One of Estonia’s biggest grains of gold can be found outside Tallinn close to the Gulf of Finland. The Sea Course is the name of the grain of gold that glimmers more and more with the passing years. Together with the classic Niitvälja, the two of them create a golf experience beyond the ordinary.

To build something similar in Sweden would have been unthinkable. The County Board would have lashed out and said “there will never be any golf course in this area. The course is full of archaeological finds that we have to take care of! "And then it would have been so, because they usually get their way.

But in Estonia it went really well. The clubhouse at Estonian Golf & Country Club, a 20-minute drive east of Tallinn, abounds with excavated coins, rubble, bits of old walls and everything that makes an archaeologist drool with happiness, especially if the find is thousands of years old. Most of the finds come from the Bronze Age, i.e. about three thousand years ago.

As golfers we also drool with happiness after having played one of the two courses - the course called the Sea Course that slinks around down by the Gulf of Finland. Good thing golf course builders and archaeologists can work together.

Although the course is relatively young, you are impressed by what the Finnish golf course designer Lassi Pekka Tilander has achieved. The finish is significantly good, both on the fairways and greens.

It is also evident that Tilander has studied course design in Scotland because the Sea Course breathes Scotland straight up and down, especially when you get really close to the water. The holes become a part of nature and both the constructed water hazards and bunkers feel as if they have always been here. The height difference is approximately 40 metres but there are no abrupt slopes that kill you but the entire course billows up.

Golf is attracting more and more enthusiasts in Estonia, although it is mostly rich Estonians and Russians from St. Petersburg who can afford the sport. A membership is a very expensive business. For example, you pay around EUR 4,763 to become a member of the Estonian GCC. A membership at the Tallinn Golf Club, Estonia's oldest golf course, in turn costs around EUR  9,527. In other words it is not difficult to understand that golf is viewed as a luxury here.

The most beautiful and exciting part of the Sea Course is the final nine holes, especially the fourteenth to eighteenth. Hole fifteen, for example, is a fantastic par five after the water. On the whole, the architect Tilander has succeeded in creating a closure that is not soon forgotten.

The Tallinn Golf Club, Niitvälja, about three mil southwest of Tallinn, is an entirely different course compared to the Estonian seaside course, but as a complement it is first-rate if you have two or three days in Estonia. It is a typical park course and it is primarily the water on several holes that are difficulties. What matters is aiming well as both pines and birches form tough curtains.

Two good golf courses in close proximity to Tallinn is a good setting for a few days in Estonia. Since it was the first time for me, I took the opportunity to explore the old Hanseatic town with its characteristic wall. With all due deference to Town Hall Square in all its glory, but it is in the narrow cobblestone streets that you experience Tallinn’s charm. It is better to choose a restaurant there than at the Town Hall Square which offers expensive tourist fare, and much worse service. On Vene Street, for example, there are several good dining options.

For those who want to see the city from above, you can trudge up to Toompea. The aristocracy lived up here unlike ordinary people who lived down below. This is also the Russian church that is well attended since the Russian-speaking part of Estonia's population is still large. There is a special experience to go in there, perhaps stay a moment during the mass where only Russian is spoken. Listen to the suggestive chanting ... it's majestic.

Whether Estonian golf will be majestic remains to be seen. Several courses are underway.

Text: Anders Örnevall.



Estonian Golf & Country Club
Sea Course 18 holes, par 72, Stone Course, 9 holes, par 36
Architect: Lassi Pekka Tilander
Green fees: 55 euro (Sea Course) 38 euro (Stone Course 2x9 holes)

Tallinn Golf Club
Niitvälja, 18 holes, par 72.
Architects: Åke Persson / Peter Chamberlain.
Green fees: 39 euro weekdays, 49 euro weekends.