Skåne - Swede dreams are made of this
On the surface, Sweden might seem an unlikely golfing hotspot. After all, nearly two-thirds of the country is covered by dense forest, and for large parts of the year it is blanketed by snow and shrouded in semi-darkness.
PGA National of Sweden
PGA National of Sweden
Telephone:
+46 (0) 40 635 51 00
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Courses:
Links: 7,475 yards, par 72
Lakes: 7,436 yards, par 72 (opening May 2010)
But such things only make Sweden’s golfing heritage and participation levels – more than 600,000 golfers, almost one per household – even more impressive. On the world stage, its leading players regularly challenge for the game’s top honours and have proved stalwarts in the Ryder Cup since Great Britain & Ireland assimilated continental Europe in 1979.
With the event due in mainland Europe in 2018 Sweden will undoubtedly be challenging strongly to host the biennial tussle against the United States, and the organising committee could do worse than look to the southern area known as Skåne. Without question it’s the perfect place to sample the very best that Sweden has to offer. With 70 courses in close proximity, there is no shortage of choice, and given that three were ranked inside the top 30 of a recent European top 100, the quality is also certainly there. Being so far south the weather is significantly better, too.
Strange as it may seem, one of the best routes into Sweden is via Denmark. And just a 30-minute drive from Copenhagen airport, across the glorious Øresund bridge, is one of the world’s great new layouts. More than 10 years in the making, the PGA National of Sweden’s Links course opened last summer to fanfare. And rightly so.
The Links layout is a stunning addition to Scandinavia’s already impressive collection of courses and was clearly worth the investment of time and money. Almost inevitably, the opening of the new Lakes course in May, will be similarly trumpeted. Easily accessible from nearby countries like Denmark, Norway and Germany – not to mention its domestic appeal – PGA National already has its eye on hosting significant tournaments at national, European Tour and even Ryder Cup level. It’s that good.
For producing a course of such quality we have to thank Kyle Phillips, the American architect with a real feeling for Europe. The man who brought us such stellar courses as Kingsbarns, The Grove and Dundonald has really pulled out all the stops in Sweden, working with lead shaper Peter Scott to produce a sort of inland links that is more reminiscent of the tumultuous, heaving layouts of the old country than the supposedly flat and featureless landscape of southern Scandinavia.
From the tips it’s a monster, measuring some 7,500 yards and playing every inch of it. This is perfectly illustrated by the ‘one-shotters’, three of which are in excess of 200 yards from the back markers. Demanding it might be, but it’s never crushing. This is the skill of the design, which fends off players with velvet glove as well as steel fist.
Nowhere is this better illustrated than at the short fifth. At just 120 yards it’s already been mooted as northern Europe’s answer to Troon’s Postage Stamp. Downhill and often downwind, it’s little more than a flick, but the green looks extremely shallow from the tee and has deep bunkering front-of-house. Playing safe and going long is not an option either, with a run off area at the back leaving a devilish up-and-down for par. It’s brilliant. The perfect par-three really.
The conditioning all over the course is absolutely sensational, the practice facilities are top-notch and the clubhouse – complete with sauna – is the perfect place in which to unwind after a round of golf. A must play.
