Golf in the Arctic desert

The world’s northernmost permanent 18-hole course is right here

And yet the “Sondre Arctic Desert Golf Course” is no ordinary golf course either. Between rounded mountains, on a sandy plain, flanked by a river running straight from the ice cap and out into Kangerlussuaq Fjord you’ll find a golf course in the desert-like Arctic landscape.

Golf with a special twist
18 holes spread across an unaltered terrain, where fairways, greens and tees have been marked out in the landscape, and where a warm jacket, solid shoes and a steady hand wrapped in a warm glove can often be an advantage.

It all started in 1986 when two pilots hit on the idea. Not long after the local enthusiasts had set up a golf course and it’s kept its raw and challenging character ever since.

When nature comes knocking
Part of the fun is in playing golf in a place where the wind blows directly down from the ice cap only kilometres away, and where rock dust ground under the ice is trampled firm into putting greens and tees.

A little more than 55 kilometres north of the Arctic Circle, a short way off the road to the ice cap from Kangerlussuaq, you’ll find the golf course.

And if you’re not busy shooing a musk ox off the fairway, you can stand a while and marvel at the ice cap rising upwards on the horizon. Here, the air’s fresh, the heavens high and the world’s completely your own.

A fun place to be
The golf course was created on good ideas and a small budget, and today the primitive facilities are a part of the fun of the visit. The clubhouse is a trailer, and on the course you mustn’t keep an eye on golf carts or stand in line to tee-off – you need only enjoy the mountains, the ice and the unique nature of this part of the Arctic Circle Region.

You can hire out clubs by contacting Hotel Kangerlussuaq’s reception in the airport building, where you’ll also pay a modest green fee to access the “Sondre Arctic Desert Golf Course”.