Aura

Turku is situated at the mouth of the Aura River, in the southwest of Finland and the Aura golf course is laid out within a Nature Park to the west of the city, on the island of Ruissalo.

This sparsely populated island is the location of one of the biggest oak forests in the country and it’s an ideal place for those wanting to escape from the metropolis and get back to nature through a spot of fishing, walking the many nature trails and, of course, golfing at the Aura club.

The course opened in 1958 within a former castle estate and magnificent oak trees frame most of the holes. Pekka Sivula upgraded the layout in 1980 so Aura has been playing the part of a great golfing retreat for over half a century.

The round begins with a par three of almost 200 yards and there two more even longer “short” holes to be played on the front nine. The back nine contains a couple of shortish par threes and these are located either side of back-to-back par fives at holes 13 and 14.

The golf season is very short, from May to mid October but be careful not to plan a visit when the Ruisrock summer rock festival is being held on the island – started in 1970, it’s the second oldest in Europe – otherwise a nice, quiet, peaceful round at Aura will be totally out of the question!