Top 50 Golf Courses of Denmark 2022
Welcome to the fourth of our five Nordic chart releases for 2022. After this one, Sweden’s the only nation still to be updated across the countries in northern Europe. Denmark was ranked 9th in Europe – between Scotland and Finland – when the last KPMG Golf Participation Report was published a couple of years ago so it’s a big hitter when it comes to the royal & ancient game. There are approximately 165,000 registered golfers playing on 150 courses in Denmark and the ratio of golfers per golf course (789) is actually better than four of the top 10 countries in the survey.
Great Northern
Let’s delve straight into our newly extended Danish rankings, where the course at Great Northern takes over as the new national #1. Opened five years ago at considerable expense, this 18-hole layout from Nicklaus Design was the first course in Denmark built by the Golden Bear’s golf design company. It’s located close to Odense, near the E20 motorway, with an ultra-chic clubhouse, spa and hotel suites anchoring the upmarket development. Water plays a large part in the playing strategy here so be prepared for the aquatic demands of this modern facility.
“Wow. What a place,” wrote a recent Great Northern reviewer. “The course will challenge you to the teeth… Course management is high on the agenda… It looks amazing and is just brilliant as a concept… The condition of the course was impeccable… When you visit, make sure you take your time before and after to get to know the place… It doesn’t have the history of the great golf courses around Europe but this place lives on for generations to tell great tales of great games.”
Silkeborg Ry
The Syd and Vest nines at Silkeborg Ry Golfklub found favour with quite a few of our panellists, reflected in its rise of three places to #4 in our new listings. Home club of former Ryder Cup captain Thomas Bjøn, Silkeborg Ry hosted the Made in Denmark tournament in 2018, when Matt Wallace won a 4-man playoff against three other Englishmen. Originally laid out in the mid-1960s by Frederik Dreyer, the fairways were hewn from dense forest and they’re even tougher to negotiate in the modern era as the trees have matured – expect an exacting arboreal test when teeing it up here.
Rungsted
Climbing three positions to #8, the course at Rungsted Golf Klub dates back to the mid-1930s, when Charles MacKenzie (brother of Alister MacKenzie) set out a new course for some disenchanted members of Copenhagen Golf Club who had broken away to set up their own club. Overlooking the Öresund strait which separates Denmark from Sweden, the layout is routed across hilly terrain with little streams cutting across several fairways short of the green. The European Ladies’ Team championship was held here in 1963, when Belgium emerged victorious at the end of the competition.
Hvide Klit
The 18-hole track at Golfklubben Hvide Klit enters the national Top 10 for the first time, rising five spots to #9. It’s situated near Skagen, the most northerly town in the nation, and it opened for play in the early 1970s, with holes laid out across an ideal sandy soiled landscape. In recent years, the course has undergone significant upgrades, not only to the layout, but especially with the conditioning of the fairways, greens and bunkers. And there’s more to come as the club states on its website: “the greenkeepers are not finished at all, the improvements continue.”
Nordvestjysk
The biggest climber in our new chart is the course at Nordvestjysk Golfklub which soars fourteen places up to #10. The club began operating in 1971 with a par three course which then became a 9-holer a couple of years later, designed by Eric Schnack. It took another twenty years until this layout was doubled in size, quickly becoming recognized as one of the toughest tracks in the country. With free-draining fairways, the course is never closed due to rain and it’s renowned for its lightening quick putting surfaces.
Langesø
Further down the table, another course makes a prodigious double-digit leap up the new standings. Situated next to the picturesque Langesø Castle near Odense, the woodland layout at Langesø Golf(up eleven to #28) was remodelled recently by Spogárd & Vandervaart, with nine new holes added to an already existing 9-hole course. Fairways wind through a mature and protected forest and meandering streams come into play on a number of holes, adding greatly to the challenge. The round at Langesø now concludes with a tough par five played to a peninsula home green.
Mariagerfijord
The highest new entry arrives at #16 and it’s the Michael Traasdahl Møller design at Mariagerfjord Golfklub which was unveiled in 2007. Extending to just over 5,500 from the regular tees (playing to a par of 71), with holes arranged as two returning nines, the course lies half an hour’s drive north of Randers, overlooking the placid waters of Marianger Fjord, the longest fjord in Jutland. According to the club’s website, club members think their golf course offers “Denmark's most beautiful views, surpassing all other golf courses”.