a Swedish Garden of Eden for golf players

Skåne is a golfing paradise, with one of Europe’s highest densities of golf courses.

From the centre of Skåne, you are just 50 minutes away from around 70 courses.

Around Malmö, Helsingborg and Kristianstad, European Tour and brand new super-courses such as the PGA National sit alongside friendly, tranquil golf clubs.

This is the perfect holiday at almost unbeatable prices, thanks to the favourable exchange rate.

Over the course of a long weekend, you could easily play at five of Sweden’s top courses or alternate between European Tour favourites and former royal park courses, or combine authentic links courses with exciting beech forest and woodland courses, where every hole is like a lush green cathedral.

And you can stay at old mansions and eat gourmet food ...or at seaside resorts where beautiful beaches are next door to the golf course ...or opt for a golf package combining the entertainment of the city with the game or...

Imagine what you could get up to if you had a week to explore the region!

From the centre of Skåne you can reach around 70 golf courses in 50 minutes. You’ll find more than 25 courses within half an hour of Malmö alone. Equally well-placed is Helsingborg.

And we’re talking about clubs and courses at the top of the list for any enthusiast. Courses which play host to the European Tour, the Challenge tournament and Swedish competitions.

Clubs which, in recent years, have built ultra-modern courses alongside the old classic, prestigious courses.

Those situated along the west and south coasts are usually open all year round. The green fee is normally between SEK 300 and 400 for a whole day. Many clubs have arrangements with hotels and can offer golf packages with reduced green fees.

The quality of these golf courses is consistently high, and it is as difficult to grade them as it is to pick just one or two dishes from a Swedish smorgasbord. It’s all down to personal preferences. Nevertheless, here are some tips, taking Malmö, Helsingborg and Kristianstad as starting points.

The Malmö area – links and resorts

Malmö is considered to be one of the best golfing centres in Sweden. In fact, outside the British Isles, this is one of the leading golfing centres in the whole of northern Europe. Here you will find excellent communications, two airports, a large city with a charming old centre, a wealth of entertainment, a location close to the coast resorts and three of Sweden’s top 10 golf courses.

And in 2009, a brand new course opened as part of PGA Sweden’s Ryder Cup focus.

Barsebäck, hole 17, par 4. Photo:skane.com©sydpol.com

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Twenty minutes north of Malmö is Barsebäck, classed as the best golf course in Sweden for many years. The course has been highly praised by the Solheim Cup players, and certainly put the European Tour ladies and US perennial star Natalie Gulbis to the test when playing Annika Sörenstam on her home turf. The European Tour and Solheim Cup course, the Masters Course, begins with a few holes in the shade of a pinewood forest, before opening up with a short hole straight out towards the Öresund Sound, followed by three open coastal meadow holes right by the water’s edge, before returning to the forest. Alongside the tour course is another 18hole course of a similar standard.

Falsterbo, hole 7, par 4. Photo:skane.com©sydpol.com

The course offers accommodation at Järavallens Conference & Country Club, which has villas, a restaurant, an indoor swimming pool, a table tennis room and other facilities.

Those in search of an exclusive experience should carry on south past Malmö to Falsterbonäset, a tongue of land which points towards Denmark. Three extremely interesting courses are laid out here. Falsterbo Golf Club, at the southern tip, is Sweden’s only 18-hole golf links. This is a true Scottish-style course, up against the sand dunes right next to the sea.

The challenges here include the wind, and beach grass which can force you to make difficult choices when it comes to which club to use.

This course has often been ranked among the top ten in Europe outside the British Isles

by Golf World. Falsterbo used to host major tournaments regularly, one of which saw the participation of the Prince of Wales in 1932. In more recent years, the PLM Open was also played here; the tournament later changed its name to the Scandinavian Masters. The course is even better now than during its heyday, since all the greens and green areas have been relaid and modernised.

Next door to Falsterbo Golf Club is Flommen Golf Club – more seaside than links, with water featuring at virtually every hole. It has been said that on paper the course resembles a map of the Stockholm archipelago. Unlike the slightly exclusive Falsterbo, Flommen is definitely a family course. Somewhere in between the two is Ljunghusen Golf Club, in the middle of Näset. The main challenge on this open course is the wind, but many of the 27 holes are more moorland than seaside in character. The soil is sandy, but with plenty of heathland too. Golf Digest consistently ranks the course as one of the top five in Sweden.

With a bit of planning you can try all three courses in two days. And for those who would like to sample some traditional Skåne food and accommodation, we recommend Skanörs Gästis from which you can walk to two of the courses. This is a classic inn – with a crossing for geese! Alternatively, the more modern Gässlingen Hotel also offers golf packages.

Ten minutes outside Malmö lies Bokskogen Golf Club which, with its two 18-hole courses, marks a return to top-flight golf. The club hosted the European Tour before it moved to

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Barsebäck. The ladies’ tour still likes to visit the old course – a modernised park course with classic characteristics. The new course has an entirely different layout. It’s hilly, open and has marked water-holes.

Next to Bokskogen, Sweden’s biggest golfing project – the PGA Sweden National Golf Resort – is currently underway, with three 18-hole courses, training areas, a large hotel and golf villas. PGA Sweden will have its headquarters here. The main course, has been designed by Kyle Philips, the American course architect who created the world-class Kingsbarns Golf Club near St Andrews. But this is no copy of Kingsbarns, although Philips has rearranged the local landscape to create an undulating course in open terrain which, it is hoped, will provide a real challenge for the Ryder Cup competitors in 2018.

Twenty minutes further east, right next to Malmö airport, another new super-course, Sturup Park, is being built. PGA Sweden was initially interested in making this the PGA National course, but the parties involved were unable to reach an agreement. Instead, the land owner went ahead with the plans, and the first 18-hole course – designed by Tommy Nordström – has received excellent reviews. There is also a 9-hole course here, and a large training area. This is an ideal location for anyone wanting to stay overnight on their way to the airport.

Ljunghusens GK, hole 26, par 4. Photo:skane.com©sydpol.com

On the outskirts of Malmö’s residential areas, there are ten or so more high-quality park courses with a friendly club atmosphere just a short taxi ride from the hotels in the city centre.

Ystad – city of detective stories and castle golf

45 minutes from Malmö, on the south coast of Skåne, is the town of Ystad, home to charming streets of half-timbered houses and Inspector Wallander. In this idyllic environment Wallander has solved many a murder case. Thankfully, Wallander is the fictional character in Henning Mankell’s detective stories, so the mysteries are solved in books and on TV. The golf course is outside the town and is something of a hidden gem. It is laid out on sandy soil next to one of southern Skåne’s most popular beaches. The course is a wonderful mixture of open seaside and park.

You may want to stay at the romantic 18th century Sekelgården built in the familiar halftimbered style, or at the classic Continental, located in the old town centre of Ystad.

True connoisseurs will be delighted to discover a 16th century castle between Ystad and Malmö. The Danish King Kristian II celebrated his coronation in Stockholm by having the cream of the Swedish nobility beheaded and establishing his stronghold over Skåne through a viceroy who was allowed to build a castle at Lake Häckeberga. Just like the mighty power of Denmark, the first castle went up in smoke during the ensuing Swedish-Danish wars.

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But the location was ideal, and when the aristocratic Tham family took ownership of the grounds, they soon built a new castle on the same spot.

The present owner has converted the castle into a cosy hotel with a gourmet restaurant and beautiful gardens. The castle’s English country style is perfect for golf trips – you’ll feel right at home in your plus four knickerbockers, your checked jersey and your peaked cap, just like a character out of a PG Wodehouse novel. Of course, it’s up to you whether you retire after dinner with a cognac or a whisky to one of the leather armchairs in front of the open fire.

Romeleåsen Golf Club is located about six kilometres from the castle. This is an 18-hole hilly park course with a few water hazards and differs significantly from the other south-coast courses.

Around Helsingborg – Sweden’s biggest course to date

Vasatorp, Rya and Söderåsen have made Helsingborg a modern, world-class golfing centre. Until the new PGA Sweden course is completed, Vasatorp – with its three 18-hole championship-class courses – is the biggest course in the country. The Ladies’ European Tour previously used the oldest of the three courses, but this course now faces competition. The new 18-hole course proved to be an incredible experience as soon as play began here in 2007, with its combination of an inland links course and superior park holes. There are enough challenges here to last you longer than a weekend.

Vasatorp, hole 15, par 3. Photo:skane.com©sydpol.com

And if that’s not enough, Söderåsen’s exciting woodland course and Rya’s seaside course, with its fantastic holes straight out towards the water, are just a few minutes away. The fact that you can then round off the day with a trip out onto the Öresund Sound is just one of the benefits of playing here at one of Skåne’s most fashionable towns.

The tennis mecca of Båstad, on the Bjäre Peninsula north of Helsingborg, has British entrepreneurs and the Nobel family to thank for having become a golfing centre. In the 1920s, Ludvig Nobel, the nephew of Alfred Nobel, who invented dynamite and founded the Nobel Prize, owned a hotel in the community that attracted British guests. They wanted to play golf and Ludvig often had to pay for taxis to take them to the links in Falsterbo 120 kilometres south of Båstad.

“We can’t keep this up,” said Ludvig, who realised what was to be gained from having a golf course on site. So he bought up a couple of farms and contracted the English architect’s practice Hawtree & Taylor to build a course in 1930. Many Swedish aristocrats became members of the club, not necessarily because they played golf but because Ludvig more or less forced them to join. Before long, King Gustav VI Adolf and Prince Bertil became avid players.

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Båstad GK, hole 15, par 3. Photo:skane.com©sydpol.com

The old course is still a typical British park course – short, rather tricky, a bit hilly with no water-holes. The club’s new course, designed by Tommy Nordström, features 18 tricky holes on open terrain, with views across the sea and a number of small water hazards. If you’re brave enough to take on the challenge of both courses in one day, you should start with the old course.

There are also four more courses on the Bjäre Peninsula.

Mölle – home of the beach bunny

Further south toward Helsingborg, against a background of Kullaberg Nature Reserve and with the Öresund Sound, is the beach resort of Mölle. This was where the Swedish beach bunny first saw the light of day at the turn of the twentieth century, when an unknown beauty posed in a bathing suit for a photo which in those days was seen as quite scandalous.

Golf has been played here since the end of the war on the plateau overlooking the Sound and the beach bunnies. You get a feel of the moor here, with some park characteristics thrown in. Swedish golf experts have voted the Mölle greens to be the best in Sweden. Alongside the club, just 75 metres from the first tee, is the idyllic Kullagårdens Wärdshus, which has 12 guest rooms and an excellent restaurant. Perfect for a whole day of golf.

Mölle GK, hole 18, par 3. Photo:skane.com©sydpol.com

A few kilometres from Mölle and just 20 kilometres from Helsingborg is St Arild’s Golf Club. Here, an exquisite layout combines moorland, park and woodland holes. Each year, this course moves further up in the Swedish rankings.

If you really want to squeeze the most out of the northwest corner of Skåne, you will find an authentic Scottish links course immediately north of the town. Helsingborg Golf Club in

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Viken may only have nine holes, but it is well worth a visit. The holes here are closely packed, with some crossing over each other, but they are just a few metres away from the beach. The soil here is sandy, with sand dunes and heathland in the line of play. It’s worth spending a couple of hours here, if only to experience playing on a real links course.

Kristianstad – the ladies’ favourite

Skåne’s third golf centre is in Kristianstad and offers six very different courses, three of which are among the finest in the whole of Sweden. The clubs have together come up with a green fee and hotel package, Golfpasset, which is ideal for weekends or whole weeks and offers a variety of accommodation: everything from modern hotels and cosy guest houses to golf villas and youth hostels.

Kristianstad Golf Club in Åhus has become something of a super-course. The old sandy-soiled moorland and woodland course has always been one of the top courses in Sweden, but golf course and landscape architect Tommy Nordström has improved a number of the holes, making this an absolutely top-class course. The top players in the Swedish women’s league often list the course as the best in the country. Since 2006, the club has boasted another course of the same high quality as the old course, and with the same sandy soil and pinewood forests. This is an even bigger challenge from the back tee than the old course.

The Åhus courses have met with local competition in the form of DegebergaWidtsköfle, south of Kristianstad. This is a small Scottish-style masterpiece, designed by Tommy Nordström. It is a highly challenging heathland course on sandy soil, amid familiar surroundings. Degeberga Stugby holiday village and its youth hostel offer good-value accommodation if you are looking for an alternative to the hotels in Kristianstad.

Kristianstad, hål 14, par 3. Photo:skane.com©sydpol.com

North of Kristianstad is what could be Skåne’s most challenging golf course: Östra Göinge. Here, in the heart of Snapphane country, where peasants who were sympathetic toward the Danish cause waged guerrilla warfare against the Swedes, you will find a real challenge set amidst the countryside of northwest Skåne. You can play among oak groves, over hills and fields, and along the River Helge Å. The middle of the course is home to a hill where Stone Age man held rituals and had a burial ground. If you climb up the water tower next to the course, you will be rewarded with views over much of the Snapphane country.

Not far from here is where the Snapphane attacked the followers of the Swedish king and plundered their war chest, which was found buried in this area near the border between Skåne and Småland.

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Österlen – a continental corner of Skåne

In the southeast corner of Skåne, you will find Sweden’s answer to Provence and Tuscany: Österlen. This is the summer playground of many of Stockholm’s rich and famous, and boasts superb golfing facilities right next to the Baltic. Österlen Golf Club in Lilla Vik features two 18-hole courses, each with its own individual character. The old course is closest to the coast, and offers splendid views from many of the holes. One of the holes is played through an apple orchard. The course is a floral paradise in the early summer, and a riot of fruit and colour as autumn approaches. The new course, which lies alongside the old course, has undulating terrain and exciting water holes. Österlen’s other main golfing attraction is Tomelilla, a thrilling challenge which begins by lulling players into a false sense of security during the first half, before mercilessly beating back those who fail to plan their game with care. This really is one of Skåne’s most challenging courses!

Most of these courses are close to the coast and the holiday resorts with everything they have to offer. These are the obvious choice if you want plenty of courses on your doorstep. But if you drive to Sjöbo – just 30 minutes by car from Malmö – you’ll find a course which proved to be an instant hit with Skåne’s most discerning golfers when it opened. At Sjöbo Golf Club, you’ll find 18 holes set in the heart of a sandy-soiled forest. At each hole, the mature trees seem to form the walls of a mighty cathedral. When Golf Digest published a glowing review of the course, it described it as “18 rooms with kitchen facilities”. And the layout is perfect: very broad fairways with well-placed obstacles to keep golfers on their toes, and a splendid green area which is ideal for sharpshooting and chip-and-run shots. In fact, the course puts each of the clubs in your bag to the challenge – a challenge you’ll want to return to again and again.

Elisefarm, in the heart of Skåne, has become another popular weekend destination for the region’s demanding golfers. This is a classic English-style heathland course, designed by Martin Hawtree. Here, you can stay in a manor house right on the golf course. When it was opened, the course was ranked as one of the ten best new courses in the whole of Europe.

But let us not forget Skåne’s classic inland jewels, where you can get away from the crowds and enjoy personal service: Vittsjö’s woodland wonderland park course, Perstorp’s high-class woodland course, Örkelljunga’s celebrated course with its fantastic short holes among the oak trees, Eslöv, Kävlinge and Lund with their rich variety of courses...

In fact, we’d love to mention every one of Skåne’s golf courses. The problem is, there are so many of them!

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