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

Casey Jarvis (+2500)

I’m opening my card with Jarvis, who I’ve never bet before. He’s a two time winner on the season, winning both the Magical Kenyan Open and Investec South African Open Championship earlier this year. He followed those victories up with a runner-up performance at the Joburg Open, a 13th place finish at the Hero Indian Open and a 22nd place finish last week at the Soudal Open. He also played the PGA Championship recently where he made the cut, which is no easy feat. Jarvis is currently fifth on Tour in SG: APP, 11th in three-putt avoidance, 18th in both par-five average scoring and SG: PUTT, 44th in scrambling, 66th in driving accuracy and 113th in sand saves percentage. 

Antoine Rozner (+4000)

The savvy veteran of the DP World Tour, Rozner comes into this week in great form. He last played the Estrella Damm Catalunya Championship where he placed 17th. Prior to that he placed 29th at the Turkish Airlines Open, eighth at the Volvo China Open, missed the cut at the Joburg Open, placed 24th at the Investec South African Open, 14th at the Magical Kenya Open and ninth at the Qatar Masters. Rozner is currently 11th on Tour in scrambling, 18th in SG: APP, 19th in sand saves percentage, 36th in three-putt avoidance, 37th in par-five average scoring, 68th in SG: PUTT and 119th in driving accuracy percentage. 

Kota Kaneko (+5200)

This was my first click this week. Kaneko is currently first on Tour in SG: PUTT, no one is rolling the ball better than him currently. He is also third on Tour in three-putt avoidance, eighth in driving accuracy, tenth in scrambling, 12th in sand saves percentage, 58th in par-five average scoring and 85th in SG: APP. He was the runner-up last week at the Soudal Open. He missed the cut at the Estrella Damm Catalunya Championship but placed ninth at the Turkish Airlines Open, 19th at the Volvo China Open, 24th at the Hero Indian Open and 23rd at the Hainan Classic. I love this play and the value he offers this week.

Martin Couvra (+5300)

I'm still under the belief that Couvra is one of the premier young talents on the DP World Tour. Couvra is currently 17th on Tour in scrambling, 29th in sand saves percentage, 39th in three-putt avoidance, 40th in par-five average scoring, 59th in SG: PUTT, 61st in driving accuracy percentage and 65th in SG: APP. In other terms, he’s above average in each of the seven statistical categories I took into consideration this week. He placed 24th last week at the Soudal Open, tenth at the Estreall Damm Catalunya Championship, 43rd at the Turkish Airlines Open, 20th at the Hero Indian Open and ninth at the Hainan Classic coming into this week.

Richie Ramsay (+30000)

This is a massive number for a four time DP World Tour winner. I know his last victory was in 2022 at the Cazoo Classic, but he still knows how to get it done. He is currently ninth on Tour in scrambling, 11th in driving accuracy percentage, 53rd in sand saves percentage, 49th in SG: APP, 74th in par-five average scoring, 77th in SG: PUTT and 80th in three-putt avoidance. He missed the cut last week at the Soudal Open but placed 17th at the Estrella Damm Catalunya Championship and 18th at the Turkish Airlines Open coming into this week.