Experiences from Rømø Golf Club
An introduction, yes, but first a little story about a golf shoe you may know the name of with a business success on the golfing market that started a few kilometers from the island of Rømø.
A History of ECCO and Fred Couples
See the little Hamlet, named Bredebro in the lower right-hand corner. That’s where the headquarters of ECCO shoes are situated.
Ecco became world famous, at least in Denmark, in the late 1970s for their soft and foot-shaped shoes for everyday wear.
Shoes that became popular especially among the hippies and the segment of the population who didn’t follow the contemporary fashion. You may recognize this style of shoe.
One of Ecco’s owners, Karl Toosbuy, was a golfer and was not impressed with the stiff leather shoes with steel spikes, which was the only option for golfers at the time.
One day he met a Danish teaching pro who, like him, was just as annoyed about having to walk several rounds of golf in a pair of stiff leather shoes with steel spikes which resulted in blisters as a result before they were reasonably comfortable to walk in. You may be old enough to have experienced that yourself.
They ended up discussing the possibilities of making a pair of golf shoes according to the Ecco concept: soft and comfortable to walk in, without steel spikes, but with rubber studs giving a solid foothold when swinging the club. So the ECCO golf shoe was born.
The commercial success really took off in 2010 when Fred Couples played in the Masters at Augusta National. A tournament that is televised worldwide. I remember it especially because I watched the tournament and knew the teaching pro who had been involved in the design of the golf shoes.
During the transmission the cameras often buzzed in on Fred Couples and his shoes. The commentators were clearly surprised and tried to figure out what kind of shoe it was.
Fred Couples had no endorsement contract with Ecco but wore them – not because of money, but because they were comfortable to wear.
Probably the cheapest and most effective advertising Ecco has ever received. They were a perfect fit for Couple’s elegant and relaxed golf swing and personality. The success was created.
And now another story before I tell you about the golf course on Rømø. Just to put things into perspective.
A story about the Atlantis of the North
Not far from Rømø, there was once – out in the marshes – an island and a small town called Rungholt. Maybe when we walk on Rømø’s golf course and have Rungholt’s fate in mind, we will take it a little easier on a lost ball and a double bogey.
Why? Rungholt no longer exists. It has disappeared, been wiped out, and the remains now lie under several meters of mud in the marshes of the North Sea.
Let me tell you the story – briefly.
“One scream—the city has sunk, and hundreds of thousands drowned!”
There are two verses in German Detlev von Liliencron’s poem about the Danish town of Rungholt, also called ‘Atlantis of the North’.
A storm surge in 1362 was a catastrophic event for the city. A thriving trading town, with all its inhabitants, was wiped out in one night.
Rungholt was a trading center in the Middle Ages, and the inhabitants were quite wealthy. But according to myth, they were punished for boasting about their wealth—attributed a little drunkenness and a lack of faith in God.
Unlike the mythological Atlantis that Plato writes about, we now know that the myth of Rungholt is not a myth. About almost 800 years later, the remains of Rungholt have been found, covered with a thick layer of mud in the middle of the Wadden Sea.
Before it was whipped out, Rungholt was a significant city and an important trading centre with several thousand inhabitants. It was especially shipping that made the city thrive. They sailed north to Ribe and south to Flanders, Bremen and Hamburg with various goods.
One of the industries that helped make Rungholt a very wealthy town was the production of salt from using peat. If you have read the story of Læsø, you know now that it was not only Læsø that became rich in the production of salt. The export of salt via shipping north and south gave Rungholt very large income.
The legend of Rungholt’s downfall is a story of hubris, arrogance, and wickedness.
Beer was one of the major imports in Rungholt. This can be seen in the ceramics found in the area. Among other things, special drinking mugs have been found that were made for German beer produced in Hamburg.
And it was beer and drunkenness that, according to legend, caused Rungholt’s downfall.
If legend is to be believed, it happened when a group of young drunk men tried to get a priest to feed sacrament bread to a costumed pig.
The pastor got angry and went straight up to the local church and asked God to punish the young men. According to the myth, God listened to the priest and punished Rungholt and its inhabitants for their ungodly actions the next day, by sending a flood against the sinners. The island and Rungholt, with all its inhabitants, were wiped out in one night.
Lesson to learn
I think with this perspectival knowledge in mind, we will take a little easier on a lost ball and some bogeys. And, after the game, will enjoy a good beer while sending good thoughts to our God(s).
Rømø Golf Course here we come.
After two rounds on Fanø’s links course and a day of rest, Rømø golf course was next on the program.
You may have read our introduction to the history of Rømø Golf telling the story of the founder’s ambition, making Rømø a popular holiday and golf destination for the richer segment of, especially, German citizens.
10-15 years after having invested millions of kroner in a golf and wellness resort containing 200 exclusive houses, an 18-hole, and a 9-hole pay & play course, they gave up attracting this segment and started to focus on the broader segment of Danish and German holiday and golf visitors.
After two rounds of golf, we know it is an exceptionally exciting course to play.
Exciting because it is both difficult and surprisingly easy to play. As you will see from the pictures, the course is totally flat with 13 smaller watering holes and almost countless of drainage channels everywhere crisscrossing the course.
There is not a single hole where the water (lakes or canals) is not in play.
Well, it’s definitely not a links course – like Fanø.
It is also not a forest, park or inland links. The course is outside these categories. I would call it a marsh land course. A course built on an area that was once the sea bottom and now rises only a few meters above sea level. It is not links land alone because the surface is not sand or sandy soil, but primarily of dry marsh land.
Facing the sea, the entire area is surrounded by dykes that keep the course – fairly – dry when the North Sea rolls in at high tide a couple of times a day, in addition to various predictable storm surges.
One of those who wiped out the island and town of Rungholt in 1362.
Hence also the need for draining channels.
There are no sand dunes on the course, but places where the soil from the excavated channels is gathered to hill tops and used to give the terrain character and (not least) to signal doglegs, indicate ideal playing line and act as obstacles making shots to the greens difficult.
For the course architect Michael Trasdahl Møller, it must have been a real challenge to build this golf course.
I mention Michael because he deserves great praise for having built a fantastic golf course in an almost impossible terrain. And because I know him personally – we both play on our Super Veteran division teams. And occasionally we have a good chat about golf course architecture.
For example, we share the idea that the first hole of a golf course should be reasonably easy, while the last hole should present challenges for both high and low handicappers.
Especially considering in match play, where you have to eliminate the long hitting golfer’s advantage.
On Rømø, Michael has achieved this to perfection.
Hole 1 is a straight 315 meters hole with a broad fairway. Though with a water hazard along the right side all the way to the green.
Hole 18 is 338 meters. But you will find a channel across for your first shot as well as for your shot to the green. Inclusive water on your right and a little lake to the left of the green.
Easy if you keep your ball on the fairway and know your distances.
One of the constructed earthen mounds acts as the tee site for hole 6 and hole 14.
This is the only place on the course where the level rises a few meters above the otherwise flat terrain. The tee is so close to the dyke that twice on the round you get the opportunity to look out over the sea and possibly follow the ferry’s path to and from Sylt.
The above picture is also from the mentioned mound of earth. Eza is heading towards the 14th tee. I’m standing on top getting ready for my tee shot. See the fairway on the left of the picture.
I think you have to be very tired of golf if you don’t find it challenging and exciting. But for your God’s sake, don’t slice or hook (too much). It is extremely difficult to find the ball if it rolls into the high rough and/or into one of the channels.
This is a picture I have copied from the club’s website. It must have been taken right after the course was built.
Why? Because none of the many channels and lakes are directly visible anymore. They are now surrounded by reeds and tall grass. If your ball is close or inside it, you have almost zero chances of finding it again.
Just ask Eza and me.
Together, we probably lost 15 balls on the 2 rounds. Really, really annoying.
But then I start to think about the history of Rungholt and its inhabitants that was wiped out in one night. So, how bad could loosing some golf balls be?
This is how it looks like today.
Hole 17 par 3, 146 meters. On the first round I made a slice to the right, into the hazard. On the second round, I hit the green and made par.
On that course, you can make double bogey one day and par or birdie the next.
Conclusion
Rømø is a fantastic and exciting golf course to play.
At the same time it is the most annoying and mentally degrading course to play. Of all the courses I have played, Rømø is the course where I have lost the most balls.
The latter is really stupid and one’s own fault – and not the fault of the course or bad architecture. Fairways are generally very wide in the “average” golfers landing zone. And you can see and measure the distance where a channel runs across or diagonally of the fairways.
You must just stop playing like a hero and forget ambitions to make a score that can beat your handicap.
Now we have played Læsø, Fanø and Rømø.
These are 3 very different golf courses that provide 3 very different golf experiences. We prefer Læsø, Fanø and Rømø in that order.
Læsø is the most exciting, varied and fair golf course of the 3.
Fanø is fun and surprising to play. On that course, you don’t think so much about scoring, but about enjoying nature, surprises and togetherness.
Rømø teases, mostly because you see opportunities for both par and birdies on a lot of holes, but . . . . It doesn’t take much wobble before things can go horribly wrong.
Looks easy – don’t it? But take care and don’t forget, golf is just for fun.
Now we are back in our home.
When we came back from Rømø after 3 hours’ drive, we sat on the veranda chatting about our experiences and our planned tour to the next 2 island golf courses. Ærø and Langeland.
But then, looking at the garden and the view of the bay, the trees, and the flowers. Drinking a beer and listening to the birds, we realize: Man, we are living a privileged life.
Thanks for the opportunity to share our golfing experiences with you.
