Most northerly 18-hole course
Tromsø Golf Park at Breivikeidet near Tromsø, Norway, at latitude 69°39’30’N, measures 5745m off the back tees and has a course rating of 71.2 and slope of 131. It is open to guests from May to October, and open round the clock from June. In an area of great natural beauty, it boasts salmon rivers, lush birch woods and a multitude of wildlife.
For more details, visit tromsogolf.com
Most northerly 9-hole course
The Billy Joss Golf Club in Ulukhaktok, in Canada’s Northwest Territories is set in tundra off the Amundsen Gulf in the Beaufort Sea at latitude 70°44′ N. It has shale fairways and artificial greens and is open from June to September. In the third week of July every year, it hosts the Billy Joss Celebrity Tournament, a four-day event that tees off all night, although (naturally at this latitude) is it broad daylight. (www.arcticcharinn.com/arctic-golfing.htm)
Most northerly 6-hole course
Nordkapp (North Cape) Golf club on the island of Magerøya in Norway is at the most northerly point in continental Europe, at latitude 70°66′ 4" N. The par is 20, you play three times round for the full 18, and you invariably gat eaten alive by mosquitos breeding in the muddy ground. (www.northcape-golfclub.no – Norwegian only)
Most southerly 9-hole course
Ushuaia Golf Club, in Tierra del Fuego, Argentina, is 54 degrees south, measures 5610 yards for 18 holes and a par of 70. Opened in 1992, it is playable from about September to April. The course lies in a gently undulating, fertile natural valley, surrounded by the foothills of the Andes. Approximately 12,500 miles (20,000 kms) from the most northerly course at North Cape, it is very close to Cape Horn and the enormous glaciers falling into the Beagle Canal. It can be extremely cold, windy and wet, averaging 160 days of rain or snow a year. The course is often enveloped in clouds and mist. Visiting golfers receive a certificate confriming they have played on the southernmost golf course in the world. (ushuaiagolfclub.com.ar)
Ice golf courses
Most northerly
The course at Uummannaq, in western Greenland, is home to the World Ice Golf Championship, although at latitude 70° 40′ 21′ N it is actually not as far north as North Cape in Norway. The course itself is laid out on the fjord ice, but its shape varies constantly according to the positions of icebergs in the fjord and snowdrifts, although it is ‘restored’ every March a week before the actual championship. It consists of nine holes, for a par of either 35 or 36 and normally has 5 par 4s, 2 par 3s and 2 par 5s. It measures between about 5.400 and 5.800 metres for a full 18 holes.
Most southerly
Scott Base Country Club, run by the New Zealand Antarctic Programme, is just 13 degrees above the South Pole, and players are required to wear full survival gear. The orange golf balls essential for ice golf are frequently stolen by the skua birds, which, under an unusual local rule, incurs a one shot penalty. Perhaps as compensation, another local rule stipulates that a ball hitting a skua counts as a birdie.
