Story credit: DiscGolfWorldTour.com

With just one day to go before the 2016 Konopiště Open tournament action kicks off, it’s time to take a look at the famed Franz Ferdinand course. The original course design at Konopiště was done by top Czech disc golf promoters Lukas Filandr and Premysl Novak for the inaugural edition of this tournament in 2013. For the first 2 years the layout remained untouched, other than changing the order of the holes for the 2014 event to move tournament central closer to Konopiště castle from near current hole 9.

Remaining somewhat of a hidden gem as far as European disc golf courses and events go, the Konopiště Open served as the top tournament for the players of the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria and other neighbouring countries during it’s first two editions in 2013 & 2014.

Moving up to the big league

In 2015 Konopiště Open took its first big leap forward as a part of the PDGA EuroTour. The first ever EuroTour event on Czech soil filled up fast and many speculated that the event was almost like the 2015 European Championships, boasting a full 144 player field and a total of 14 nationalities. For the 2015 edition, The Konopiště Open tournament director Premysl Novak decided to call in Discmania CEO and course designer extraordinaire Jussi Meresmaa to give his prized design input to the course.

Fast-forward to present day, the Konopiště is the inaugural Disc Golf World Tour event on European soil and the Czech disc golf fans are treated to following the likes of 4-time disc golf world champion Paul McBeth and former distance world record holder Simon Lizotte battling on their home soil. For the 2016 event, the course has coined a new name, The Franz Ferdinand Disc Golf Course, after the Austro-Hungarian prince who’s famed residence was the Konopiště castle, located right next to the course.

The Konopiště castle is located right next to the Franz Ferdinand disc golf course

2016 layout changes

The 2016 edition of the course has also seen some changes since last year, as more length has been added to more than two thirds of the holes. Additionally holes 4 and 12 have changed quite dramatically with the first one now requiring a lot more of a controlled drive to reach and the latter one transforming from a ~100 meter par 3 to a 201 meter par 4 with an OB pond to cross before reaching the green.

The green of hole 12 sits behind a pond.

“The Konopiště castle park is what every disc golf course should look like”, smiles the DGWT director, Jussi Meresmaa. “This type of environment is basically a dream for any course designer out there, and any player too for that matter”. Anyone who’s been on the course can concur – the rolling hills, centuries old trees and sunlit meadows create an environment so unique for disc golf that you really have to be on site to begin to grasp the full beauty of the course.

Hole graphics

Click on the image for full sized map.

Course photos as well as hole-by-hole graphics can be found on the Disc Golf World Tour website, showing the detailed layout of each hole on the Franz Ferdinand course.