A billionaire, a soccer legend, and a retired auto racer have set out to build “the leading private club in the Salzburg region” of Austria.
The partners are Dietrich Mateschitz, Franz Beckenbauer, and Ralf Schumacher, who were described -– comically, almost ludicrously -– in a press release as merely “a group of local investors.”
Forbes says that Mateschitz, who helped to create the Red Bull energy drink franchise, is worth $3.7 billion. He’s built a David McLay Kidd-designed golf course on Laucala Island in Fiji, and he owns a Formula One race team. He bought an Austrian soccer team on the advice of a close friend, Beckenbauer, one of the greatest soccer players of all time. The third member of the group, Schumacher, is a former Formula One driver and the younger brother of Michael Schumacher, the famous auto racer.
These “local investors” plan to build Golfplatz Anif in the village of Anif, a close-in southern suburb of Salzburg. The 18-hole, 6,500-yard course has been designed by Robin Hiseman of European Golf Design.
