Jack Nicklaus golf course in Funen ranked 67th best in world

Denmark’s Great Northern Golf Club the place to swing, according to new rankings

Only Tiger Woods could possibly dispute that Jack Nicklaus is the greatest golfer of all time.

More up in the air perhaps is how much involvement the 79-year-old legend has in the design of golf courses conducted by Nicklaus Design.

And it might surprise you to know it’s been busy recently on the northeastern corner of Funen, where in 2017 it opened the Great Northern Golf Club near the harbour town of Kerteminde.

Today it has struck gold – or should that be (to quote Percy in Blackadder) purest green – as that very same course has been named by Golfscape in 67th place on its 2019 list of the World’s Top 100 Golf Courses.

Where golf is a social activity
“Great Northern is created with inspiration from some of the world’s best golf courses and built up with respect for the local area’s countryside and history,” commented Golfscape.

“Nordic generosity at Great Northern is enjoyment, inclusiveness, a shared passion for the sport, and a firm conviction that golf should be a social activity.”

However, it is not the top course in Scandinavia, as that honour befalls Lofoten Links in Norway in 40th place, which has the advantage of offering midnight sun golf (May-June) with an occasional view of the Northern Lights from August onwards.

And it is not even the first course in Denmark designed by an all-time great, as that honour belongs to Ledreborg Palace, which Nick Faldo crafted in 2007.