Ålands (Castle)

Two hills were off-limits to developers during the two-year project to create one of Europe’s great golf courses.

Because on either side of the 12th fairway are Viking burial grounds in the shadow of a 13th-century castle, which gives this course at  Ålands Golfklubb its name.

Thus, the warrior in me was inspired on this uphill par-five, because my approach landed just 15 feet from the flag. Sadly, my jousting lance was blunted as the ball slipped around the cup, and a birdie was denied.

The redesign of the Castle Course is far beyond expectations. Its project team took a risk in closing for two years, pushing holes to the sea’s edge, and they've created a Continental Europe Top 100 entry.

 Architect Philip Christian Spogård succeeded in his desire that the sea should be visible from every hole, and the vistas are breathtaking.

But the Castle Course, or Slottsbanen, is more than a pretty picture.

The variety of holes combined with the excellent conditioning of its fairways and greens makes it a must-visit.

The Åland Islands are part of Finland but just a two-hour ferry ride from Sweden, and we combined our trip with games around Stockholm.

The weather was so warm that we went for a dip in a lake the evening before our round.

At the golf club, the welcome is warm, and the atmosphere is vibrant. Men, women, boys, and girls enjoyed the terrific practice facilities before adjourning to the Castle, Kings, or nine-hole par-three course.

I was lucky to play with club director Björn Wennström, who talked me through the changes to the course as we played its 18 holes.

The opening five holes offer a lead-in to the drama of the seaside stretch, but are by no means weak.

The first is a par-four which demands a drive to be cut inside trees on the right and away from bunkers down the left. It gives the first warning of the many false fronts ahead of large, tiered, or undulating greens to come.

Bunkers play a big part in the Castle’s setup, as I can testify, having plopped my ball into seven of them on the first 11 holes. These included the second, the first of five par-fives, carved inside a rocky escarpment on the left-hand side.

The fourth is the opening par-three—a delicious hole across a sandy wasteland to a target that feeds in from right to left. After a stuttering start, this was my first birdie chance of the day.

A kiosk is handily situated after the fifth hole and passed after the 12th, giving players much-needed refreshment on a hot day.

The action ratchets up on the short, bending par-four sixth, with the sea as its backdrop.

Big hitters may cut the corner but will risk bunkers down the left-hand side. Playing the ball into the green from the right should yield rewards.

My golf had been patchy, but there were some glimmers. One came on the eighth—a par-four from an elevated tee that offers a choice of fairways to the left and right of a sandy waste area.

Björn and I both boomed drives after taking the riskier option down the right and were delighted to claim our pars on another daunting green.

The ninth and tenth are picturesque waterside holes and, on this glorious summer day, boats cruised past as we attempted to keep our balls on solid ground.

The former is a beautiful par-three which can be slid in from a bank to the left of the target.

However, that does not complete the job because the green has a very challenging swirl from left to right.

The tenth is a stunning short par-four which longer hitters may attack from the tee, but even the slightest fade could find the sea.

Meanwhile, only the most accurate will avoid the bunkers that protect the target's left side.

Boating is a way of life on the island, so it is not unusual for a member to moor up their boat, as one had done next to the 11th tee when we played.

That is the stroke-index one, a long, curving par-four which I strove to reach but found the bunker 20 yards short of the raised green.

This was the clearest demonstration that strategy is more important than brute force if a good score is to be achieved on the Castle Course.

The 12th hole returns to the kiosk to enable more refreshment before moving towards the castle and a sequence of exhilarating holes.

The first of that stretch is a fiendish par-three to a slanting green with a backdrop of the sea and a beautiful marina.

The five par-threes are exceptional. With the castle looking down on us, the 15th nearly yielded a lifetime memory.

It is just a downhill clip, but three bunkers are fiendishly placed to the left and one to the right.

Björn’s ball came in from the right-hand slope and finished 20 feet beyond the flag, while mine tracked towards the hole, prompting some genuine excitement.

My birdie putt from seven feet curled in from the right but took one revolution too many, and so, after dreaming of an ace, I had to settle for par.

I had gone the whole round without losing a ball, but feared the worst when we came to the 16th, where a green has been built on land reclaimed from the sea.

My drive was pulled towards the water that runs on the left of the scenic par-four but held up next to a tree.

However, it soon found a watery grave on the 17th, a par-three over water to an angled green with sand traps in front of the pin and another bunker behind.

I would love to go back, even if only to play this hole again.

By comparison, the finale is a relatively gentle uphill par-four with a stream and a forest on the left and more trees on the right.

The changes to the Castle Course have brought a wow factor to Ålands Golfklubb, but the team now thirsts for more.

Don’t be surprised if there are a few tweaks and significant improvements to its King’s Course in years to come.