Jack Nicklaus at Golf Club Crans-sur-Sierre

The Jack Nicklaus course at Golf Club Crans-sur-Sierre occupies an elevated plateau in the Swiss Alps at approximately 1,500 meters above sea level, making it one of Europe's highest-altitude championship layouts. Nicklaus designed this course to complement the club's existing Severiano Ballesteros course, creating a second eighteen holes that takes advantage of the dramatic alpine setting in the Valais region. The routing works across rolling terrain with significant elevation changes and incorporates the natural contours of the mountainside.

The course plays through a landscape of alpine meadows and forests, with views extending across the Rhône Valley to surrounding peaks including the Matterhorn on clear days. The design emphasizes strategic shot-making in the thin mountain air, where distance control becomes particularly challenging as the ball travels farther at this altitude. Nicklaus incorporated water features and bunkering that require precision, while the mountain topography creates natural doglegs and blind or semi-blind approach shots on several holes.

Crans-sur-Sierre has long been known as a resort destination, and the club's two courses serve both members and visitors in a region famous for winter sports and summer golf. The Nicklaus course provides a contrast to the Ballesteros layout, offering a different test while maintaining the high-altitude character that defines golf in this part of Switzerland. The facility operates seasonally, typically from late spring through autumn, when weather permits play at this elevation.