Sweden - some of the best golf courses

by Henrik Berezin

On a cool but comfortable autumn morning at the southwestern tip of Sweden, when a crisp chill still hangs in the air and the sky canopies the meandering coastline, there is no better place in the country to play golf.

In this area, right across from Denmark, some of the best golf courses in Sweden are lined up within less than an hour drive of each other. It also has the most favorable climate in the country, which enables people to play earlier in the spring and later in the fall than up north. Most of the courses along the seaboard, in fact, hardly ever have to deal with snow, which makes for play almost year around. Coincidentally, this is where the best courses in the area are located.

The newly built bridge connecting Sweden with continental Europe enables people to get from the international airport in Copenhagen, Denmark to Malm", Sweden across the sound of (tm)resund in less than half an hour. Prior to last year, the only way to get across was by boat.

The 5-mile long bridge, completed in the summer of 2000, has had a great deal of traffic since it opened, with an average of 10,000 cars per day. It is also the highest construction in Sweden with the central pillars reaching as high as 600 feet over the water line.

Located just 15 minutes north of Malm" is Barseb"ck, mostly famous for its nuclear power plant, but to many golfers, just as famous for its spectacular golf. While Halmstad's North course should be regarded as the best in Sweden, Barseb"ck must be regarded as the best 36-hole layout. This Golf & Country Club offers two terrific championship courses - the Old Course and the New Course.

The first nine holes were completed in 1969 and one year later Barseb"ck had 18 holes. An additional nine were added in 1981, and finally, in 1989, the entire 36-hole complex was completed. Both tracks feature perfectly manicured fairways and generous, fairly undulating greens most of which are well guarded by hazards in a very traditional, natural looking way.

The huge, majestic pine trees framing most of the holes on the Old Courses creates the feeling of each hole being played in its own separate world. While the New Course is a phenomenal complement to the Old Course, it's not quite as renowned, probably because of the bigger diversity of the Old Course.

Holes 11 through 14 on the Old Course are pure links holes, reminiscent to the Scottish courses, right along the beach adjacent to the sound of (tm)resund. If the wind hasn't been a factor so far in your round, it will once you reach these holes, where calm days are as rare as sub-par rounds from the back-tees.

The course, used during the Scandinavian Masters, Sweden's only European Tour event, played here every other year, is a composite of 11 holes from the old course and 7 holes from the new course.

This "course" is available to the public only one week every two years, which is the week after the tournament. The tour players praise the course every time they play it and rank it among the best courses they play all year. If it were up to the players, the Scandinavian Masters would be played here every year.

Unfortunately, the Swedish Golf Federation has decided that it should alternate between courses in Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malm", even if none of the courses in the other two regions come close to measuring up to Barseb"ck.

Making our way up the coast, just a 10-minute drive from Barseb"ck, we find another 36-hole layout named Landskrona Golfklubb. While not as famous, it's definitely worth a visit, especially since it's normally in the same marvelous shape as Barseb"ck.

Just like Barseb"ck, it has a few holes along the ocean with spectacular views of Denmark and the island of Ven, located in the middle of the sound. Ven is a popular place for many tourists to relax and have fun. They enjoy the beaches, bike trails and historic landmarks such as the old observatory where Tycho Brahe, the famous 16th century astronomer, conducted his research.

The island also features a little nine-hole golf course, in case you don't get enough of it on the mainland.

Helsingborg, the city located another 10-minute drive up the coast from Landskrona on highway E6, is a beautiful city with a handfull of golf courses in its vicinity. The two most worth playing are Rya G. K. And Vasatorps G. K. Rya, just 5 miles south of the city, is an old traditional style course built in the early 1930's.

The best thing about this course is the great mix and variation. Nine holes are played right next to the ocean and the rest among trees and meadows with significant elevation changes.

As golf carts are not used on Swedish golf courses, being in good physical shape can be very helpful. On Rya there are several walks, especially in between holes, that will really test your stamina. Rya's signature hole is the 16th, a gorgeous par 3 of 175 yards with (tm)resund in the background. It's rapid drop in elevation usually makes it play much shorter than the yardage; however, the gusting winds coming in from the ocean can make for a very difficult club selection. Basically the hole requires anything between a 3-wood and a 9-iron, depending on the conditions on a particular day. That's part of what makes it such a great hole. Vasatorp G.K. is just a few miles north of Helsingborg and features a 36-hole layout. The first 18 have been around since the 1970's and have hosted the Scandinavian Enterprise Open, the European Tour event preceding the Scandinavian Masters.

While only played here three times from 1978-1980, the SEO still produced three notable winners: Greg Norman, Seve Ballesteros and Sandy Lyle, while still infants in their respective careers. Nine more holes were added in 1982 and just a couple of years ago, an additional nine were created to complete the 36-hole layout.

The best thing about visiting Vasatorp, other than getting to play two fun and challenging courses with lots of dogleg holes and tree-lined fairways, is the great practice facilities. There are also big putting greens and lots of places to practice your short game as well.

The fifth and final course I'd like to tell you about separates itself from the previous four as it's not along the highway and therefore not as accessible. But rest assured, once you get there you won't regret the time and effort spent getting there.

At the very tip of the peninsula "Kullaberg", about a 20-minute drive north of Helsingborg is M"lle, a little village famous for its spectacular scenery and many tourists in the summer time. M"lle Golfklubb is located in a natural preservation area in the hills above the village.

Because of its location out on the tip of the pointy peninsula, it's virtually surrounded by water, which makes for dramatic ocean views on many holes. Discuss this story at GolfBoards.com.

M"lle is often regarded as the course with the best and fastest greens in the country. It's not uncommon for a ball to roll as far as 12 feet when measured on the stimpmeter, unprecedented among Swedish greens.

The course in general is fairly short, partly because there isn't much space to allow any lengthening of holes but also because changes made to the course in general are frowned upon since it's in a natural preservation area. Other things to do besides golf around M"lle are mountain climbing, hiking in caves, scuba diving, or just walking around looking at the old buildings in the village, which are quite unique.

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Sweden, which occupies the eastern part of the Scandinavian Peninsula, is the fourth-largest country in Europe and is one-tenth larger than California. The country slopes eastward and southward from the Kj›len Mountains along the Norwegian border, where the peak elevation is Kebnekaise at 6,965 ft (2,123 m) in Lapland. In the north are mountains and many lakes.

To the south and east are central lowlands and south of them are fertile areas of forest, valley, and plain. Along Sweden's rocky coast, chopped up by bays and inlets, are many islands, the largest of which are Gotland and (tm)land.

History

The earliest historical mention of Sweden is found in Tacitus's Germania, where reference is made to the powerful king and strong fleet of the Sviones. In the 11th century, Olaf Sk"ttkonung became the first Swedish king to be baptized as a Christian.

Around 1400, an attempt was made to unite Sweden, Norway, and Denmark into one kingdom, but this led to bitter strife between the Danes and the Swedes. In 1520, the Danish king Christian II conquered Sweden and in the Stockholm Bloodbath? put leading Swedish personages to death.

Gustavus Vasa (1523?1560) broke away from Denmark and fashioned the modern Swedish state. He also confiscated property from the Roman Catholic Church in Sweden to pay Sweden's war debts. The king justified his actions on the basis of Martin Luther's doctrines, which were being accepted nationwide with royal encouragement.

The Lutheran Swedish church was eventually adopted as the state church. Sweden played a leading role in the second phase (1630?1635) of the Thirty Years' War (1618?1648). By the Treaty of Westphalia (1648), Sweden obtained western Pomerania and some neighbouring territory on the Baltic.

In 1700, a coalition of Russia, Poland, and Denmark united against Sweden and by the Peace of Nystad (1721) forced it to relinquish Livonia, Ingria, Estonia, and parts of Finland. Sweden emerged from the Napoleonic Wars with the acquisition of Norway from Denmark and with a new royal dynasty stemming from Marshal Jean Bernadotte of France, who became King Charles XIV (1818?1844).

The artificial union between Sweden and Norway led to an uneasy relationship, and the union was finally dissolved in 1905. Sweden maintained a position of neutrality in both world wars.

An elaborate structure of welfare legislation, imitated by many larger nations, began with the establishment of old-age pensions in 1911. Economic prosperity based on its neutralist policy enabled Sweden, together with Norway, to pioneer in public health, housing, and job security programs. Forty-four years of Socialist government ended in 1976 with the election of a Conservative coalition headed by Thorbj"rn F"lldin.

The Socialists were returned to power in the election of 1982, but Prime Minister Olof Palme, a Socialist, was assassinated by a gunman on Feb. 28, 1986, leaving Sweden stunned. Palme's Socialist domestic policies were carried out by his successor, Ingvar Carlsson. Elections in Sept. 1991 ousted the Social Democrats (Socialists) from power.

The new coalition of four conservative parties pledged to reduce taxes and the welfare state but not alter Sweden's traditional neutrality. In Sept. 1994 the Social Democrats emerged again after three years as the opposition party.

In a 1994 referendum voters approved joining the European Union. Although supportive of a European monetary union, Sweden decided not to adopt the euro when it debuted in 1999 and rejected it again overwhelmingly in a referendum in Sept. 2003.

The Social Democrat Party and its leader, Prime Minister G"ran Persson, easily won reelection in Sept. 2002. The center-left Social Democrats had run the government for six out of the last seven decades. That changed when a center-right alliance led by conservative Fredrik Reinfeldt, leader of the Moderate Party, won the election in Sept. 2006.

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