Dark times are here

[Jari Rasinkangas]

Here are some pics from Oulu golf course taken at noon yesterday.  The temperature was -22 Celsius (-8 F).  




 
As you can see the sun is very low at this time of year here near the arctic circle.  The length of the day is only 3 h 30 min.  

Fortunately in the summertime it is totally opposite.  The sun hardly sets at all.  Golfing all night long.  

Merry Christmas and Good Golfing Year 2006,

Jari

[Tom Jefferson]

Thanks for the beautiful photos, Jari.

I always liked winter in the mountains of Northern California, when the snows would come and blanket the course I managed.  The stillness was out of this world.

Where do you live?  Where is the course?

Tom

[Jari Rasinkangas]

Tom,

I live in Oulu, Finland.  Oulu is a seaside town in central Finland located on the western coast of the Gulf of Bothnia at the northern part of the Baltic Sea about 200 km south from the Arctic Circle.  See more info here: http://www.ouka.fi/english/index.asp.

The Oulu Golf Club has 36 holes 15 km east of Oulu.  

Jari

[Tom Jefferson]

That's a really well done website of Oulu.  Thanks.

It the Oulu Golf Club a modern course?  
Who is the designer?

What is your occupation?
What do Oulians do in the darkness of winter?


Tom

[ForkaB]

Super pictures, Jari.  Thanks.

I always have thought that a light covering of snow highlights the real features of a golf course.  Can any of you snowbound East Coasters/Mid Westerners get out and take some snaps of of some of our faves under the snow?  You know what we mean, Pine Valley, Shinnecock, etc.

PS--it's 7 hours of daylight here in Fife and rising now that the Solstice has passed.  53 degrees today but overcast.  Probably not good enough weather to take out the sticks, particularly since I haven't yet started my Christmas shopping....

Merry Xmas to all, even those of you who don't worship any god or worship one(s) which others think might be "wrong."

'Tis the Season to be Jolly, and Thoughtful, and Tolerant and Thankful.

[Jari Rasinkangas]

Tom,

Oulu Golf Club was founded in 1964.  We had two other courses that had to be abandoned.  The present course was opened in 1992.  It is designed by Ron Fream of Golfplan - Fream and Dale Golf Course Architects, Santa Rosa, CA.

I am currently working on golf course design and construction.

Even though there is not much light outside you can do all the winter activites e.g. skiing, skating, snowmobile driving etc.  The cross country tracks and downhill skiing slopes have lights.

People are used to the darkness but many take short vacation trips to the lands of sunny and warm.

Jari

[PThomas]

nice pictures Jari!...but don't spread that around, cause I hate winter!!

merry xmas

[John Pflum]

People are used to the darkness but many take short vacation trips to the lands of sunny and warm.

Jari

I'll bet it's hard to come back after those trips.  

Awesome pictures.  Do you, by chance, have full size originals?  Those might look really nice printed out and put in a frame.  

PS -- Tom, the weather here sucks.  

[JLahrman]

This is an outrage!  When are they going to quit overwatering these courses?

I agree with you Rich, snow tends to highlight a lot of the more subtle features of a course.  Nice pics Jari.

[ForkaB]

Thanks JAL

Here's an unreconstructed Old Tom Morris hole that shows how his architectural skills progressed from a "Valley of Sin" to a "Valley of Infernal and maybe even Eternal Damnation."

http://www.royaldornoch.com/graphics/winter/1st%20Struie.jpg

[Adam_F_Collins]

Looks like a perfect occaision for those Nike black balls...

[Mike Benham]

Look at the bright side, at least it isn't windy

Happy Holidays to our friends way up north ...

[Rick Shefchik]

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all from the 11th tee at Oak Glen Golf Club in Stillwater, MN. (Many Finns settled in these parts -- the reason is obvious.)

[George Pazin]

I like the land movement in Finland better than its counterpart in Minnesota.

[Gene Greco]

Merry Christmas to you as well, Jari.

Thanks for sharing such stunning pics.