Golf Courses in Continental Europe and Scandinavia

[Declan Kavanagh]

Hey GCAers-

My girlfriend just got a job with a company based in Stockholm and she will be visiting the main office in June and I might be tagging along.  I know the courses of GB & I are very well documented and discussed but I wanted to see if there was a good thread on non-GB&I courses in Europe that you could point me to or if anyone had thoughts or suggestions on this topic.  I'm specifically interested in Northern Europe but curious  in general.

I found seven course overviews on the site already and can find what Google leads me to but I would love to hear thoughts and opinions on the matter.

Appreciate it in advance.

DK

[Martin Lehmann]

Hey GCAers-

My girlfriend just got a job with a company based in Stockholm and she will be visiting the main office in June and I might be tagging along.  I know the courses of GB & I are very well documented and discussed but I wanted to see if there was a good thread on non-GB&I courses in Europe that you could point me to or if anyone had thoughts or suggestions on this topic.  I'm specifically interested in Northern Europe but curious  in general.

I found seven course overviews on the site already and can find what Google leads me to but I would love to hear thoughts and opinions on the matter.

Appreciate it in advance.

DK

DK,

You'll find a lot of nice golf courses in Sweden. Modern tracks like Bro Hof Slott near Stockholm and in the southern part of the country PGA of Sweden, Barseback, Vasatorp and a hidden gem like Elisefarm. A beautiful old course close to Malmö is Falsterbo.

Denmark has nice course too, but I'm less familiar with them. In the northern part of Germany I can highly recommend Falkenstein near Hamburg, a fantastic Colt course. WINSTON is a great new club between Hamburg and Berlin. Especially the links designed by David Krause is spectacular. I'm a member there, so maybe a bit biased, but for me it is in the same league as Streamsong (I like it even more).

And then of course there are The Netherlands. There you'll find a stretch of great traditional links courses (Kennemer, Royal The Hague and Noordwijk). Fantastic inland courses are De Pan, Hilversumsche, Eindhovensche and Rosendaelsche. If you need more information, please let me know.

Martin

 

[Chris Haspell]

I Lived In Denmark for 11 years , All of Martins Picks In Sweden are great , and there are many more , In Denmark near the Capital you should go to Royal Copenhagen (DyreHaven) which is very special , The Scandinavian is nice if you can get on , Rungsted is fantastic, over on The mainland , Aalborg , Holsterbro, Fano, and Esbjerg are all worth a look as is Silkeborg.

On the Islands Falster is really Nice , St Knuds is nice on Fyn. There are also a lot of New RTJ courses and even a New Golden Bear course on its way so plenty of choice ,

Have a nice trip and hope this Helps

 

[Philip Spogard]

Hi DK.

In Denmark you would probably like the following courses if you are into the more classic courses:
Rungsted - (designed by Alister MacKenzies brother)
Holstebro - (heathland/inland dunes)
Esbjerg - (heathland/open)
Nordvestjysk GC - hidden gem in remote location (heathland with 40m deep inland sand dunes)
Royal Copenhagen GC in 'Dyrehaven' - the oldest club in Scandinavia I believe - but watch out for the rough!

Other courses which could be good but which I haven't been to in a while:
Helsingør
Silkeborg

You could also play Himmerland New Course which we renovated a few years ago and which now hosts the European Tour, Vejle where we renovated all 27 holes and Langesø which is opening up 9 new holes on a fantastic piece of land (to add to their existing 9) this summer.

I live in Denmark so let me know if you want more info.

Philip

[Adam Lawrence]

Denmark has nice course too, but I'm less familiar with them. In the northern part of Germany I can highly recommend Falkenstein near Hamburg, a fantastic Colt course. WINSTON is a great new club between Hamburg and Berlin. Especially the links designed by David Krause is spectacular. I'm a member there, so maybe a bit biased, but for me it is in the same league as Streamsong (I like it even more).

And then of course there are The Netherlands. There you'll find a stretch of great traditional links courses (Kennemer, Royal The Hague and Noordwijk). Fantastic inland courses are De Pan, Hilversumsche, Eindhovensche and Rosendaelsche. If you need more information, please let me know.

Martin

I'm in Germany right now, on the island of Foehr off the coast of Schleswig Holstein. The golf club here has 27 holes, and German architect Christian Althaus has just about finished rebuilding twelve of them to complement the third nine he built six or seven years ago. It's very nice and I think anyone who visits will enjoy it.

The next island up, Sylt, has three or four courses. The pick is Budersand, Germany's only true links, built among sand dunes on what was an old airbase. They ripped up the airbase, restored the duneland that would have been there beforehand, and created a really good links on the site. Right up there with Hamburger-Falkenstein in the quest to be Germany's best course.

Martin - I really must make it to Winston soon. I get so many contradictory views about it - some like you love it, others think it is just too crazy. It seems such an unlikely project - I know David well and like him a lot, but he really doesn't seem the kind of guy to build something so mad. Ah well, one day.