{"id":2027,"date":"2010-12-17T11:20:52","date_gmt":"2010-12-17T18:20:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jeffwallach.com\/?p=2027"},"modified":"2011-02-19T15:04:36","modified_gmt":"2011-02-19T22:04:36","slug":"northern-lights-ten-great-courses-to-play-during-the-month-of-the-summer-solstice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/jeffwallach\/golf\/courses-and-travel\/2027\/northern-lights-ten-great-courses-to-play-during-the-month-of-the-summer-solstice","title":{"rendered":"Northern Lights: Ten Great Courses to Play During the Month of the Summer Solstice"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Hills Golf Club, True To Its Name<\/p><\/div>\n

What better time to reminisce about long summer days than in the darkest depths of winter? \u00a0As we approach the shortest day of the year in the northern hemisphere, let’s think forward to the other side, when there’s nothing quite like heading out after dinner in late June for a cool, leisurely 18 holes (as our neighbors to the south may be enjoying right now). \u00a0Or 36 holes if you’re\u00a0playing some of our favorite northern venues below\u2014 at some of which, around June 21st, you\u2019ll need to worry about running out of golf balls long before it ever gets dark (which may not occur at all).<\/p>\n

Guinness Record<\/span><\/p>\n

Southeast of Belfast, Northern Ireland, Royal County Down<\/a>\u2014 created in 1889 by Old Tom Morris\u2014 is one of the world\u2019s preeminent golf links.\u00a0 Blind shots, high dunes, and tricky greens make a caddie helpful\u2014you can always ask him to play a daunting shot.\u00a0 Peugeot Golf Guide awards RCD 19 of 20 possible points.\u00a0 Toast your round with a creamy local stout in the clubhouse following the final putt.<\/p>\n

The Other Kind of Guinness Record<\/span><\/p>\n

Outside Sapporo, Japan, the ninth fairway of Katsura Golf Club<\/a> is home to the world\u2019s largest Katsura pine tree.\u00a0 This Robert Trent Jones II course carves through an entire Katsura forest so that no hole plays parallel to another.\u00a0 The natural layout boasts large water channels and deep ravines, and has been ranked among the top ten courses in Japan, It dares you to set a record of your own (and no, we don\u2019t mean largest divot).<\/p>\n

Land of the Midnight Putt<\/span><\/p>\n

At the Anchorage Golf Course<\/a> in Anchorage, AK, moose, bear, and fox may join your foursome on the greens (be careful: moose cheat).\u00a0 This tree-lined 6,600-yard layout overlooking downtown Anchorage at the base of the Chugach Mountains also proffers views of Cook Inlet and Mt. McKinley.\u00a0 The course is associated with the Alyeska Hotel and ski resort.<\/p>\n

New York State of Mind<\/span><\/p>\n

Located so far north in New York State (in Peru, outside Plattsburgh) that locals may speak Canadian, the Adirondack Golf and Country Club<\/a> offers 6,894-yards of Carolina-style golf designed by Geoffrey Cornish and Brian Silva.\u00a0 The layout was nominated for a best course design award by the American Society of Golf Course Architects.<\/p>\n

Sleek Swedish Design<\/span><\/p>\n

Golfers can reach Bro Hof Slott Golf Club<\/a>, twenty miles north of Stockholm, Sweden, via boat, train, or motorway\u2014options that reflect that the golf holes themselves can also be approached in several ways.\u00a0 Built adjacent to a fjord, the Robert Trent Jones II layout stretches nearly 8,000 yards over hilly terrain studded with rock outcroppings and copses of trees. \u00a0 Bro Hof currently hosts the Scandinavian Masters on the European PGA Tour.<\/p>\n

More Swedish Design<\/span><\/p>\n

The name “Hills Golf Club<\/a>” refers to architect Arthur Hills and might at well include the name of his design partner Steve Forrest in describing this Swedish delight that actually routes over hills and through forest. This risk\/reward masterpiece outside Goteborg provides opportunities for golfers to recover from shot-making mishaps on a layout designed as purely and cleanly \u00a0as a piece of handmade furniture.<\/p>\n

Like Hockey Without Ice<\/span><\/p>\n

In summer, the great white North (Canada) becomes the great blue North as the days stretch long into the p.m. hours.\u00a0 Tucked between Ottawa and Montreal,<\/strong> Fairmont\u2019s Chateau Montebello <\/a>offers terrific greens beneath the great blue.\u00a0 Guests of the stunning log cabin resort can play the 1929 Stanley Thompson design, a secluded Audubon International Certified Cooperative Sanctuary course with views of the Laurentian Mountains.<\/p>\n

Golf is a Scream<\/span><\/p>\n

Southwest of Oslo, Norway, and surrounded by coves and fishing villages, lies Tommy Nordstrom\u2019s Borre Golf Course<\/a>, built in 1934.\u00a0 Routed around a noble mansion on former farmland (the 17th<\/sup>-century farmhouse serves as clubhouse) and tucking into woodlands, the course exudes a crisp natural feel.\u00a0 After golf, visit nearby Viking burial mounds and Edvard Munch\u2019s house.<\/p>\n

Into the Wilds<\/span><\/p>\n

During spring and fall, green fees at The Wilds Golf Club<\/a>, outside Minneapolis, are determined by the temperature.\u00a0 In high summer this Weiskopf\/Morrish venue is a bargain, especially in the evening.\u00a0 It meanders through Ponderosa pines, hardwoods, and wetlands, with water on half the holes and 70 bunkers full of the same sand used at Augusta\u2014 though your own experience in them may be less than \u201cmastersful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Oh, Brother<\/span><\/p>\n

Just north of Copenhagen, Denmark, <\/strong>Rungsted Golf Course<\/a> is a rare design by C.A. MacKenzie, brother of renowned Scottish architect Alister MacKenzie.\u00a0 The well-balanced course employs huge trees, subtle bunkering, and natural water hazards rather than length to create difficulty.\u00a0 As at several famous British courses, a railway line runs close to the fairways (in case you need to make a fast escape).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What better time to reminisce about long summer days than in the darkest depths of winter? \u00a0As we approach the… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2056,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2227,4007,4029,17],"tags":[5209,5210,5211,5212,5213,5214,5215,1555,5207,5208],"class_list":["post-2027","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fairmont-hotels","category-robert-trent-jones-ii","category-hills-forrest","category-courses-and-travel","tag-adirondack-golf-and-country-club","tag-bro-hof-slott-golf-club","tag-hills-golf-club","tag-fairmont-chateau-montebello","tag-borre-golf-course","tag-the-wilds-golf-club","tag-rungsted-golf-course","tag-royal-county-down","tag-katsura-golf-club","tag-anchorage-golf-course"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/jeffwallach\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2010\/12\/DSC_0014.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/jeffwallach\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2027","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/jeffwallach\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/jeffwallach\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/jeffwallach\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/jeffwallach\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2027"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/jeffwallach\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2027\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2097,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/jeffwallach\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2027\/revisions\/2097"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/jeffwallach\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2056"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/jeffwallach\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2027"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/jeffwallach\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2027"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/jeffwallach\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2027"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}