With Golf GameBook being with me every shot and step of the way, it only made sense to meet up with my Finnish crew in their homeland. The RGV Tour hopped into the RGV satellite vehicle courtesy of BMW and played 10 courses in Finland and Sweden over 7 days. Here are my favorite images from the visit.
10. Bro Hof Slott
The clouds were doing something special in Sweden on the 4th of July and Robert Trent Drones was in the sky to capture the moment. I was 80% certain that I was going to make an ace on the 17th hole, but it was simply another par on the exciting finish at Bro Hof Slott’s Stadium Course. Both the Stadium Course and the Castle course were designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr and are two of the finest courses in Europe.
9. Ullna Golf & Country Club
I chose this image mostly because I was happy that I was able to capture any images from my visit to one of Sweden’s finest golf courses. It was raining cats and dogs for the majority of the round, but I was able to sneak a couple quick shots of the 16th green and the spectacular 17 tee box before the rains opened up again.
8. Nordcenter
The sun popped out just in time for our finishing hole at Nordcenter. That tucked right pin is a real ball buster and the clubhouse really ties this shot together nicely. I bladed my wedge over the green in an attempt to bounce it off of the rocks, into the clubhouse and then back onto the green. It did not work and I made a 7.
7. Arlandastad Golf
After a rousing round of speed golf the day prior, the sun decided to pop out and show off the simple goodness of the parkland layout at Arlandastad. The course hosted the Scandanavian Masters in 2007 but more importantly it hosted The RGV Tour in 2023.
6. Midnight golf at Tapiola
Under normal circumstances, I would not consider this a picture worth sharing. The light is poor and the background is busy. But Finland doesn’t really do normal circumstances. What makes this picture worthy of the 6th slot is that it was taken after midnight. The sun doesn’t entirely go down in Finland in the summer which allowed the RGV Tour to get in an emergency 18. We teed off at 9pm and finished the round with a faint light just before 1 in the morning.
5. Linna Golf Course
This image is special to me because Linna is the first golf course that I played in Finland. I hung back on the final hole to appreciate the view as our crew strolled up the fairway on the 18th hole. The other two players are wide right and fore left
4. Mikael Gabriel
During my visit to Finland, I had the pleasure of meeting and playing golf with the country’s most accomplished rapper, Mikael Gabriel. Mikael’s golf game is not nearly as solid as his rap game but both his lyrics and his long ball passed the test.
It is always inspiring to witness the bridges and connections that golf can provide. A kid from Indiana and a rapper from Finland are not likely to meet naturally, but golf brings us together. The game of golf constantly reminds us that despite our differences, we have much more in common with each other than we might think. These commonalities bring us closer and we can begin to appreciate our different experiences and paths through life.
Mikael is an RGV VIP and the official rapper of The RGV Tour.
#3 #2 and #1 - Kytäjä Golf
Sweeping the podium is the Kytaja Golf resort. Not only were the courses excellent, but we enjoyed some of the finest lighting that Finland has to offer. The golden hour is about 2.5 hours long in the summer and I cleaned up with some top notch photography.
Located just 45 minutes from the Helsinki airport, Kytaja Golf Resort is the #1 golf destination in Finland. Not only does Kytaja have two golf courses to play on the property, but they also have on course accommodations. We set up shop at several of the cozy little golf huts and played both the South East and North West as the finale for the RGV Tour’s visit to Scandanavia.
It had been 2 days of amazing golf and as we wrapped up the awards ceremony, I suddenly realized that we had run out of RGV Tour stickers for the guests. I was not going to let such a disaster ruin the good times, so I quickly ran back to the RGV BMW Satellite vehicle to grab some RGV Tour stickers. As I was shutting the car door, I noticed some spectacular rays blasting across the 10th green. I quickly grabbed my camera and pressed the shutter button to capture my favorite photo of the trip.
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