Andrea/Cara here, As many of you may have noticed, some of us Wenches have gallivanted hither and yon this summer and have been taking you on a virtual tour of our travels to historic places. (Trust me, your armchairs are SO much more comfortable than airline seats, and you don’t have to stand in security lines!) I’m going to continue the peregrinations today, but with a slightly different twist. I’m the resident Wench “jock,” so today instead of visiting castles or museums or Viking ruins, we’ll be taking a peek at some sporting history!
I just returned from playing golf at the oldest course in Switzerland (and the seventh oldest course in continental Europe.) The Engadine Golf Club, located a short drive from the legendary mountain resort village of St. Moritz, is not only set in a breathtaking beautiful setting, but it also has a fascinating history . . . so let’s tee it up and hit the fairways!
It all started with a letter. In 1890, the local St. Moritz newspaper published a letter—signed simply as “a golfer”—asking why there wasn’t golf in the valley to provide a summer sporting activity for visitors. A good question, thought Conradin Flugi von Aspermont, a local entrepreneur who was a pioneering force in bringing tourism to the remote Swiss mountains. During a visit to Great Britain, he had fallen in love with the game, and decided to bring a piece of the “auld sod” to the alpine meadows of the Engadine region. (The Engadine is a picturesque high valley that runs through the eastern Swiss Alps)
The neighboring village of Samaden granted permission to the Hotel Bernina, now the legendary Badrutt’s Palace Hotel, to build an 18-hole golf course. (If you ever want to splurge on a memorable travel experience, I highly recommend Badrutt's. It's one of those historic grande dame hotel with glorious amenities and discreet service that makes you feel like royalty . . .even when you're not!) The first 9 holes were finished in 1891, and the first little white balls flew into the mountain air on August 15th. The yearly membership cost 25 Swiss francs, and visitors could play for 1 franc.
The Engadine Golf Club was founded two years later, in 1893, and in celebration held both a men’s and women’s tournament. (I looking at old photos, I decided that the women win not only style points but have some very powerful-looking swings. I’d like to see their scorecards matched up against those of the men!) Prince Henry of Prussia was an early member, and the Duke of Windsor, another avid golfer, was also a frequent visitor, both before and after his abdication.
The Swiss canton of Graubünden (or Grisons) really changed the game in 1923, when it voted to allow touring and luxury cars to travel on certain roads. St Moritz (population 710) and Samaden suddenly were suddenly more accessible to visitors,a and their glorious sunshine, and year-round outdoor sports soon made them the darlings of the . . . well, not quite jet set—but that was to come. St. Moritz hosted the Winter Olympics in 1928 (and again in 1948) and soon became the gold medal favorite destination of the glitterati. Today it’s an iconic enclave of uber-chic (I was picked up at the railway station by Badrutt’s Palace’s vintage Rolls-Royce, whose previous owner was Queen Elizabeth!)
And yet, despite all the hoopla, the Engadine Golf Club retains its rustic charm. Until 1984, cows continued to graze loose on the fairways. However it became so costly to clean up the droppings, that the club decided it was cheaper to pay the farmer to take their cows to munch elsewhere! (Like atop a mountain! As you see, I was doing chocolate research! No wonder Swiss goodies taste so good!)
So that’s a very quick glimpse at one of the countless hidden little gems around the world that have a fun backstory. Which brings me to a personal aside . . . I know there are a lot of people who think golf is a silly game so you may be wondering why I’m talking about it? Well, allow me to explain.
For me, golf and a good book have a lot in common. Open the covers and turn to the first page—this is, start walking down the first fairway, and suddenly the nuances of language start to draw you in. Language in golf means the landscape itself. Every course is different, and its setting—ocean, mountain desert, parkland—is its genre. Within that genre, the individuality—the contours, the subtle slopes and dips, the twists and turns—speak in an infinite variety of voices.
A famous golf architect has written a book called Listening to the Land, and the best courses do just that. They fit in and use the topography to challenge, to inspire and yes, to bedevil a player. I love how the game makes you look at the terrain more closely. You need to be aware of the wind, subtle tilt of the greens and how that will make the ball roll. Is there dew on the grass or is there water nearby, which affects the grain of the greens because grass bends toward water? You have to be in the moment and really LOOK. So few things these days encourage you to do that.
And in between hitting the ball, you have time to walk and appreciate the way the light dances through the tall grasses, and how the birds fish in the lagoons. I love the challenge of trying to execute a shot. But most importantly, I love how it connects me to Nature and encourages me to take a deep breath and be aware of everything going on around me.
So what outdoor activity are you passionate about? I’m not a gardener (I don’t have the patience) or a fly fisherman (it’s a little too passive for me) but I understand the passion to those activities. I love hiking for the same reason I love golf. Now it’s your turn to wax poetic about what moves you about the outdoors!
