Ullna Golf Club is a golf club situated on the shore of Ullna Lake in the municipality of Österåkers kommun, north of Stockholm, Sweden. Opened in 1981, it has been consistently ranked as one of the finest courses in Sweden, and had until the mid-1990s, an unrivaled position as the best course in the Stockholm area. In the Swedish Golf Digest 2005 ranking of Swedish courses, it was ranked 11th. Ullna is famous for its beautiful setting. It is unique in its proximity to open water, with the lake coming into play on 6 of the 18 holes. In 2005, the course manager Magnus Adén received the award for Swedish greenkeeper of the year. Part of the jury’s motivation was that, “Ullna, that has always been highly ranked, has under the leadership of Magnus, reinforced its position as one of the best and finest managed courses”.
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History
The course was designed by Sven Tumba with the aim of hosting international competitions of the highest level. The club hosted the PGA European Tour event Scandinavian Enterprise Open (SEO) 1983-1987, featuring the biggest European stars of the day. Winners includes Sam Torrance (1983) and Ian Woosnam (1984). In 1998-2001, the club hosted the team match competition SAS Invitational featuring stars like Colin Montgomerie, Jesper Parnevik, Tiger Woods, Sergio García and Retief Goosen. In recent years, though, the course has not been able to keep up with the rapid development in golf equipment which is making the pros hit the ball further. This has rendered the course too short for the modern pros and due to the limited land area on which it is situated, it is very difficult to lengthen. It is, however, still a superb course for women’s competitions, and in 2004, Ullna hosted the Ladies European Tour event HP Open, with Annika Sörenstam as winner.
Future
Due to the development of a few high class golf courses in the Stockholm area in recent years, Ullna Golf Club is no longer unmatched as the best course in the region. To regain its former position, the club has during the fall of 2006 acquired some land on which to build an additional nine holes of the highest standard. The new nine holes are planned to be ready by the fall of 2009, when a grand renovation of the original course will start. The whole project is projected to be finished in 2013.