
Jack Nicklaus Course
Golf Club Crans-sur-Sierre

About this course
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.
Quick facts
- Location
- Crans-sur-Sierre, Valais, CH
- Access
- Public
- Year built
- 1988
- Designer
- Jack Nicklaus
- Holes
- 9
- Par
- 35
- Length
- 2,495 metres
- Difficulty
- 34.6/139
Getting there
The journey to Golf Club Crans-sur-Sierre begins at Geneva International Airport (GVA), roughly two hours east through the Rhône Valley, or via Sion Airport for those arriving by private aircraft into the heart of Valais. The drive climbs steadily from the valley floor, switchbacking through alpine forests and vineyard-terraced slopes until the road emerges onto the sun-drenched plateau above. Here, at nearly 1,500 meters, the air sharpens, the peaks of the Matterhorn and Monte Rosa command the southern horizon, and the elegant resort village of Crans-Montana unfolds - a rarefied world where Swiss precision meets alpine grandeur, and the clubhouse awaits amid some of the most breathtaking mountain golf terrain in Europe.

FAQ
Common questions about Jack Nicklaus at Golf Club Crans-sur-Sierre
Ratings, design, and course details pulled from Course Vaults.
Jack Nicklaus was designed by Jack Nicklaus.
Yes. Jack Nicklaus at Golf Club Crans-sur-Sierre is listed as welcoming public or guest play on Course Vaults.
Par at Jack Nicklaus is 35.
Jack Nicklaus plays 2,495 metres from the back tees on Course Vaults.
The slope rating at Jack Nicklaus is 139.
Jack Nicklaus is a 9-hole course.


