Icelandic Golf

One of the libraries this week ordered at DK book titled Golf. While I don’t play golf and don’t care to, I was interested to see that, although the book featured pictorial sections on golf courses in places like Scotland and Sweden, they didn’t mention any in Iceland. There are golf courses in Iceland, right? Sure there are. At last count there were 56. The most famous is the Akureyri Golf Club, known for several things. One being that it’s the world’s most northern 18-hole golf course. The other is the four day Arctic Open held there annually beginning on the summer solstice in June. Due to the unsetting midnight sun, you can golf all night. Icelandic golf presents a few difficulties not found in other countries. The terrifically high winds, the moss and, reportedly, nesting birds that don’t appreciate being disturbed and will swoop down and peck at any available head. Iceland also has several miniature golf courses, including one in Reykjavík’s Kringlan shopping mall. No mini versions of Þingvellir and Dettifoss there, though.