Crans
Origin of the name Crans
The place is also called Crans-sur-Sierre. The meaning of the name Crans remains unexplained.[1][3]
Founding of Crans
Crans grew up on pastures of the Haut-Plateau. When tourism began, the land belonged to the municipalities of Lens, Chermignon, Montana and Icogne, then very poor and living mainly from farming. The resort formed around a palace hotel, set up in a former clinic, and a golf course laid out on the neighbouring pastures. The village of Crans now belongs to the municipality of Lens, which owns part of the Crans-Montana resort, while the golf course lies in the municipality of Crans-Montana.[2][3][4][7]
History of Crans
1905. The Valais hotelier Albert de Preux and the British missionary doctor Henry Lunn buy a bankrupt clinic and turn it into a palace hotel (1904 according to another source). The pastures west of the hotel are prepared for golf.[3][4][5]
1906. The first nine holes open, laid out by the Britons Freemantle and Gedge. It is the resort's first course.[3][4]
around 1906-1908. A refreshment stall run by two inhabitants of Chermignon becomes the forerunner of the Hôtel du Golf.[4]
1908. The next nine holes open: the course now has 18 holes.[3][4]
1914. With the war, the British leave the Haut-Plateau and the course is abandoned.[3][4]
1917. Construction of the Hôtel du Golf resumes to house war internees, mostly French.[4]
1921. The hoteliers Elysée Bonvin (Hôtel du Golf) and Albert Bonvin (Beau-Séjour) create a nine-hole course for their guests.[3]
1924. The Golf-Club Crans-sur-Sierre is founded, with René Payot as its first president.[3]
1929. In July, the new 18-hole Plan-Bramois course opens.[3][4]
1939. The Swiss Open golf tournament is played on the Haut-Plateau for the first time. In 1983 it takes the name European Masters.[3][5]
1951. In July, a second nine-hole course opens on the Les Xirès ground.[3][4]
1988. Remodelled, the Les Xirès course reopens as the Jack Nicklaus Course.[3][4]
1997. Crans-sur-Sierre, Montana-Vermala and Aminona start joint tourist promotion.[1]
2002. The Plan-Bramois course is named after Severiano Ballesteros.[3][4]
Historic sites in Crans
Crans-sur-Sierre golf course. Course begun in 1906 on the pastures west of the palace hotel. The 18-hole Plan-Bramois course, opened in 1929, has borne the name of Severiano Ballesteros since 2002. The nine-hole Les Xirès course, opened in 1951, became the Jack Nicklaus Course in 1988. The golf course lies in the municipality of Crans-Montana.[3][4][7]
Hôtel du Golf. Grown out of a refreshment stall run around 1906-1908 by two inhabitants of Chermignon, its construction resumed in 1917 to house war internees. The 1921 nine-hole course started and finished at the hotel.[3][4]
Sources
- Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse, « Montana » (Hugues Rey, version du 12.01.2017)
- Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse, « Lens » (Serge Praplan, version du 13.03.2017)
- Golf-Club Crans-sur-Sierre, « History »
- Crans-Montana Life (magazine), Pierre Ducrey, « Le golf a 100 ans ! »
- Crans-Montana Tourisme & Congrès, « Historique »
- Office fédéral de la statistique (OFS), STATPOP, chiffres provisoires au 31.12.2025, via citypopulation.de
- geo.admin.ch, service de recherche de swisstopo (Crans)
Other villages near Crans
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