Something happens between getting on a plane and landing in Gothenburg. It might be to do with the restorative air in Sweden’s second city, but everything and everyone seems just a bit brighter. Healthier. More beautiful.


After about half an hour, you want to be Swedish: look like an architect, drive a soft-top Saab, wear garish roll-neck sweaters, horn-rimmed glasses and care deeply about things. When they approach a subject, the Swedes do it with an endearing mixture of seriousness and a smirking disregard for authority. They play golf in the same way.


On the surface golfers such as Annika Sorenstam or Henrik Stenson can seem a little emotionless. But you soon realise they are funny, a bit odd and very, very good.


The Hills Golf Club, just to the south of Gothenburg, is similarly tricky to pin down. It’s a basket case of a course – by turns beautiful, infuriating, impossibly difficult and enormous fun. One minute you are hitting out over rocky promontories, as if you’ve stumbled into Arizona. Suddenly you’re in deepest Surrey: green, leafy and classically English in feel. And just as you are finding your feet, there’s a pine forest to get around, or through, depending on your approach. 


When it opened in 2005, many judges rated it in the top ten courses built in the world that year. The American architect Arthur Hills, from whom the course takes its name, threw the kitchen sink at it, building in six or seven different tee areas on each hole.


This flexibility means that hackers can play it at 5,490m while the pros are set an almost ridiculous test of 6,860m. The aim is to hold regular European Tour events and ultimately, the Ryder Cup in 2018, the next time the circus is expected in continental Europe.


There are times that Hills’ approach seems wilfully eccentric, testing your patience as much as your shot-making ability. For example, the back-to-back par threes on the front nine, which require the same 8-iron shot on both holes. Or the par-five 12th, which stands over 458m, but requires even the longest hitters to take a five iron off the tee, due to a sharp dogle g over a swamp. The greens, even when quite wet are up at 11 or 12 on the stimpmeter, making two putting a heroic effort – four putts are commonplace.


From the first tee, the view is spectacular, looking over a natural amphitheatre of the ninth and 18th greens. Up on the hill, the landscape is dominated by a sleek clubhouse. Wood and stone combine cleverly, and the locker rooms reek of leather and sandalwood. But, although undeniably top of the range, the clubhouse comes without the baggage of pomposity that can take the fun out of elite clubs in the UK or US. This fantastic course is a must for anyone with an afternoon to spare and a sense of humour at the ready. 

need to know before you go


Tee times: Book by contacting the reception. Green-fee guests can book tee times five days ahead. Guests can also book tee times up to 30 days ahead for a pre-booking fee.


Handicap: Set at 28 for green-fee guests.


Getting around: Golf carts are strongly recommended due to the course size, but 
a driving licence is required


Dress code: Hills Golf Club has a modern view on clothing. The outfit should be neat, but Hills do not forbid certain clothes and/or certain collars etc. This means that for instance jeans are allowed, if they are neat. 


Contact details: +46 (0)31 727 1500