Sweden conjures up images of blonde, gorgeous people, long summer days and enduring winter nights. Not to mention flat-pack furniture and irritatingly popular music.

Golf came to Sweden early in the 20th century, but remained a marginal leisure pursuit until the 1980s and 1990s when it expanded to a major sport. With nearly half a million golf club members it’s the largest organised sport in Sweden with the highest golf participation rate in mainland Europe.

Sweden’s competitive success has mainly come in the women’s game through Annika Sörenstam – perhaps the greatest female golfer in the modern era – with 10 major wins between 1995 and 2006. In terms of global audience, it’s likely that Henrik Stenson has had a bigger impact following his brilliant victory in the 2016 Open at Royal Troon, when he held off an incredibly strong challenge from Phil Mickelson to claim his first Major title.

The Swedish Golf Federation reckons there's 444 golf facilities (with a total of 534 courses between 9 and 18 holes) around the country and we feature the best 100 here at Top 100 Golf Courses. As you will see from the map, the majority of Sweden’s layouts are located in the south and along the west coast of the country, although the Stockholm region also boasts a number of high-ranking tracks.

If you’re thinking about playing several top courses on a Swedish trip rather than the occasional game, do keep distances in mind. While it takes less than an hour to get from Denmark’s Copenhagen Airport (via the Öresund bridge) to the courses in the Malmö area, getting to Stockholm requires a solid six hours behind the wheel.

As Sweden has real winters – even in the south – the golf season tends to run from April to October with some courses opening earlier and closing later. With most fairways tree-lined, either parkland or woodland in style, courses tend to be at their best during mid summer when the long days have started to work their magic on the grass.

Even the top-ranked golf clubs see comparatively few visitors from abroad, so you’ll encounter mainly Swedish golfers during your stay.

Our rankings of the Top 100 Golf Courses of Sweden were last updated in March 2022. Click the link to read the story.