Ólafsvík Golf Club

Background

History & Background

Golfklúbburinn Jökull was founded in 1973, in the early years of golf’s expansion beyond Reykjavík and a handful of regional centres. The club played at Fróðarvöllur for over fifty years, a 9-hole course on farmland near Ólafsvík. The decision to relocate was taken after Fróðarvöllur became unviable, and the club identified a new site at Rif — closer to the tip of the peninsula and directly beneath the Snæfellsjökull glacier. Rifsvöllur opened in July 2026, giving the club a new course with a significantly stronger scenic position than its predecessor.

Golfklúbburinn Jökull — the glacier club — has operated on the Snæfellsnes Peninsula since 1973, making it one of the older golf clubs in the West Iceland region. For most of its history the club played at Fróðarvöllur, a 9-hole course a few kilometres outside Ólafsvík town. In July 2026 the club completed a full relocation to a new site at Rif, a small fishing village 8 km west of Ólafsvík, and opened Rifsvöllur. Rifsvöllur is a 9-hole, par 36 course laid out on flat coastal farmland at the base of the Snæfells Peninsula. The setting is among the most scenically distinctive of any golf course in Iceland: Snæfellsjökull, the glacier that crowns the extinct volcano at the tip of the peninsula and inspired Jules Verne's Journey to the Centre of the Earth, is the dominant backdrop. The course plays across open land 1–2 km from the coastline, with clear sightlines to the glacier in one direction and the North Atlantic in the other. Rif is a small community of approximately 200 residents, served by Rif Airport (a short grass strip). The village has basic services; the nearest full town facilities are in Ólafsvík, 8 km east. There is no dedicated club website; the club’s canonical online presence is its Rastimar listing.