LinksGolf Öland

Öland lies off the coast of Småland in the Baltic Sea and it’s the second largest island in Sweden, connected to the mainland since 1972 by a bridge that spans the Kalmar Strait.

The small town of Grönhögen can be found at the southern tip of the island and the golf course here started out in the mid 1990s as a recreational 3-hole affair that quickly became 9-holes then grew into a full 18-hole layout.

Three-time European Tour winner Pierre Fulke revamped the course at Grönhögen in 2004 and it reopened the following year, with Niklas Fasth holding off the challenge of Joachim Haeggman and Pierre Fulke to win the first competition played on the new course.

LinksGolf Öland (as Grönhögen is now known) is a very pleasant seaside track with many links-like features, including a large double green on the shoreline shared by holes 4 and 14. It’s very much a golf game of two halves here because the back nine (with four par fives) plays over 1,000 yards longer than the front nine.

Three of the four short holes on the scorecard are found on the outward half and golfers have to wait until the home hole to complete the quartet of par threes. Like the par three 9th, the 18th hole plays across water (to an island green) so a sting in the tail awaits those who don’t stay focused all the way to the last putt.