAVSEGOLFEM.CZ and learn more about opportunities near you for beginners to train and work their way up to a handicap 54. There are some great courses in the Czech Republic, many of them designed by world-famous course architects. So what if you're a tourist in Prague and you want to play golf while you're visiting Czech Republic? Say, under a castle? I've got the perfect course for you.
Karlštejn Castle is only an hour drive from Prague. It was the castle built by the Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia Charles IV in the 14th century and it's where he kept his jewels and holy relics. And if you're a foreign tourist, you
don't need your green card to enjoy a day of golf with an epic castle view. As long as you can play with approximately a 46 handicap, Karlštejn Golf Resort will welcome you to visit and play their course. I'll put the information in the link below. If you're a tourist looking for a golf adventure in the Czech Republic, there are tour companies specializing in private golf trips and they can get you access to courses like Albatross, home of the European tour, even if you don't have your green card, as long as you play golf on a regular basis and respect the rules and the etiquette of the game. I'll put their contact information below. And no, this video is not sponsored I just
want to make it easier for you to explore the golf scene in the Czech
Republic.
So, bye! See you on the course. (nice shot!).