Sweden

Evening all, have any of you any experience of golf in southern Sweden?

Just secured a contract in Helsingborg after a few worrying months out of work. So now that the work is sorted I've been having a look and it would appear I'm not exactly casting myself into the golfing wilderness.

Vasatorps is nearby and Barseback is about half an hour away plus there are another couple of tasty looking courses around Malmo and just beyond. I'm guessing with most of them being coastal and on roughly the same latitude as StAndrews they're not going to be snowbound until April

I've been driving around the area recently and have friends who've played some of the courses.

Barseback used to hold the Solheim cup and Scandinavian Masters and is frequently rated one of the best courses in Northern Europe. The 2017 Nordea Masters will be held there in June and as far as I've heard there's always free entry Thu/Fri. So you may want to check that out if you'll be there by then. As far as I have seen on tv it's partly links and partly heathland-esque with several pine tree lined fairways.

Falsterbo is a top notch links course south of Malmo, situated in a cosy holiday area with great beaches. I've heard it's great. For sure the surroundings are nice and you could make a nice trip out of it regardless.

And then there's PGA Sweden National where the 2015 Nordea Masters was played. It's a bit inland but also ranked as one of the best courses in Scandinavia (although I recall it looked a bit dull on tv?).

But in general there should be loads of good courses in Southern Sweden, both links, heathland and parkland, and they are fairly cheap to play. The above three are probably the most famous/pricey though. Not sure if you can play them in the winter, despite relatively temperate climate and occasional snow only, but check it out.

Lucky man Jas, Sweden is tremendous.
Some good courses just across the bridge in Denmark too.

Aren't they a bit too left wing for you super?

I went to an event an hour or outside Stockholm and was surprised to see a few courses on the bus (ha ha etc) on the way out.

Is golf accessible in Sweden or is it mainly for the better of or well connected?

It's very accessible. Loads of courses all over, (big country, lots of land), and cheap green fees. Maybe that's why you see so many good golfers from a country of only 9 mill.

Och!! So much for summer in Sweden and 36 holes after work in summer, got an opportunity out of the blue for a contract back in Bath and accepted. Real shame as I have loved my time here and was looking forward to summer, staying out the weekend of the Nordea masters amongst other things and playing several of the Swedish top 10. Whilst the day rate won't be that much less the difference in expenses will be huge and coupled with impending Grandadhood, it really made the decision a no brainer.

Presumably all the riots and no-go areas put you off too JAS?

SmithersJones wrote:Presumably all the riots and no-go areas put you off too JAS?

Ha ha SJ I have posted my opinions on that subject on other Social media, suffice to say that in 9 weeks I've yet to see a blue light. Helsingborg is a bit of a quiet town to be fair but I've been in Malmo this week (the supposed hotbed of migrant unrest...really??). Although having said that there were reports of a shooting somewhere in Malmo this week.