Falsterbo Golf Club (Golfklubb)

Falsterbo is one of the few true classic links courses in Continental Europe. It’s located at the southernmost tip of Sweden on the scenic Falsterbo peninsula, where the Öresund and the Baltic meet. Bird watchers flock to this designated preservation area to spot the migrant birds, so you may pick up more birdies here than you bargained for.

Falsterbo Golf Club was founded in 1909 and it’s the third oldest club in Sweden. Nine holes were laid out around the lighthouse and then in 1930 a local doctor called Gunnar Bauer extended the course to 18 holes. Only two holes (7th and 14th) now remain of the original nine. Some serious remedial work on the greens was undertaken between 1996-2001 but apart from that, the layout remains true to Bauer’s 1930s design.

There’s a distinct British feel to Falsterbo and the club is strongly linked by its members to several British clubs (including Prestwick and Royal County Down), so it will come as no surprise that you’ll need to master the bump and run to score well With water on three sides it can get fiercely windy at Falsterbo and if you stray too far off the fairways your ball will be lost in punishing rough or perhaps even on one of the dazzling white sandy beaches.

The book 500 world’s greatest golf holes by author George Peper and the editors of GOLF magazine features the 160-yard par three 11th hole at Falsterbo: “On a course set on a peninsula, it could be said that the 11th hole is a microcosm of Falsterbo. The oval-shaped green complex is surrounded on three sides not by the Baltic Sea, but by one of the several lakes that dot the otherwise linksland property. Though the hole is short, it is certainly the most dramatic on the course, where the chances for par or double bogey are about equal.”

The brilliant 18th is a classic example of a wonderful short par five where the Baltic Sea and a fine white sandy beach stretch along the full length of the hole. Often played with the prevailing wind, the 18th can be reached in two shots. But whatever you do, don’t stray too far off line otherwise you’ll need your bucket and spade.

Thanks to its mild seaside climate, Falsterbo can be played throughout the year and during the winter (if there’s enough daylight) you’ll have no problems getting a tee time, you’ll just need to make a special effort to get here… it’s quite remote.

Author Geoffrey Giles, in this short extract from the book Golf Courses of the World, writes: “Falsterbo is undeniably flat, and it is also undeniably a genuine links course, one of very few in continental Europe. The course is dominated by an old lighthouse that stands proudly beside the 13th fairway, surrounded by trees, and behind the 14th green. It comes as no surprise then to find that the course runs alongside the sea on two sides, with an inland incursion towards a marsh, where some of the best holes are. On a still day Falsterbo is idyllic. When the wind is up it can be a bruiser.”