Mission: Reykjavik GC, Iceland’s oldest club founded in 1934, and by many considered the finest in Iceland, hired me in 2022 to refine their three 9-hole loops at Korpa.
Masterplan
Short excerpt from the Masterplan:
A Masterplan was ordered and delivered after about three weeks. Some results of our collaboration so far are:
- Significantly more defined playing surfaces, which means that you can now see the difference in the different cutting heights. Fairway, foregreen, green, and semi rough. A lot of high rough has also been added but it is only in places where there is no play. The high rough gives character to the landscape and frames and delimits in a nice way. Also affects the environment positively.
- More generous/wider playing corridors. It was too narrow in many places which meant that the ball was searched for too often which in turn affected the round time.
- Hundreds of working hours have been released from the course staff. They can now be spent on quality jobs instead. = Mainly better tees, foregreens, and bunkers.
We consulted Magnus one year ago, and asked for his advice how we shall develop our golf course Korpa in the next few years. Korpa's choice of Magnus to assist us when improving our three loops was an important one. The course consists of three nine hole loops, The Sea, The River and The Land. Magnus identified the characteristics of each of the three loops, how we can enhance them and improve the quality of each hole, more often than not with minor adjustments. He provided us with a masterplan which we are following, taking into consideration issues such as different skill level of our players, pace of play, lower maintenance and environmental considerations. Great work Magnus, and we look forward to work with you in the future.
– Gisli Hall, chairman of Reykjavik Golf Club, Iceland
The SEAThe strongest of your courses with magnificent views and some really tough holes. If I were to rank this course on a scale 1-10 where 1 is very ordinary and weak and 10 being world class I would now rank it a 6. With minor adjustments it can become a 9. To be ranked a 10 we would need to do a bit more work but it´s not neccesary. It´s the whole picture of the Korpa site that players experience when visiting your Club that is important. We will make The Sea more SEA with more of a links feel to it, think Scottish links courses, but, and this is important, with an Icelandic feel to it. Increasing the Sense of Place on all holes of The Sea.
The RIVER The second strongest of your courses. Way too narrow playing corridors on some holes and sadly with not many views of the magnificent river that runs across it. Ranking a 4 on the previously mentioned scale. Luckily The River course can easily be ranked an 8 or maybe even a 9 if you dare to follow my advice all the way. We will make the River more RIVER making the river shown on more holes. If you allow we will be able to see the river on all nine holes. It can be done. And players don´t have to look for balls as much as today.
The LAND The weakest of your three full length loops. All holes on the Land needs to be more defined. On most holes it is as if we are looking out on a air field or horse polo field when standing on the tee. The player doesn´t get any sense of direction at all. On the above mentioned scale The Land is now a weak 2 but can easily be transformed to a 7 or 8. When this is accomplished the Korpa site will have earned it´s right of beeing called a National heritage. We will make The Land more of a golf course that can be enjoyed by all playing categories. Not only the weaker player as is the case at the moment.
Thors Course This is a perfect starting course for beginners and juniors, and you should keep it as it is. What I initially already have done is to make it more of a proper golf course. Holes will be a lot more defined with the new cutting lines and suggested planting of low growing pine (Pinus Mugo). Fairways on 2 and 3 needs a makeover to offer the players reasonable lies on those fairways. Maybe it needs doing as well on 6. Remove all old mat tees that arent used! It is not appropriate for the No 1 Club on Iceland to present an environment like that. It doesn´t coinside with your ambitions.
