Rosapenna Golf Resort (Sandy Hills Links) – Review and Rating

Translated by AI

Sandy Hills is the newer course at Rosapenna, designed by Pat Ruddy and opened in June 2003.

Sandy Hills Links is, as mentioned, also designed by Pat Ruddy and is a modern golf course built with modern equipment. It opened in July 2003. The holes with elevated tees and a fairway running through a valley undoubtedly give us the greatest satisfaction as players. A number of holes, however, are played without a clear view from the tee, and a striking number of holes have elevated greens. The design is carefully thought out with regard to lines of play, mowing lines and so on, and if you are in the “wrong” spot on the fairway, you often face a blind shot to the green. Standing on the tee, it can often look very narrow. Pat Ruddy frequently uses a technique of fooling the eye into thinking things are harder than they really are. Sandy Hills is also a course that could easily be sharpened to championship standard.

From almost every tee and green you can see for miles. If, like me, you think your golf thoughts can be interrupted to soak in the atmosphere and the scenery, you have come to the right place. It is without a doubt a heavenly experience to wander among Rosapenna’s dune-grass-covered hills and be swept away by all of golf’s mysteries. Just climbing to the top of a grassy hill and taking a panorama shot gives you something to sit and look at when the winter weather howls around the house during the cold season in Sweden. The clubhouse, with its full-figure statue of Tom Morris, can be seen from every vantage point around both courses.

If you don’t want to play 18 holes, you have to choose the somewhat shorter Tom Morris course, since Sandy Hills is routed with 9 holes out and 9 holes back from a point farthest from the clubhouse.

This page by Bo Sjosten was originally published in Swedish on our sister site Golfjournalen.se. It has been translated by AI.