(Digital translation of original Danish article - with some editing.....)
Original article by:
Mads and Kim Boje
Friday the 27th May guests of Queen Margrethe and Prince Henrik came to Horsens, a city that came on the map of Denmark for its prison and on the world map for its spectacular rock and pop concerts.
The royals are not a concert, but visit the prison museum and afterward enjoy lunch at Stensballegaard Golf Club where, from the stately clubhouse, they will enjoy views over the bay and 27 hole golf course of the Count and Countess Ahlefeldt Laurvig.
Stensballegaard Golf again makes headlines. The first time was last year when GolfInc. selected the track for the best new course in 2010. The Architects that designed Stensballegaard (von Hagge, Smelek and Baril) also designed Doral and Bay Hill in Florida and Les Bordes near Paris and Lyngbygaard near Aarhus. In Horsens, they have created a very rustic path, where the concept might best be described as "back to the future" as a Local green-keeper said.
The wide fairways seem to meander quite naturally into the beautiful and open landscape, so you would think the course was opened simultaneously with the Old Course at St Andrews and not just last year. Sustainability is a word Stensballegaard takes very seriously. For example; irrigation is only used on the greens and tees, and only water from their own recuperation wells is used. Yet, the course is in surprisingly neat condition.
The idea of natural, "original" golf is strongest expression in the bunker policy as Stensballegaard. The maintenance of bunkers is restricted to keep vegetation down. They are not raked. So, the chance for a perfect lie is not great! An unusual and controversial practice, which probably should give rise to animated discussions – sorry – especially if you just rolled off the green after an otherwise good approach stroke and you find the ball in a big hole. In the course guide, players are asked to repair the worst impressions with foot or club. Therefore, you will not find rakes neither in fairway nor green bunkers.
There is generally plenty of space on the fairways to play. But, if you warped your tee shot, you are punished by rough; very tough and long-haired. The big challenge is the greens which are usually very long, very hilly, very narrow and very fast. And, as if that were not enough, at several locations the greens cross the playing direction, so you must land the ball in front of the green, especially at a season when rainfall has been limited. Therefore, the greens are quite tough.
If you have not been challenged enough by the greens, rough, bunkers and water hazards – you will find challenge on the tees. The black BACKTEE plays all of 7,010 meters, making it the longest golf course in the country. Fortunately, there are four other tees to choose from. "You just find the right tees" said a local golfer with handicap 24, "so it's a wonderful course. I always play from the yellow. "
Every fourth day the ’18 hole’ combination is changed between the three loops Brakør, Elbæk and Guldjburg. All three loops are a pleasure to play. Strongest in the mind is probably the final hole at Brakor, a par-5 hole with a lake and bulrushes on the left side, like a snake around the green. And the last 4 holes on the Guldjberg: after hole #6 you leave the open country and go upward through forest, where this is a sign with legend: “GOLF COURSE – NO ACCESS”.
If you then dare to go to the seventh, a short par-4 hole, which can be driven by the long-hitting, and then again it is uphill, until the ninth which stands 77 meters above the fjord and and offers a view of the city, land and water below. From here it is 535 meters from the yellow tees including a fall of 52 meters - simply one of the best holes the golfer and his partner has ever played.
Overall, Stensballegaard is a fantastic course; excitingly different, innovative or rather "traditional" in its approach to the game, entirely legendary Old Tom Morris's spirit from a time where the game was mainly a question of honor, and a bunker was a bunker and then a real hazard. But if this practice is gaining ground in the Danish golf courses, it probably means that in future we will spell the word “gambling” with a z! (It just means it is not a game of chance but a hazard. Impossible to translate.)
Back in the grandiose clubhouse, which Architects Kjaer & Richter are responsible for, you can digest the impression of the restaurant or on the terrace with the magnificent view. You pass the weekend and want to order dinner before the kitchen closes at 21H. It is wise to book a table in advance. It is not just the golf course that is popular. And maybe you can get the dishes that the chef Kasper Mandal is to have served her Majesty and her entourage of 27 May: it should be about a menu that had been previously served with the Russian princes and princesses who were in exile in Horsens, Denmark from 1780 to 1807.
"Back to the Future", as they say in Horsens ...
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