Midnight Golf in Finland

Finland and golf are not normally associated with the few items of general knowledge that most people know about the country. I doubt if its most famous son, the well known composer Sibelius ever played the game, but by and large you will go a long way to find more enthusiastic golfers in Europe than the Finns. Their season is short. It extends from May to October, a bare six months, but what they lack in the length of their season they make up for in hours, for over much of their summer they have twenty-four hours of day-light and many a tournament is played under the midnight sun. Another unusual golfing experience that one Finnish club can offer is playing on a course that has holes in two countries, the other being Sweden. It also happens to have an American pro, who plays on the U.S. Senior Tour.

Linna golf course near Harviala

Christer Herlin, a keen golfer, has the only company in Finland offering golf holidays in the country, which can take you through the Finnish lake district of over a hundred thousand lakes, a water hazard that is hard to beat. Such a trip could also find you in the world renowned Finnish archipelago or you could take a combined golf tour not only through Finland, but into its neighbouring countries of Sweden and Norway to the west, Russia to the east and Estonia to the south - yes, there really are golf courses in these areas and there are more under construction. During the past ten years Finland has seen a tremendous boom in golf with considerable private capital invested in new golf resorts, which has added some fifty new courses to the existing thirty they had before.

The Helsinki Golf Club

Kytaja course near Hyvinkaa

Many golfers are also keen fishermen and Finland is the ideal place to combine the two. Whether your body can stand up to the rigours of a twenty-four hour schedule you will have to find out for yourself It's a matter of juggling the water hazards!

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