Special Places - Bro Hof Slott Golf Club

The European Tour moves on this week to Bro Hof Slott Golf Club, Stockholm, Sweden for the Nordea Scandinavian Masters. The club is the brainchild of Swedish tycoon Bjorn Oras - a magnificent facility comprising 36 holes – the Stadium Course and the Castle Course, on the shores of picturesque Lake Mälaren, which supplies the drinking water for Sweden’s capital.

More than five years in the making, the Robert Trent Jones Jr designed complex features USGA specification greens, state of the art drainage and a sub-air heating and ventilation system similar to that used at Augusta National, enabling play in extreme weather conditions.

The site was a royal farm in the Middle Ages, in the late nineteenth century the farmhouse was rebuilt as a Baroque castle. The neglected and decaying castle has now been sensitively and painstakingly renovated for use as the Clubhouse, with superb dining rooms, a bar and a magnificent terrace.

The Stadium Course is the championship layout and has been designed to provide great spectator facilities and angles, especially in Victory Valley around the eighteenth that can accommodate 75,000 people. From the back tees this is Europe’s longest course, and it was immediately named Sweden’s best course after opening in 2007. It comes as no surprise that heavy lobbying is under way for Bro Hof Slott to be selected as the second mainland course after Valderama to host the Ryder Cup, with eyes firmly fixed on the 2018 tournament.

The golf course itself is a spectacular parkland layout, consisting of gentle rolling terrain studded by rocky outcrops and wooded groves. Sweeping bunkers and additional man-made lakes make a stunning visual impact with water coming into play on most of the holes. Signature holes are two par fives which are framed by water – the dogleg ninth played to a three-tiered green, and the monster 550 metre fifteenth with a peninsular green. The short par three seventeenth and its island green within view of Victory Valley will also become a favourite.

Bro Hof is open for play from April to November and in less than three years has already been ranked as the ninth best course in mainland Europe. With its spectacular setting and the seemingly bottomless pockets of an owner who is passionate in his quest for perfection, this modern classic can expect a steady rise up the rankings.