Villars Golf Club celebrated its centenary two years ago. Since its creation in 1922, it has trained many generations of players, some of whom are internationally renowned. The course, located at 1660 meters, enjoys an exceptional panorama of the Alps and Mont Blanc. The golf course occupies a well-exposed plateau on the heights of the resort. In the woods and the surrounding area, you can find many unique plant species and the presence of deer, marmots, young foxes and hares is clear proof that nature can thrive when the Golf manages the landscape properly.
This 18-hole, par 69, 5.288-meter Alpine course is open daily from May to November; it can be reached by car or train. In addition, the restaurant of the Golf Club Villars, with its splendid terrace, welcomes its guests, golfers or hikers, for tasty international cuisine.
The fields of the Villars Golf Club are home to a rich and varied biodiversity. Since Pierre Del Bono arrived as greenkeeper in 2009, Villars Golf Club has in fact initiated sustainable management of the site. In this sense, numerous measures have been implemented along the course and in its surroundings: installation of beehives, grazing of certain areas in collaboration with local farmers, use of organic fertilizers, fight against invasive species, etc. In its centenary year, the Golf obtained the GEO Label, the world golf certification that enjoys undisputed reliability. In addition to the environmental aspect, this label takes into account the economic and social pillars of sustainable development.
Pierre Del Bono and his team work in harmony with nature, with the aim of limiting human and chemical impact and promoting biodiversity, increasing the size of the plots on which cows can graze (and therefore more milk and cheese). The grass becomes thicker and does not require any mechanical intervention or the use of chemical fertilizers in favor of organic ones that can be used in organic farming. In addition, they use grass seedlings that tolerate lack of water, low fertilization and are less susceptible to disease.
The history of the Villars Golf Club began with a 9-hole course on the grounds of the Villars-Palace, which was acquired by Club Méditerranée in 1967, while the golf courses were sold as “building land”. In 1973, with the creation of the company Golf des Alpes Vaudoises SA, on the initiative of the Villars Tourist Office and the Municipality of Ollon, land was purchased above Villars, at Plan du Four, on the ski slopes, and construction work began immediately on a 3-hole, then 6-hole and finally 9-hole course (Harradin plans). However, it was not until the 18s that an 4508-hole, 68 m, par 1983 course was opened, an Alpine chalet was transformed into a Club House and an access road to the golf course was built. After a storm destroyed the first Club House in 1991, work began on setting up a new one in another Alpine chalet. The following years were characterised by various projects to expand the course and the construction of a new club house after the previous one was destroyed by fire in XNUMX. The new millennium marked the emergence of a new environmental awareness which manifested itself in continuous work to improve the course equipment, also to cope with climate change, thus making the Villars Golf Club increasingly suited to the high expectations of a qualified and demanding international clientele.
