Geysir Golf Course

Background

History & Background

Golfklúbburinn Geysir was founded in 2006 by local enthusiasts who saw an opportunity to create a course that could serve both visiting tourists and the small farming community of Haukadalur. The Golden Circle route — Þingvellir, Geysir, Gullfoss — was by then the most-visited day-trip route in Iceland, yet no golf facility existed anywhere along the 230 km circuit. The club designed Haukadalsvöllur to fill that gap, creating a 9-hole layout on flat farmland immediately adjacent to the Geysir reserve boundary. From its opening, the course drew a mix of travelling golfers completing a Golden Circle itinerary and South Iceland residents for whom a mountain or coastal course was an hour's drive away.

Geysir Golf Course — Haukadalsvöllur — sits within the Haukadalur geothermal valley, 130 km east of Reykjavík and at the heart of Iceland's busiest single-day driving route, the Golden Circle. The 9-hole, par 37 course was developed by Golfklúbburinn Geysir, established in 2006, and opened to capitalize on the surge of visitors to the area while providing South Iceland's most geologically spectacular golfing setting. The course occupies a roughly rectangular plot of fertile flat ground adjacent to the Geysir geothermal reserve. From the fairways, players face southwest towards the steaming vents of the original Geysir (dormant for most of the twentieth century following a 1916 earthquake) and the active Strokkur, which erupts every 5–10 minutes to heights of 15–20 metres. The combination of living geology and maintained fairways is unlike any other course in Iceland — and arguably in Europe. Haukadalsvöllur is a par 37 layout, reflecting the back-nine standard of 37 common to some Icelandic single-loop courses; visitors should note this when calculating expected scores. The course has a natural water feature, and several holes are played with direct sightlines to the famous geothermal field. The clubhouse at the Geysir Golf Course centre provides rentals and basic catering. Golfklúbburinn Geysir operates under booking through Golfscape and accepts walk-ins subject to availability. The course is playable from late April through early October.