Royal Bled is the oldest course in Slovenia, founded in 1937 closed during WWII until it was reopened in 1973 (designed by Donald Harradine). Recently it was acquired by a family who invested 15+ million euro's to completely redo the facilities, renovate the clubhouse and realise a complete overhaul of the 18 holes championship course. Under the supervision of Howard Swan the tee-boxes and greens where all replaced, the fairways redone including all the bunkers and water hazards. The nine holes Lakes course is also a full size course and is expected to be renovated as well. During this massive renovation they added 10 luxurious rooms in the clubhouse and 4 more in a dependance.

The result is a high end experience catered by very friendly service orientated staff in a very nice atmosphere surrounded by beautiful materials. Everywhere you look you see that budget was no issue and top quality was chosen.

Now about the course, we started on the tenth, which is quite a tester to start with a 120 meter (I think they made shorter for the tournament, because there were plenty of tee boxes behind us:) par 3 with a semi island green surrounded for 90 % by water. The 11th and 12th are laying next to the Lakes course then you go on top of a hill to play the 13th par 3. The view at the tee of the 14th is amazing looking down in to the valley you see the fairway of 14 and the par 5 16th coming right at you. Waterhazards in the middle two great holes, especially the 16th where you are really tempted to set up your drive to far left. The 18th is a nice hole the green however was a bit over the top in undulation especially with the speed of these greens there are places on the green where a 2-put is practically impossible.

The front nine starts with a fairly easy straight par 4 always nice to have a nice warm up hole. On hole 2 however you really need your A game, a long dogleg left, par 5 that requires 3 great shots, or a fantastic draw as a tee-shot. Hole 3 is a nice par 3 where hitting the green is basically the only way to make par. The tee box on 4 is a bit cramped, the only place on the course where the space was a bit tight and the out of bounds left makes this a challenging par 4. Hole 6 is a short blind par 4 where you should hit an iron of the tee otherwise you will be in water. Really nice hole proves that short par 4 can be very interesting Hole 8 was my favourite, it’s a slight dogleg left and the view at the green with your approach shot is wonderful. Very natural and beautiful with the trees and bunkers. Hole 9 would also be a great finishing hole in my opinion the elevated tee box a nice fairway and nicely undulated green in front of the clubhouse.

So a perfect day in a beautiful place, the ambition at RB is to be a top facility in the world I think they are well on their way, only minor things I would change in the course is a little less white rocks (the look a bit unnatural here) in the water hazards and around some greens (like the ones at the green of the first and in the water between 14 and 16) for the rest I would shave of a bit of some greens, like the 18th just to keep the course more in balance. In the clubhouse, driving range, pro-shop and rooms I wouldn’t change a thing they are really excellent.

All in all this venue is a beautiful stop close to the pittoresk city of Bled, a place where you could easily spend a long weekend in the nice rooms above the clubhouse. The memorabilia from basically all the Masters winners of the modern times in the clubhouse shows that the owners are really golf lovers and enhances the great atmosphere. The cosy clubhouse feels like a warm living room and a lovely place to relax after a round.

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