By Edwin R. Rognvaldsson

Iceland is the place for people who want to see and do new things. Discover a world that nature is still creating and the people and culture that live and thrive in a challenging, beautiful and purely natural environment.

There's energy everywhere in Iceland. See how it shapes the mountains and fjords and vast uninhabited spaces, blazes from the midnight sun in summer and the northern lights in winter, surges in waterfalls and creeps in glaciers, erupts in volcanoes and bubbles in natural hot springs. And energy bursts forth in the action and activities that make Iceland one of the most exciting places on the map today. Take on the challenge of doing battle with the mighty forces of nature. Or live life in the city and towns where you feel instantly at home and where the night is always young, whatever the time of day or year.

Geologically speaking, Iceland is the youngest country in the world, and still growing. A mere 20 million years ago, the island was born from the North Atlantic seabed in a huge volcanic eruption. Its lava features have been chiseled in places and smoothed elsewhere by Ice Age glaciers and pounding waves, to leave masterpieces of nature’s artistry that astound the urban imagination.

It was to this strange world that the first settlers came only 1,100 years ago, making Iceland the last country in Europe to be inhabited by man: Vikings in quest of freedom and new and richer lives. Their spirit lives on in the independent-minded people for whom modern Iceland is home today, people who live in harmony with the elements and a land that is always changing before their very eyes.

Find out for yourself. At 3-4 hours by air from Europe and 5-6 hours from North America, the Icelandic world apart is closer than most people think. And whatever your interest, there's still plenty of Iceland waiting for you to discover it.

Direct contact with the side of nature that has disappeared from most other countries is one of the big privileges awaiting visitors to Iceland. Against a backdrop of unique, timeless scenery, you can go back to the roots that most other places have dug up or concreted over, and experience virtually the same world that greeted the first settlers of Iceland when they arrived in the virgin country that would become their home more than eleven hundred years ago.

Action lovers in search of a real challenge will find plenty to their liking in Iceland. In some places where swirling glacial rivers race over rugged terrain on their way seawards, the scenery looks custom-built for river rafting. White water rafting operators often offer a choice of routes with different levels of challenge, for newcomers who want to experience the basic thrill and more difficult rides for the really wild at heart.

Glaciers cover one-ninth of Iceland's land surface, including Vatnajökull, which at 8,400 km2 is the largest glacier in Europe. The beauty of glaciers is eternal, but the obstacle to travel which they once represented is largely a thing of the past. Glacier exploration is a unique experience, literally transporting travelers to a higher plane where different values apply.

With its vibrant life by day and by night, all year round, Reykjavík is just as much part of the Icelandic experience as the midnight sun or the magical landscapes forged by ice and fire. Iceland's capital, including neighboring communities, has a population of more than 170,000 and is the cultural and service centre for the whole nation - a comfortable comprise between cosmopolitan aspirations and traditional village roots.

Club has the best practice range in the Reykjavik area where people can hit balls under roof to many different targets. A beautiful new club house was built in 1993 overlooking the courses and with a view over the Atlantic Ocean across the bay to Snaefells Glacier where Jules Verne’s Journey to the Centre of the Earth took place.

The front nine are carved into a thousand year old lava fields, Kapelluhraun (Chapel Lava Fields), requiring precision and careful planning for every shot played. Should the ball miss the fairway and find the lava, it could be nestled nicely on a patch of moss, unplayable in a crevasse, or next to a fierce Arctic Tern bird’s nest. The back nine are built on the original links area and require different skills. The ocean comes into play on many holes and challenging rough or sand traps catch the ball if it is not hit with precision.

The Iceland Open tournament will be held for the first time in June 2002. This tournament will be played in the midnight sun at Keilir and Grafarholt. For the last two years, Keilir Golf Club has been the venue of The Canon Pro Golf Series. Last year, Retief Goosen expressed his admiration of the course after facing a dozen local challengers.

Sudurnes Golf Club

Hólmsvöllur golf course in Leira is situated on the coast between the towns of Keflavík and Garður and is only a five minute drive from the Keflavík International Airport. Hólmsvöllur is a renown championship course and it is about 6400 yards long from the medal tees. The club was founded in 1964 and by 1986, 18 holes had been built and at the same time a new and spacious clubhouse was opened. Today the golf club has about 450 members.

Suðurnes Golf Club features the most famous golf hole in Iceland, the renowned 3rd hole, called Bergvík. With its dazzling shoreline, it requires a 140 m carry over a cove. This may not sound a daunting task, but with the waves crashing against the cliffs and the gales blowing at full force, this is as tough as it gets.

Oddfellow Golf Club

The Oddfellow golf course is only a ten minute drive from the city center. The 18 hole course, a par 72, was designed by Mr. Hannes Thorsteinsson, who very expertly has placed the tees, greens and fairways in a very tasteful harmony, in and around the rugged lava streams, which so strongly characterise the land as well as the stony hills, which surround the beautiful dell. It is an exhilarating experience to play golf in the midst of nesting moor birds and enjoy their singing, far away from the city's noise and every day's toil.

Vestmann Islands Golf Club

The Vestmann Islands Golf Club is the third oldest in Iceland, established in 1938. In 1962 the course boasted full 9 holes. Annual national celebration in Herjólfsdalur valley forced the members to seek out new land south of the valley and in continuance of that a new clubhouse was built. The old house is now used as a lodging cabin for travellers. The catastrophic volcanic eruption in 1973 changed all plans regarding the new clubhouse and the game of golf as volcanic ashes covered the whole course. A temporary course of 6 holes replaced the 9 hole course until all ashes had been removed and that took full 4 years. In 1989, a new elegant clubhouse was built as an addition to the old one. Long before the eruption in 1973 decisions had been made to add another 9 holes but they did not become reality until 1994. The old course was left almost unchanged, but the new layout was built on the seashore. The design is considered to be extraordinary in a magnificent surrounding where birds are in perfect harmony with the Atlantic ocean on one side and the rough shore on the other. Sometimes golfers just forget that they are playing for score in this land of contrasts. In 2001, the clubhouse was enlarged once again.

Golf Digest ranks the course in Vestmann Islands as one of the best 200 courses in Europe. The course is demanding, especially the back 9 holes, but once you have tried you will certainly be back. The mild climate in the islands during the winter makes it even possible to play the whole year.

Akureyri Golf Club

The Akureyri Golf Club was founded in 1935. Over the years, the golf course has grown to become a challenging 18 - hole championship course, measuring more than 6,400 yards in length. This unique course is a natural setting and provides a lovely view of the surrounding countryside. And is the home of the annual Midnight Sun golf tournament, The Arctic Open, were many players will tee-off close to midnight.

A game of midnight golf seems an unlikely prospect to many enthusasts and few golfers have experienced this delight. But now you have a novel opportunity to participate in an event which features round the clock golf in mid-summer at high latitudes.

The Akureyri Golf Club hosts this tournament which is known as The Arctic Open Golf Championship. It is an international event which attracts golfers from various parts of the world.

Players do not have to worry about darkness cramping their styles because the sun barely dips below the horizon. This championship tournament is open to professional and amateur golfers alike.

Leynir Golf Club

Leynir Golf Club was founded in 1965 and is amongst the oldest golf clubs in Iceland. The golf course, Garðavöllur, was 9 holes until the year 2000 when it was extended to 18 holes, par 72, 5.998 meters of the back tees with a driving range and practice green on site. The course is laid over a relatively flat land in the peaceful countryside by the village of Akranes in short distance from Reykjavík, with magnificent scenery to the mountains in the north and an open view over the ocean in the south. A museum, mountain walking and an outdoor swimming pool with hot tubs is of further interest in Akranes.

Hella Golf Club

The golf course at Hella is called Strandarvöllur, which literally translates into a Links golf course, although its name derives from the old estate that used to be a school. The links aspect is appropriate. The course stands on vast expansions of sand in the south, an hour’s drive east of Reykjavik, and has a distinct links feel to it. The club are now restoring the old school to utilize it as a clubhouse and have hired Edwin R. Rögnvaldsson, a graduate from the European Institute of Golf Course Architects, to prepare a long term remodelling plan to further strengthen the links concept, something that is becoming increasingly rare in today’s world of golf.

Iceland is fast becoming one of Europe’s unique golf destinations, but golf is only one side to the Icelandic lifestyle. Iceland’s unpolluted environment produces some of the freshest and healthiest food man can find today. Numerous restaurants serve delicious seafood, ocean-fresh from the morning’s catch, plus unusual game and lamb and other foods produced the time-honoured, natural way - now known as organic.

If you’re given to celebrating and socializing, Reykjavík is renowned as one of Europe’s hottest night spots these days. The action on the friendly pub and nightlife scene lasts right through until the morning after the night before.

A full range of accommodation is available, from international-standard hotels with good conference facilities, through smaller hotels and cosy guesthouses, to a campsite in the city’s biggest park.

The forces of nature in south Iceland have shaped not only the land but man’s life too. Volcanic Mt. Hekla, in famous in the Middle Ages as the gateway to Hell, has erupted frequently- ruins of an ancient farm swamped by ash can still be seen. And off the south coast, the seabirds’ paradise of the Westman Islands witnessed an eruption in 1973 which buried half the town. It was evacuated for a few months - but the inhabitants went back, as visitors are sure to want to do.

Visit Iceland and you’ll enter a whole new realm of experience. You’ll discover original nature as you’ve never seen it before, and the equally original people for whom timeless nature, ancient heritage and modern lifestyle coexist in harmony. The freedom to travel as you please, explore and have fun - this is the key to the Iceland experience.

Whether your reason for visiting Iceland is to meet people or get away from them, there’s ample scope for doing both. Likewise you can find a peace and tranquillity that most modern city-dwellers only dream about, or action more intense than you’ve ever known as you battle with the elements and forces of nature themselves.

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