Københavns Golf Klub (Royal Copenhagen Golf Club)

Københavns Golf Klub (Royal Copenhagen Golf Club): here at Scandinavia's oldest golf club, a pleasantly testing golf course roams across the royal hunting grounds of Dyrehaven (Deer Park). Spectacularly antlered red deer (as well as sika and fallow deer) are still here in abundance. They no longer need to fear hunters on horseback, as much as errant shots from wayward golfers employing a little white ball.

This predominantly open layout is flanked to the north by towering oak and chestnut trees; open parkland lies to the south. Two good length par-3s start and finish the out-and-back routing, with a varied and natural collection of holes in-between. Within the bounds of this expansively open hunting park, any feeling of "sameness" on the front-nine, is corrected by greater elevation changes on the back-nine. Both nines take you west towards the village of Hjortekær.

Very natural throughout, there is a distinctly "rustic" and ecology-driven feel to much of the course. Wooden bunker rakes and wooden flagsticks testify to that. If you stray too far from the generally good-width fairways, finding your ball may not be as much a problem as playing from heavily rutted ground. In some areas of the rough, many small mounds have been "crafted" over the years by rabbits. However, this touch of "rusticity" doesn't feel remotely out of place. It delightfully underlines the view held by the late Peter Thomson that a round of golf should be more akin to a cross-country safari, than a walk through a highly manicured garden.

This famous old Copenhagen course, an essential part of the Scandinavian golfing experience, has in the past played host to the world's very best players. It still lays down an enjoyable challenge, with a thoroughly natural feel and an absorbing variety of holes. From many parts of the course you'll see the Hermitage Castle (Eremitageslottet), still occasionally used by the royal family as a hunting lodge.