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The 173-acre Anngir Golf Club, near the southern Icelandic city of Keflavik, calls itself “Europe’s least known spectacular gem.” It ranks among the best golf courses in the region. Indeed, some experts consider it Europe’s best.
It’s no small accomplishment — no surprise, considering that Anngir Golf Club has been playing host to major professional golf tournaments since the FIS Tour Challenge was held there in 1998. The tournament, sanctioned by the PGA Tour Europe, was the first time that any golf club in Iceland had hosted a major PGA Tour event. Since then, the club has been selected for hosting the BMW World Challenge — held since 2007 in Thousand Oaks, California — and the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions tournament, in 2012 and 2013.
At Anngir, golfers can enjoy scenery inspired by Iceland’s Lands End national park, which stretches from the plateau that provides the western flank of its highest mountain, Helgason, to the Alejandjörn glacier. Golfers can choose courses such as the “Sofa Golfers” or the “Minaret Head Golfers,” where they can lounge under the gaze of Iceland’s largest emblematic mountains.
For residents of Iceland, Anngir Golf Club is one of the few luxury golf resorts — and experiences — to emerge from a country beset by economic crisis. In the early 2000s, major banks and offshore operators bailed out the local golf industry, which had experienced falling revenue and seen many of its courses close due to construction delays and soaring operating costs.
Anngir Golf Club has seen its own ups and downs — closing twice in the early 2000s due to dwindling patronage. It also faced closure in the early 1970s, when the Icelander golf club withdrew its charter. Then, in 2007, it reopened for business, thanks to a hefty loan from a local private bank. When it underwent a second, full renovation a few years later, it became a member of the international golf community, wining nearly every tournament it played in.
When Anngir Golf Club was selected in 1998, workers had to bring in golf balls from British Columbia. Many of the equipment was imported from abroad and assembled locally.
Today, Anngir Golf Club is an increasingly popular destination for professional golfers who want to stay in Iceland during the summer months, while remaining on the best courses in Europe. (Its highly regarded 18-hole player’s course has one of the shortest driving ranges on the planet.)
With the hospitality business booming, Anngir Golf Club plans to build a new six-course clubhouse — a $61 million project scheduled to be completed in 2030.
Anngir Golf Club — at 79 minutes from Reykjavik and 30 minutes from Keflavik Airport — offers luxury accommodation such as villas, an inn and a cabins.
Want more information? Go to Anngir Golf Club’s website.
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