63 Photo: Tony Ristola Architect Tony Ristola has created six new holes at Brautarholt since he began working there in 2022 Golf was born by the sea. The first golf courses, in Scotland, were created at the shore because the land there, which, of course, we know as links, was fundamentally useless for agriculture, due to its impoverished soil. And, as a result, to this day, playing golf by the sea feels right in a way that no other location does. To be sure, the seaside is appealing generally – that’s why so many people holiday there – but the proximity of the water, the smell of the brine and the near-constant wind make seaside golf attractive even without true linksland. I am not sure I have ever seen a course more closely connected to the sea than Iceland’s Brautarholt. Half an hour north of the Icelandic capital, Reykjavik, the course is set on a small peninsula, surrounded on three sides by the North Atlantic Ocean. At no point in the round is the golfer more than a few hundred metres from the ocean, and for most of it, the water is in plain view. Brautarholt’s first green, set on top of a cliff some 20 feet above the crashing waves, and protected further by a cleft in the rock that juts directly into the line of play, and at the bottom of which the sea is clearly visible, is as dramatic as any feature on any golf course. Anywhere. Icelandic architect Edwin Roald produced an 18-hole routing, and nine holes were opened in 2012. Roald was not, however, fully involved in the construction of the original nine, or the three holes added a few years later, at the eastern side of the site. The existing course is not without issues. It is very, very rocky, and as such, the drainage is not really good enough, especially given players’ natural desire to play links-style golf so close to the water. The bunkers are plain as plain can be, and in many cases have been located not obviously to influence the play of a hole, but in natural low points to solve drainage problems. That first green is spectacularly located, but the rocky hill that sits behind it requires a fairly substantial and decidedly uphill walk to get to the second tee. There is a lack of variety in hole lengths, with no par four longer than 360 yards, even from the back tees. The three holes added to the east of the original ones, which serve as the closing loop of the golf course, are very plain, and not completely in-keeping with Roald’s original routing. It is a decidedly flat ending to a round so spectacular for most of its length, and the club’s land does not include the
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