Grafarholt Golf Course

Grafarholt golf course is par 71 with following course rating:

[table]
Back tee,6.026 m,CR 72.3,Slope 130
Yellow,5.478 m,CR 69.1,Slope 125
Blue (men),5.052 m,CR 66.9,Slope 121
Red (men),4.669 m,CR 64.7,Slope 118
Blue (women),5.052 m,CR 73.1,Slope 131
Red (women),4.669 m,CR 70.6,Slope 127
[/table]

For the course guide click here
For the scorecard click here

If you want to see a video clip for every hole on the golf course, click here.

The club and golf course:

Reykjavík Golf Club was established in 1934 and is the oldest and largest golf club 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. In be beginning there were very few members but now the club consists of 2.500 members.  Today the club offers two exceptional 18-hole courses; one at Grafarholt and the other one at Korpa (see separately the course Korpa). Both these courses have fantastic layouts, unique characteristics and spectacular views of Reykjavik and its surrounding area.

The story behind the club is traced to the 14th of December, 1934, when few distinguished gentlemen gathered for a meeting in Reykjavik. The occasion was the establishment a golf club, the first one in Iceland. Leading this new golf movement in Reykjavik where Sveinn Björnsson, who later became the first President of Iceland.  In the summer of 1935, the first tournament was held in Laugardalur, which is close to where the National Stadium is today. The golfers were not allowed to stay in Laugardalur for very long, but instead received new land in Leynimýri, similar location as the Kringlan shopping center is today in Reykjavík. The golf course in Leynimýri was 9 holes. When the course was opened, Ingrid, the crown princess of Denmark and Iceland, hit the ceremonial first shot to open the course. She was named guardian of the club to celebrate the occasion and still is.  The club house was rather small but always full of life.

Most politicians at that time concluded that the land would be better utilized with buildings than a golf course. This decision to move the golf course become a controversial one. Many people argue that there would have been great value in having a golf course near the city centre. All over the world, golfers enviously look at cities that have golf courses in centralized locations. Nonetheless, the city council decided to build on the land and forced the golf club to move to a rather barren area east of the city, Grafarholt which today might be argued to be in the middle of town.  Play on the course started in 1963 but only on a few holes but in 1968 it became a full 18 hole golf course.

There has been 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 the 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.  Hannes Þorsteinsson, a golf course architect, member of the British Institute of Golf Course Architects, was hired to design the course. There had been a small 12 hole course on the land for a number of years where members could play. Everything went according to plan and in July of 1996 play started on nine holes at Korpa. A year later the whole 18 holes were opened. The Korpa golf course was formerly opened in July 1997 when it held the national championships. The city council allocated the east end of the historic Korpulfstadir building for the golf club.

Since then there has been a constant demand for a membership at Reykjavík Golf Club and a long waiting list for membership.  To solve the problem the club came to an arrangement with the golf club Leinir at Akranes to hire the course for the next three years for the members of Golf Club Reykjavík.

The club has hosted a few international tournaments at Grafarholt. The Nordic Team Championships three times, European Team Boys Championship once and The European Senior Amateur Championship once. This more than anything shows the level of recognition that the Grafarholt golf course and Reykjavik Golf Club have overseas.
The course has a par of 71 and measures 6.026 m (6.590 yards) from the back tees. The 18 challenging holes with gently undulating fairways requires a golfers full repertoire The mild climate and the magnificent views over the exciting city of Reykjavik make this a unique golfing experience.   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.”

Building a golf course in Grafarholt was a very difficult task. There was hardly any soil that was usable for cultivation or let alone building a golf course. Nevertheless, the club 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
The Grafarholt golf course was designed by the Swede, Nils Skold. There is 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.

The signature hole is definitely hole number 15, which is a par 5 hole. The tee is up on a hill with a spectacular view over Reykjavik and you have 190 meters in the air to the fairway from the back tee or 140 meters from the yellow tee. The landing area is covered with 4 bunkers.  The approach to the green is difficult, the green is small, you have water in front, on the left side and at the back  are hazards so there are few alternatives except to hit the green.