As far as raw beauty goes, precious few golf courses in the world can compare to Lofoten Links.
Course design? Every single hole is full of character and challenges that force you to think your way around the majestic course rather than just playing it.
Even the flair of a thespian couldn’t overstate the gorgeous surroundings in Lofoten, Norway. It’s hard to fathom who had the bright idea to put a golf course at one of the most northern points of Europe, much less how they managed to tackle the perpetuity of rock to make it happen.
Night golf is a thing, yes. But playing golf where the sun doesn’t set is an entirely different beast. This is what Lofoten offers; around six weeks a year where there is 24-hours of daylight and the golf course never closes.
A golfing experience like no other, Mail Sport had to contact Golf Travel Centre and make the trip to Norway to see what links golf is like under a sun that doesn’t set.
Towards September you have a chance at seeing the Northern Lights while you play
This picture was taken at around 11pm
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Playing Lofoten Links
I’ve played dozens of courses at this point, but none that challenged me in such a relentless way like Lofoten. If it’s not water swallowing you ball, the rocks and the rough will have their way with you.
Bring plenty of balls is my first piece of advice. No matter how good you think you are, you will lose them!
The rough is unforgiving at the best of times, but the second cut off the fairway is barely a couple of yards wide before you hit the mesh of seaweed and other overgrown stretches.
The charm of Lofoten lies in the scenery that accompanies you as you make your way around the course. Mountains that are blanketed with clouds so low you think you could touch them. Directly opposite lies The North Sea complete with a blend of sandy beaches and rocky hazards.
The gorgeous scenery will cause you to pause your round frequently
While the fairways are in magnificent condition, the rough really is difficult terrain!
Cabot has recently invested in Lofoten and that right there is a testament to what a beautiful location this course resides in. If their locations in St Lucia and Boudreaux among others is anything to go by, they won’t strip back what makes Lofoten special in the coming years as they seek to help it reach its full potential.
It’s not a championship course. You would never fit thousands of spectators around the outskirts of the holes, should-to-shoulder on the mountains to catch the action. The club house reminds you of your local council course in size and the course itself is nice and quiet. But these are all compliments to the course’s appeal.
If you’re in the middle of your round at midnight, you have no one in front of you or behind you. We played at different times on all three days were stayed in Lofoten and not once did we have to wait at a tee or play through.
Now, let’s talk about the holes. The first hole forces you to hit over the shoreline ravenous with rocks and onto a relatively narrow fairway that sharply turns left towards the green. Only the biggest hitters or the clinically insane would try and cut this corner off the tee because there’s not much wiggle room even if you can make it.
Plenty of holes brush up against the rocky shoreline and feature the North Sea
The clouds sit so low over the neighbouring mountains as you play
Straight after that you have to take a short walk up a hill to the elevated teebox to their prized par three three with the North Sea serving as a breathtaking backdrop. Once again, if you don’t hit the green or the stingy 10 yards to play with in front of it, your ball is bound for the rocks.
If you haven’t lost half a dozen balls, then you head back up to the same hill to hit a downward tee shot onto the third. You have to navigate the rocks again, but it’s a shorter hazard than the first at about 80 yards. It’s a fantastic three hole run to kick things off.
To be honest, every hole has character and nothing is formulaic. In the UK we so often see straight up and down par fours in and around 350 yards with nothing much else to them, but not here.
Every hole has either hazards to give you something to think about off the tee or narrow fairways that seem to shrink every time you glance at them. Many of the fairways squeeze as they approach the green meaning you have to make a choice: go for it or layup.
The two par fives that play back-to-back at the close of the front nine can make or great a round with their elevated greens, but staying out of the water and/or rough as you play to a left bend and then a right is the toughest challenge.
We had a good amount of sun during our trip with highs of around 14 degrees
This is another picture taken around 10:30pm, you’d never know it’s night time
The 17th hole is essentially a cousin of the patented second, another par three but this time facing in the opposite direction but with equal risks. Following that, a nice wide fairway will great you (for once) on the 18th with a raised teebox to savour the last hits.
It is nothing short of a stunning golf course. Granted, some of the tee boxes and many of the greens are not in the best condition, certainly opposed to the delightful fairways.
That’s part of the game with the climate, though, as the course itself is only open from April to September thanks to the weather and as we saw, they still see a fair bit of rain during those months too.
The greens do need a bit more love and attention, but the weather does make that tricky
Look at the views! Plenty of tee boxes have hazards directly in front of them to test you
Snow sits atop of many of the mountains and when the wind picks up, you’ll feel it!
The clubhouse has a charming, local feel and the people who run it all day and night could not be more helpful. It’s a great set-up; being able to play in daylight at midnight with nobody up your arse or hounding people in front of you on a course of that magnitude? Perfection.
Hopefully Cabot plan to just enhance Lofoten’s offerings. We’re told they have no desire to rob the unique corner of golfing paradise of what makes it so special. In my mind, Lofoten is in the top 10 golf courses in the world, perhaps top five.
A club pro I met while playing out there told me he’d have Lofoten among the top three courses in the world if the tee boxes and putting greens could get up to a championship standard. I’m inclined to agree.
Staying in Lofoten
In keeping with the quaint golf course and remote area, there are no 100-floor hotels on offer. Instead, you stay in shared lodges where you have your own bedrooms and bathrooms, but communal kitchen and living room area. We booked this with Golf Travel Centre, who were very helpful and supportive throughout.
Extremely modern in addition to being well kept and presented, one of the main attractions of these spots is where they have them. Sitting raised up in an enclosure, the properties offer amazing views of the ocean and the misty mountains close by.
Lofoten is as remote as advertised. Homes are sprinkled along the coastline in great space and there is one shop you can use a couple of minutes down the road (albeit helpfully open 24 hours).
The view from Harstad airport when you land and from November, Brits can fly their direct
A solitary road that runs through Lofoten at the heart of a very small and quiet community
Between where you stay and the clubhouse you’ll find the sole restaurant, too. Sitting on top of a stables – where you might visit during your downtime anyway – is a cosy little place that overlooks the coastline and opening holes of the golf course.
The food is nothing short of sensational. We had a lamb loin that was cooked to perfection – really can’t stress this point enough – and the breakfast was pretty strong too with a buffet-style offering that helps you put together the remnants of a fry-up should you wish.
The restaurant and the course are not one in the same, but they do have a working partnership. For a price, you can arrange to have dinner and breakfast sorted for as many days of your trip as you’d like. While you can get by on what the shop has to offer, I highly recommend you at least have dinner at the restaurant.
They have a range of deserts on the menu but this choclate brownie was a real winner
The food was simply stunning. This lamb loin was so good we had to have it twice
But the beauty of the area is just as intoxicating as the golf is brilliant. Travelling to Lofoten isn’t easy from London; a flight from Stansted into Norway’s capital of Oslo is followed by a an irregular connection to Harstad where you then need to hire a car and drive three hours to find one of the northeast golf courses in all of Europe.
However, that three hour drive will make your jaw drop. The views are truly sublime and you will have to fight the urge to take pictures while driving (there’s signs at the airport telling you explicitly not to do this!).
News that direct flights to Harstad from London kick in from November will be a game changer for this journey, almost cutting the day in half.
But, it’s all worth it. If you love golf and you love visiting totally unique, beautiful locations
