Black Sand Golf Club

[George Freeman]

Does anyone have any information on this project other than the "generic" info found in this article?  

http://www.cybergolf.com/indexGenerator.asp?newsID=3795

The site looks amazing, seems to be "true" links land, and the black sand definitely throws a new twist into it...sounds like it could be a "one of a kind" course (pardon the cliché)

If I knew how to add a picture I would, but you can see one of the site here:

http://www.stevesmyers.com/Pages/currentprojects.html

I believe there was also an article about this project in the most recent "Golf Course Architecture" magazine, with a picture of the site as the cover, however I haven't read it.

(I apologize if this course has been the topic of a previous thread).

[Brian Cenci]

great setting, sandy soil, ocean on the right...looks like it would be pretty hard to mess up that course.

[George Freeman]

great setting, sandy soil, ocean on the right...looks like it would be pretty hard to mess up that course.

Brian,

On the contrary...

Similar to what Coore/Crenshaw said about Sand Hills: Considering the quality of the site, would anything less than spectacular be a failure?

[Brian Cenci]

If its not a great course then i would surely consider it a dissapointment.  There are certain sites that are really impossible to mess up or buidl a bad course on....this looks like one of them.

-Brian

[Paul Carey]

There was a cover article about the course in the last issue of "Golf Course Architecture".  Here is a link to the site but it is not available online:  http://www.golfcoursearchitecture.net/

It describes the engineering issues of stabilizing the dunes which I think still has a lot of work prior to construction.

PAul

[Brad Tufts]

This looks like outstanding land....I've been silently keeping tabs on Iceland golf, as Boston is only 4-4.5 hrs. by air from there...

[J Sadowsky]

Does anyone know what stay and play packages are going to run?  I think us east coasters might want to plan an outing.

[Brad Tufts]

from a google search...with pics...

http://apieeaterspeaks.blogspot.com/2007/09/black-sand-golf-in-iceland.html

[J Sadowsky]

Jeez. I'd almost miss the fairways on purpose.  That place is heaven.

[dsilk]

i married an icelandic girl and have been on and around the land many times... there are already some courses that have bandon- like property there...
couple of things to keep in mind-
although Iceland is green and Greenland is ice- bring warm clothes and good rain gear- the weather in Iceland will make scotland look like St Tropez...
that said, it is difficult to find a more friendly group of people
make sure and visit the hot springs- a geo -thermal mud bath of over an acre- very, very cool
SKOL
ds

[Jason Hines]

Does anyone know what types of cultivars they will be using for the fairways and greens?  The two courses I played while in Iceland had very thick greens with slow speed.  Curious if that would have an effect on the over all speed and firmness found in links golf.

Jason

[David Neveux]

This certainly sounds like an interesting and exciting project. The possiblity of playing virtually endless golf with the prolonged sunlight sounds absolutely fabulous.  Can you imagine waking up, playing 36 holes.  Taking a little nap and playing another 36 holes in the same day!!!   I'm curious if anyone knows what kind of travel expenses can be predicted?  (Cost of flight)  What kind of greens fee / accomadations cost could be expected for such a course in Iceland?

[Jason Hines]

David,

I am considering making the trip to Iceland again some day.  Iceland Air is the only carrier to my knowledge with service to Iceland.  They fly out of a few airports in the U.S. and I believe more people switch planes at Keflavic airport than clear customs.  However, the prices of the flights and accommodations in the past have always been similar to the rest of Europe.

Jason