Out of the Rough: Austrian Alpine Open presented by Kitzbuhel Tirol (2026)

The DP World Tour continues on with its European Swing with this week’s Austrian Alpine Open presented by Kitzbuhel Tirol.

This week serves as the third stop in the European Swing as the Tour has already made stops at the Estrella Damm Catalunya Championship and Soudal Open.

The Austrian Alpine Open was once a mainstay on the DP World Tour’s Schedule, being held from 1990 to 1996 and then again from 2006 to 2021, with the exception of 2019. It also served as a Challenge (HotelPlaner) Tour event from 1997 to 2005. It returned to the schedule a season ago.

This year’s installment will be held at the Golfclub Kitzbühel-Schwarzsee-Reith. This will be the first time that the Golfclub Kitzbühel-Schwarzsee-Reith has hosted this event.

This event was played at the Gut Altentann Golf & Country Club a season ago.

The Field

As the DP World Tour continues its trek around Europe, a strong field will head to Austria this week.

Home favorite and four-time PGA Tour winner Sepp Straka will headline this week’s field. The PGA Tour house-hold-name will look to become the first Austrian to claim the Austrian Alpine Open title since Bernd Wiesberger did so in 2012.

The likes of Casey Jarvis, Mikael Lindberg, Daniel Hillier, Julien Guerrier, Calum Hill, Wiesberger, Freddy Schott, Eugenio Chacarra, Nacho Elvira and Adrian Otaegui help headline this week’s field.

Straka and Wiesberger will be joined by Maximilian Steinlechner and Lukas Nemecz as notable Austrians teeing it up this week.

Although at a different venue, Nicolai Von Dellingshausen comes in as the defending champion as he used this event a season ago as his maiden DP World Tour title. 

The Course

The Golfclub Kitzbühel-Schwarzsee-Reith plays as a par-72 at roughly 6,921 yards.

The course is surrounded by the striking panorama of the Tyrolean mountains and blends natural parkland with mountainous terrain.

The front-nine features a flat layout, including the fairways. The back-nine shifts gears as it features hilly terrain. The fairways on the back nine are hilly, undulating and more technically challenging.

There are also several challenging water hazards littered throughout the venue as well.

From there, golfers will hit onto the pristine greens. The greens are described as smooth and are slightly on the slower side. This will require golfers to fly the ball closer to the hole as run-outs on the greens will be hindered.

The slower greens will also cause fits to those with long putts. It could throw a mental wrench into things this week.

The greens are also heavily bunkered and are strategically placed. This adds to the importance of quality approach shots. 

The second hole at this golf course is the most challenging despite the flat and winding fairway. It is a par-four that plays 453 yards.

The signature hole here at Golfclub Kitzbühel-Schwarzsee-Reith is the “Mausefalle” or “Mousetrap” 16th. It is a daunting par-three that requires a shot over a small ravine. 

The Weather

As of the time of writing this Thursday calls for just a five-percent chance of precipitation. Friday is calling for just a ten-percent chance. Saturday is calling for a 35-percent chance of afternoon showers and Sunday is calling for a 45-percent chance of afternoon showers. Temperatures will begin the week at 75-degrees on Thursday before jumping to 80-degrees on Friday. From there, temperatures will drop to 78-degrees on Saturday and will finish the week at 77-degrees. Winds will be the highest on Thursday at nine miles-per-hour before dropping to eight miles-per-hour on Friday. The winds will settle to seven miles-per-hour across the weekend.

Key Stats

• Strokes Gained: Approach (SG: APP)

• Driving Accuracy Percentage

• Scrambling

• Sand Saves Percentage

• Three-Putt Avoidance

• Par-5 Average Scoring

• Strokes Gained: Putting (SG: PUTT)

Betting Card

Check back Monday (5/25) for my full betting card!