New Golf Courses in Austria, 2026
The honest answer is that no major new course is opening in Austria in 2026. The real golf story is bigger than that: the DP World Tour is back, and one of the country's best loved alpine courses has been rebuilt to championship standard to host it.
Photo via Google.
The honest picture
Austria has never been a country that builds golf courses by the dozen. Its golf grew up alongside its ski resorts, tucked into the valleys of Tyrol, Salzburg and Carinthia, and the appeal has always been the setting more than the sheer number of layouts. So if you came here hoping to plan a 2026 trip around a grand new opening, we would rather tell you plainly that there is not one on the calendar this year.
What there is instead is arguably more significant for the traveling golfer: the return of top tier professional golf to Austria, and the championship makeover that has come with it. After the DP World Tour came back to the country in 2025, the spotlight in 2026 falls on Tyrol, where an established alpine course has been rebuilt to host one of the most scenic events on the schedule. That is the development worth knowing about, and the reason to look at Austria afresh.
What is actually new in Austrian golf, 2026
| What | Where | Status in 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Austrian Alpine Open | Kitzbuhel, Tyrol | DP World Tour event scheduled for 25 to 31 May 2026, after its 2025 debut at Gut Altentann in SalzburgerLand |
| Kitzbuhel-Schwarzsee-Reith upgrade | Kitzbuhel, Tyrol | Championship redo for the event: six new tee boxes, five new bunker areas and a new par 3 18th built as a stadium finishing hole |
| DP World Tour return | Austria | The tour has been back in Austria since 2025, raising the country's golf profile |
The headliner: Kitzbuhel goes championship
A famous resort, a rebuilt course
The center of the action is the Kitzbuhel-Schwarzsee-Reith course in Tyrol, which hosts the Austrian Alpine Open from 25 to 31 May 2026. To meet DP World Tour standards, the course has been expanded and toughened, with six new tee boxes and five new bunker areas added to stretch and reframe the test. The signature change is a new par 3 18th, conceived specifically as a stadium hole so that spectators wrap around the green for the kind of electric finish that big championships spend years cultivating.
It is a smart use of one of golf's great backdrops. Kitzbuhel is among the most famous resort towns in the Alps, and the region already offers four courses and 54 holes of golf, so the tournament gives a glamorous, walkable host venue a genuine moment on the world stage. For visiting golfers, a course built to host the pros, in a town built for visitors, is an easy place to base a trip.
Why the tour's return matters
The bigger picture is the DP World Tour's renewed presence in Austria. The Austrian Alpine Open debuted in 2025 at Gut Altentann in SalzburgerLand, the elegant Jack Nicklaus designed course near Salzburg, before moving to Kitzbuhel for 2026. That kind of rotation puts a spotlight on Austria's alpine golf that no single new opening could match, and it tends to lift conditioning, access and investment across a destination. For golfers, it is a signal that Austria is worth a serious look even in a year without a ribbon cutting.
Our take
The honest way to sell Austrian golf in 2026 is on scenery and quality rather than novelty. You will not be playing a brand new course, but you can play a freshly upgraded championship venue in one of the most beautiful corners of the Alps, in a town that knows exactly how to host visitors. Pair Kitzbuhel with the established courses of Tyrol and the Nicklaus layout at Gut Altentann near Salzburg, and you have the makings of a memorable alpine golf week.
Our advice is to build the trip around the mountains and the towns as much as the golf, since the driving between valleys is part of the pleasure and the off course offering is world class. Our Austria destination hub and the best courses in Austria list are the places to anchor the plan, and our team can fold the Kitzbuhel venue and the Alpine Open dates into a wider trip if a tournament visit appeals.
Plan an Austria golf trip
Want to build a 2026 trip around alpine golf in Tyrol and Salzburg, with the option of catching the Austrian Alpine Open? Tell us your dates and group and one concierge will shape the route, tee times and lodging, costed to the head, with no obligation.
Austrian golf, your questions
Are any new golf courses opening in Austria in 2026?
There is no major new ground up golf course confirmed to open in Austria in 2026. The country's big golf news for the year is the return of the DP World Tour through the Austrian Alpine Open and a championship standard upgrade to the Kitzbuhel-Schwarzsee-Reith course in Tyrol, rather than a brand new course.
What is the Austrian Alpine Open?
The Austrian Alpine Open is a DP World Tour event. It debuted in 2025 at Gut Altentann in SalzburgerLand and moves in 2026 to the Kitzbuhel-Schwarzsee-Reith course in Tyrol, scheduled for 25 to 31 May 2026, marking the tour's return to Austria.
What changed at the Kitzbuhel golf course for 2026?
To meet DP World Tour standards, the Kitzbuhel-Schwarzsee-Reith course was upgraded with six new tee boxes and five new bunker areas, and a new par 3 18th designed as a stadium style finishing hole to wrap spectators around the green.
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Researched and written by the GolfForKings editorial desk. The 2026 status of Austrian golf, the Austrian Alpine Open and the Kitzbuhel course upgrade compiled June 2026 from Austrian golf and tournament announcements; event details can change, so confirm before planning. Last reviewed June 2026.