It’s been an exciting year at Diamond Country Club.
Not only have we entered the Golf World Top 100 Resorts in Continental Europe for the first time, which we are very proud of, but a number of exciting projects are set to take the resort to new heights.
We are dreaming big: our goal is to be number one in Austria, and to become one of the Top 10 golf destinations on the Continent.
The journey started in 2009 when our new owner, Christian Guzy, took over the resort and spearheaded a range of new investments and developments. Among them our second on-site restaurant, the Boathouse, opened in 2012; our golfers love it, but it’s also very popular for weddings, birthdays and parties. That development alone has introduced a wave of new customers to Diamond Country Club. In 2015, we also constructed 42 beautiful apartments, which was so important because it greatly enhanced our ability to host tournaments on the resort. These tend to cater for golf visitors day-to-day, meaning golfers have everything they need within the confines of the resort.
Over the next five years our big goal is to become a 45-hole destination, expanding our 12-hole course to sit alongside the 18-hole course and 9-hole public course, and we also have an incredible new spa development in the pipeline.
But it’s not just what we are doing on-site. Austria is booming: its economy is expected to grow by 3% this year, above the EU average, which gives us a very strong foundation. And we are lucky enough to be located just outside of Vienna – an amazing city that continues to attract tourists in droves.
Though Austria is a popular tourist destination, it doesn’t necessarily jump to mind for golf travellers, but it should. We have over 150 courses to choose from in a wide variety of environments, which is impressive considering the size of our country.
We are currently working together with 3 other courses in the region to promote the whole area to golf travellers. As all of the courses in our region are of a very different style, it makes for a great golf break, with the cultural delights of Vienna right on your doorstep.
Of course, the customer profile has changed locally, as it has at clubs across the world, with golfers getting older and less young families getting involved. However, we’ve made a considered effort to expand our membership demographic at Diamond. We have approached the problem proactively, introducing special memberships to encourage younger people to join, and it has been hugely popular.
We now have 150 junior golfers between the age of 8-18 and have developed a close relationship with both the young people and their parents, creating a great customer experience while showing parents that we care about their children too. It’s been a very successful strategy for us.
Hosting the Shot Clock Masters has also been very important for us strategically, as well as for the European Tour. It’s part of our methodology at Diamond to be forward thinking and progressive, which is why hosting this particular event and format is so important for us. The event captured a huge amount of media interest, not only in Diamond Country Club, but also in Austria as a holiday destination and golf destination, which is great for everyone.
Looking to the future, our drive is to become more and more experience-led, creating something truly unforgettable that draws visitors back year on year. Expanding our golf offering to 45 holes and bringing a luxury element with the new spa will be an essential part of that evolution. We will also continue to innovate and build on our successful junior / parent approach in order to expand our membership base locally, because, while enhancing the infrastructure is vital to our growth, so is establishing the new generations of customers to experience it.
By Christian Hieke
