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atlantic ocean, caucino, golf, golf course, golf couses, iceland, links golf course, Reykjavík, sport, sports, vacation
Reykjavík Golf Club
On the 14th of December, 1934, a few distinguished gentlemen gathered for a meeting in Reykjavik. The occasion was the establishment a golf club, the first one in Iceland. The club was originally called The Golf Club of Iceland but was later changed to Reykjavik Golf Club when other golf clubs where established in the country. The idea of establishing the golf club originally came from Icelandic students studying in Denmark, where they were introduced to the game. Building a golf course in Grafarholt proved to be a very difficult task. There was hardly any soil that was usable for cultivation or let alone building a golf course. Nevertheless, the members persevered and with great effort were able to build a beautiful and challenging golf course. Play on the course started in 1963 but only on a few holes. However, more and more holes were gradually added. Today, Grafarholt is a golf course that has received international recognition, practice facilities that are second to none as well as a club house of the highest quality. The Grafarholt golf course was designed the Swede, Nils Skold. There can no doubt that he did a fantastic job. The course is unique in that no two holes are alike. You can say that the course consists of 18 completely different holes, each with its own characteristic. This is quite unique and very exciting. Foreign golf reporters, who have played or visited the golf course, all say the same thing: “never have they seen such diversity on a golf course like there is in Grafarholt.” The course is very undulating and therefore quite heavy on the foot, especially from the back tees. The course is not the longest, measuring 6.030 meters (6650 yards) par 71 from the back tees, but requires great levels of accuracy if you want to play well. To illustrate that, the course record from the back tees is 67 or four under par. The course record from the members tees is 63. There has been a great increase in the number of golfers in Iceland in recent years. The sport´s popularity is always on the rise. At Reykjavik Golf Club in the mid 1990´s, the Grafarholt course could no longer handle great number of golfers playing there every day. To cope with that problem, the club decided to build a new 18 hole course at Korpulfsstadir in 1993. Reykjavík Golf Club is by far the largest golf club in Iceland with 2.500 members, it has two different but magnificent golf courses and it will not be long until the Korpa golf course will host international tournaments just like the Grafarholt course has done in the past. The biggest driving range in the country, Básar, is located in Grafarholt. Básar, which is a three story building, opened in 2004 and has over 70 mats to hit balls from. The club has two short practice courses, one at Korpa (Litli völlur) and one at Grafarholt (Grafarkot) where players can fine tune their short game.