Visby Golfklubb

[Charles Lund]

I've had some curiosity about visiting Stockholm, with partial Swedish ancestry, and adding it as one of the last major cities in Europe that I haven't visited.


I'm taking my golf clubs and have times lined up at the two Bro Hof Slott courses and Ullna.  I'm not interested in driving much farther than 30 miles from Stockholm.  I came across Visby GolfKlubb in Gotland, about a one hour flight from Arland International in Stockholm.  It's ranked very high in Sweden rankings and on an island in the Baltic.  There is a world heritage site there too.  I was thinking about getting in rounds on two days there with an overnight stay in Visby.  Gotland is an island in the middle of the Baltic Sea. 


I've been to the area in Sweden that is close to Copenhagen a few years ago and played a few courses there.


Just curious about what anyone here might know about it.


Charles Lund






I arrive on a Saturday in Stockholm and fly home to Seattle the following Saturday. 

[Tom_Doak]

I picked out Visby a few years ago as a place to see for the last volume of The Confidential Guide, it looked like a beautiful setting for golf.  And that was before they put a lot of money into it recently.  It would probably be my first place to see there now.  There is also a course in the Aland Islands - another beautiful site that was recently re-built with high hopes.

[Charles Lund]

I'm going to fly out of Arlanda in the morning and see the World Heritage Site and try to get a tee time after 15:00.  I will stay overnight and get a morning tee time and maybe play the short course and fly back to Stockholm in the evening. 


Fifteen years ago I saw the Barnbougle Dunes website.  In 2008, I knew I was retiring late in the year.  I flew out from LAX and connected in Melbourne to Launceston and spent three days playing Barnbougle Dunes. 


The website from Visby gave me the same vibe I got from Barnbougle in terms of remoteness, although the infrastructure there probably lacks the rustic quality of Barnbougle that I loved.  I doubt Visby will have sheep maintaining the range.


I'll look into the other location you mentioned and see if an out and back day trip might work. 


Charles Lund

[Adam Lawrence]

I haven't been to Visby but just to echo what Tom is saying about Alands Golf. I went there in 2019 while it was being rebuilt (by Danish architect Philip Spogard) and I thought it was a remarkable place. Philip did a tremendous job, especially when you consider he had to reuse the hole corridors for a lot of the way because there wasn't budget to regrade and regrass the whole course. Philip told me he thought it would be a top 25 European course when finished.

You can fly to Marienhamn, the islands' capital, from either Helsinki or Stockholm, or get a ferry (which is what I did, from Stockholm).

Here's my article on the course from October 2019. https://www.golfcoursearchitecture.net/content/197lands-golfklubb-a-stately-home

[Charles Lund]

Thanks.  I'll keep that in mind if something gets complicated with Visby Golfklubb.


Charles Lund

[Charles Lund]

I am flying out later today from Stockholm.  I had time to fly to Gotland and play Visby Golklubb twice.  There are two courses, one the 18 hole course and another which was 9 holes.  The 18 hole course includes some seaside holes, but also is routed through an inland areas, some holes with a reasonable amount of forestation (mostly windswept pines), and a couple of holes with a more open feel and character.  The nine hole course had quite a bit of variation, with a few holes which appeared to be like pasture land, with interesting mounding and bunkering, with the look of some Scottish links land.


In playing the nine hole course, which is not an executive course and includes two very good par fives, solid to excellent par fours of varying links, and two nice par threes.


The basic elements of the nine hole course underscored the strengths of the 18 hole course.  The strengths include greens with lots of contouring and the possibility of quite a few good pin locations and use of strategically minded bunkers which had a nice aesthetic quality.  The seaside holes on the 18 hole course probably limit appreciation of the quality of many of the remaining holes for the first time player.


There is ongoing discussion of tree encroachment on some holes and whether removal might improve playability.  A couple of the pines do have an aesthetic quality that some might revere and the strong winds contribute to attractive shaping.


There is one new par five which will open up soon.  A par five which was the fourth hole was replaced by a solid par four.  The newly routed par five will replace the current third hole and connect with the fourth. In my mind, it looks like the trade achieved a better par four and a better par five.


Links to two photo albums are shown below:


https://photos.app.goo.gl/s3NnQs4Fz9SXhgYP9


https://photos.app.goo.gl/UZPGcyNgM3GbtKzc8


The club was welcoming to me as a visitor.  Tee times were hard to come by, so I felt lucky to get in play on two consecutive days.


Charles Lund

[Niall C]

Charles


Thanks for the update and photo tours. I can see the resemblance to a number of Scottish courses I've played (if just ignore the cart path). Looks lovely if a bit tight but perhaps the apparent tightness is just a trick of the photography ?


Niall

[Charles Lund]

Some holes that have doglegs tend to have greater width after the first 100 yards or thereabouts.  Many holes had quite a bit of width.


Charles Lund

[Niall C]

Charles


I'd say they look almost like they have a heathland/inland links feel. The courses that sprung to mind were the likes of Panmure, Carnoustie Buddon and Rosemount. They look lovely.


You mentioned they were very busy. Presumably with locals ?


Niall

[Charles Lund]

60,000 people live year round on the island.  70,000 more are there during summer months.  It's a popular place for summer visitors. 


Three of the seaside holes had a Monterey quality.  Two holes that were set back from the sea and close to sea level and lacking much vegetation had a South Carolina lowland look.   Holes seemed to fit surroundings, including inland ones where cows may have grazed at one time. 


Charles Lund