Best Golf Courses: Fair Winds and Fairways

Whether teeing off amid coconut palms in the South Pacific or playing a round under the midnight sun in the Arctic Circle, for some, it doesn’t get much better than the marriage of golf and yachting. FRANK presents six of the world’s most interesting and challenging golf courses that traverse the Seven Seas: a bucket-list golfing itinerary like no other.

Lofoten Links

Gimsøya Island, Lofoten Islands, Norway

DETAILS

Designed by Jeremy Turner this championship 18-hole 6,662-yard course is set on a hauntingly beautiful island in the Arctic Circle. Each hole is framed by views of ancient volcanoes, boulder-strewn beaches and the frigid Norwegian Sea. Complete the picture with 24-hour golfing under the midnight sun in summer or watching the northern lights from late August, and you’ve got destination golf at its most exhilarating.

UNIQUE FEATURES

Where to begin? Is it the signature second hole on a tiny peninsula jutting out into the sea? Or is it the surreal thrill of playing golf at 2am under a golden sky, Arctic Ocean at your feet and the shards of ancient volcanoes looming up all around? This place has moved golfers to tears in its almost terrifying beauty.

BEST SUITED FOR

Nature-loving golfers seeking a surreal game on a Norway yacht charter (and bragging rights for golfing inside the Arctic Circle).

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Son Gual

Majorca, Balearic Islands, Spain

DETAILS

Likened to Augusta by Ian Woosnam, OBE, this 7,241-yard course by Thomas Himmel presents an exquisitely manicured challenge for the skilled golfer. Navigate huge bunkers and spectacular water features, and factor in some confounding Mediterranean breezes.

UNIQUE FEATURES

An immaculately tended course with one of Europe’s best holes and a superb collection of par threes. The setting is as charming as the course is excellent, with over 800 mature olive trees, trailing vineyards and the Majorcan mountains rising up in the hazy distance. Add in waterfalls, wildflowers and wide tees, and it’s easy to see why Son Gual is a must-visit on a golfer’s yacht charter to the Balearics.

BEST SUITED FOR

Lovers of American parkland-style courses played under the Spanish sun.

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Le Chateau

Terre Blanche, Cannes, South of France

DETAILS

Recently voted France’s Best Golf Hotel at the World Golf Awards, this swanky resort in the Provencal hills features two 18-hole championship courses by architect Dave Thomas. Le Chateau is the must-play of the two, with a demanding 7,235-yard course winding between water features, jagged edge bunkers, shady Aleppo pines and wildflower meadows. And an 18th century chateau, naturally. Precision players will be amply rewarded.

UNIQUE FEATURES

Terre Blanche is a spectacular 750-acre estate once owned by Sean Connery. It is home to Europe’s only Albatross Golf Performance Centre, complete with a two-story driving range, Golf Academy and Biomecaswing golf biomechanics center. There is a Michelin-starred restaurant and a helipad on-site with 12-minute transfers from your yacht in Cannes.

BEST SUITED FOR

Ambitious golfers who want to be challenged in a setting out of a Provencal dream.

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Cape Kidnappers

Hawke’s Bay, North Island, New Zealand

DETAILS

Designed by American great, Tom Doak, this 18-hole championship course is set atop towering cliffs on New Zealand’s Pacific coast. The fairways of the back nine are set on clifftop peninsulas that stretch out like little fingers of green: firm, fast and edged by ravines and sheer cliff drops plummeting 500 feet to the sea below. The course is part of the superb Cape Kidnappers hotel, voted number one in Australasia in 2019.

UNIQUE FEATURES

Stretching 7,147 yards, this is an intelligent course of great drama where every shot across ravines and gaping chasms is a confidence game; the eyes ever drawn to those awe-inspiring cliffs. Go forth and conquer.

BEST SUITED FOR

Golfers who are seeking bucket-list games that will sear into the memory. Perfectly paired with an America’s Cup yacht charter in 2021.

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The Straits

Sheboygan, Wisconsin, United States

DETAILS

Crafted by hall-of-fame designer Pete Dye, The Straits at Whistling Straits features rugged and windswept terrain sculpted along two miles of Lake Michigan shoreline. An intense 18-hole course with world-class prestige, it offers fescue fairways and massive sand dune bunkers set against a backdrop of one of the five Great Lakes of North America.

UNIQUE FEATURES

The two-mile long, dramatically craggy, bunker-riddled course has hosted multiple PGA Championships and the 2007 US Senior Open. It is also the site of the 2021 Ryder Cup – the first public course to host the hotly contested biennial men’s golf competition in 30 years – and is arguably the greatest championship course in the United States.

BEST SUITED FOR

Golfers keen to step into the shoes of Rory McIlroy for a day.

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Laucala

Laucala Island, Fiji

DETAILS

Located on an ultra-exclusive private island in the balmy South Pacific, Laucala offers an 18-hole championship resort-style course designed by David McLay-Kidd. With tough greens, stiff sea breezes and narrow fairways across an undulating course, this 6,829-yard course is not for beginners, but other skill levels will find a very good game in an exceptional setting.

UNIQUE FEATURES

Laucala is one of a triplet of small islands that lie to the east of Thurston Point on the island of Taveuni in Fiji. The course has been designed on an old coconut plantation edged by sea, jungle and an extinct volcano. Every hole at Laucala is visually spectacular, while the resort’s signature twelfth hole extends onto the beach, meaning wet feet at high tide! Laucala has a superyacht marina with two deepwater moorings right off the beach.

BEST SUITED FOR

Golfers with a South Pacific dream.

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From intelligent debate to cutting-edge science, and risky sports to surreal charter experiences, FRANK does not shy away from the awkward, controversial, or questionable details. Brazen at times, amusing in spirit, and always transparent in discussion, the focus is on discovering new angles and enjoying every minute. And, of course, always being ‘frank’ about the conclusions.