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Extreme Golf on the Glacier

The spring-like temperatures have already woken some golfers out of their hibernation and on 28 March the VOLVO XC GOLF CHALLENGE, a top-class golfing tournament for around 30 specially invited guests took place 2,500m above sea level. Instead of playing on the usual green, the golfers played Extreme Golf at the Volvo XC Golf Challenge in white snow at the Kitzsteinhorn glacial ski resort.

29 March 2009, Kitzsteinhorn, Kaprun

Professionals, amateurs and celebrities took on the unusual challenge. Several guests, including Michael Konsel, Oliver Stamm and Michael Hadschieff, also stayed on for a night of adventure in the sleep igloos at the Volvo XC ICE CAMP presented by Nokia.

“Fore!” was the cry around the Kitzsteinhorn on 28 March. Several skiers shook their heads in wonder as they skied past people with golf clubs walking around in the snow. Who would expect an Extreme Golf tournament in a glacial ski resort? The first Volvo XC Golf Challenge saw around thirty invited guests, including Michael Konsel, Oliver Stamm and Michael Hadschieff, going putting in the snow and establishing the first scores of the season.

Appropriately enough for an Extreme Golf tournament, the Kitzsteinhorn showed off one of its toughest sides. The 2-person teams and 4-person flights – in the spirit of the Volvo motto “Life is better lived together” – played in beaming sunshine but against strong winds. An unusual course awaited the winter golfers. The first six holes were played indoors in the ICE CAMP’s four main igloos, the next three in a sheltered valley. Gerhard Karl and Jelle Zandveld performed best and can be proud of their first place overall. The individual winners were Oliver Stamm and Armin Härdlein.

Anyone looking for something a bit more relaxing could enjoy the chilled ICE CAMP atmosphere in the Ice Bar and the really hardcore could ignore the wind and take to the loungers on the sun deck. A selected group stayed on for the highlight of the day – a night of adventure in the sleep igloos. Here they discovered what it means to enjoy the fabulous ICE CAMP programme: after doing archery together, eating a meal from a mini-grill called a “Tartar’s hat”, going for a walk under the stars and relaxing in the whirlpool or barrel sauna, the adventurers could snuggle up, cosy in reindeer furs and thermal sleeping bags, in one of the seven sleep igloos.

For more information about the Volvo XC Golf Challenge and the XC Ice Camp, please visit www.ice-camp.at.  

For more information about the Volvo Masters Amateur in Austria, please visit www.volvo-masters-amateur.at