Crans sur Sierre, an exclusive Swiss resort town, is located on a very large plateau, high up in the Alps. This rather unique geographical situation provided enough manageable terrain for the design of a European Tour course (used for the European Masters since 1939). So the Ballesteros course (formerly called Plan Bramois) is basically a parkland layout that just happens to be in the mountains.

The altitude makes for a distance advantage of about 10%, so the course plays much shorter than its yardage suggests. Although the routing flows rather smoothly, the location in the middle of a tourist development cannot be concealed. There are a number of interesting holes that aren't typical Tour material and the greens can be very tricky. The scenery is great for a Tour course, but falls short compared to other courses in the Alps.