Royal Bled Golf

Royal Bled is Slovenia’s oldest and largest golf facility, set above the canyon of the Sava River about 2 km east of Lake Bled, at an altitude of roughly 504 to 520 metres. The Karavanke mountains, the Julian Alps and Triglav form the backdrop, and Bled Castle comes into view from several holes. It is the first Slovenian course to be ranked among the world’s top 100 and Europe’s top 25.

There are 27 holes across more than 100 hectares, about a quarter of it woodland. The 18-hole King’s Course is the championship layout: 6,563 metres (7,177 yards) from the back with five sets of tees, generous landing areas off the tee, and greens defended by sand and water. The club notes that you will use every club in your bag, and it recommends the course for experienced players rather than beginners.

The 9-hole Lake’s Course, designed by Donald Harradine, is the opposite: shorter at 3,047 metres but tighter, with narrower tree-lined fairways over rolling ground that reward a careful strategy off the tee. It is open to golfers of all abilities.

The golf academy sits beside a driving range and short-game area facing the Karavanke range, with PGA professionals, TrackMan analysis and club fitting. Guests can stay on site in the King’s House, first opened in 1938 and now with ten renovated rooms, or the smaller Lake’s House with a pool and saunas, and eat at Restaurant 9, whose terrace looks over the course to Triglav and Bled Castle.

Building began in 1936 at the request of the Yugoslav royal court of Prince Regent Paul Karađorđević. Austrian Rudolf von Gelmini chose the site and drew the plan, which Hungarian architect Desedier Lauber completed, and the first official round of golf in Slovenia was played on the first nine holes in 1937. All 18 greens were finished soon after, but the course was abandoned when the Second World War broke out.

Donald Harradine revived and redesigned the course in 1972. After a full renovation between 2015 and 2017 it reopened on 1 August 2017 under the Royal Bled name, in the presence of Princess Jelisaveta Karađorđević.