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| The World Ice Golf Championship Uummannaq, Greenland's Ice Golf Capital The annual World Ice Golf Championship will be held between the 24th-28th of March 2005 in the little town of Uummannaq, on the west coast of Greenland. 36 fortunate top golfers will come from all over the world, drawn by the prospect of a magnificent experience in breathtaking surroundings. From December through to May, the fjord leading in to Uummannaq is covered by a metre-thick sheet of ice. Huge icebergs containing thousand-year-old ice lie frozen in the fjord, caught by the freeze on their journey out towards the open sea. It is in the midst of this fantastic scenery that the World Ice Golf Championship will be held. What started as a slightly wild idea has quickly grown in reputation in the golfing world to become an international event. Golf players from all over the world travel thousands of kilometres to play in an extreme environment which they have never experienced before. The icegolf tournament has attracted huge media interest due to the beautiful arctic environment. The last ice golf tournament has been broadcasted on several TV channels including BBC, ESBN, CNN, The Golf Channel and Sky Sports. The experience of a lifetime for fortunate icegolfers 1,700 people live in Uummannaq, an island measuring 12 sq. kilometres, far from the surrounding world and representing what most people think of as the real Greenland. The population of this land of towering hills, mighty glaciers and icebergs live mainly by hunting and fishing, and still hunt using dog sleds and kayaks. There is a big interest in participating in the World Championships and hundreds of applications are received in Uummannaq every year. But only a very limited number can take part. Those lucky ones chosen to have part will have a handicap under 36 and will be ready to pay a participation fee of about 4,000 Euro. The journey to Uummannaq is an experience in itself. Players departing from the American continent fly on charter from Ottawa to Iqaluit, where they will take a next day flight to Qaarsut airport. Players departing from Europe will leave from Copenhagen to Kangerlussuaq and on to Qaarsut airport. The last stretch between Qaarsut and Uummannaq is made by helicopter, which is the town's most important link to the outside world during the winter season. The attractively situated Hotel Uummannaq, with panoramic views across the ice fjord and the icegolf course, will be the home of the players during the duration of the event. The Tournament is a 36 hole-stroke competition played over two days. The day before the Championship the players will also compete in The Niemann Cup, a 'Ryder Cup' style tournament, which it is a great way for participants to get used to playing on ice and the layout of the course before taking part in the World Championship tournament. The players will enjoy local entertainment in the evening and a number of excursions in the area during the week. The most spectacular golf course in the world The real architect of the Uummannaq golf course is nature itself. The weather, the ocean and the iceberg formation during January and February create the backdrop for the course. The fjord is covered by metre-thick ice that traps gigantic icebergs in its icy-cold embrace. The Uummannaq layout has therefore one characteristic most normal venues do not have: it changes every year depending on the movement of the icebergs. The course is a nine holes par 35 or 36 and consist ideally of 5 par 4�s, 2 par 3�s and 2 par 5�s. The distance is about 5-7% shorter than a normal average golf course (5,400 � 5,800 metre for 18 holes). The tournament is played over 36 holes stroke play over 2 days: 9 holes are played in the morning and 9 holes are played in the afternoon both days. The competition will be played in accordance with Rules of Golf as approved by the Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews, and additional local rules as approved by the tournament committee. Naturally, when the surface is ice and not grass, some special conditions have to be taken into consideration. The course is a bit shorter, all the lengths are reduced by 15-20%, the holes are slightly bigger, and the golf ball is in strong colours so that it does not disappear against the white background. Yet, experience has shown that competitors quickly come to terms with the special conditions. "The play has more to do with normal golf than I expected", confirmed Annika �stberg, the 2000-2001Danish champion. The winner of the World Ice Golf Championship is the player with the lowest gross score after 36 holes. There are also prizes for the best players in two handicap groups A and B. The prices will be awarded in accordance with the Amateur Rules as recommended by the Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews, and will be presented during the Gala Dinner at Hotel Uummannaq. A short congratulation will also take place on the course immediately after the tournament is finish. Competitors and spectators will all be offered a toast in a glass made of ice by a Greenlandic ice sculptor which makes glasses from thousand-year old ice and constructs tables and chairs of ice to stand beside the judges' tent and the information tent. In 2001 the competition sponsor, Drambuie, put up 1 million dollars for a hole-in-one contest. The cameras waited at hole number one as the golfers lined up to try their luck and pocket the million dollars. Jeff Blakeley of England was nearest, at only 2.5 metres from the pole - and a status as a cool multi-millionaire. Extreme Arctic conditions Uummannaq is reknowned for its very dry, sunny and stable weather. In March, when the world championships are held, the average temperature is -13.9°C, but temperatures as low as �50°C with wind-chill factor can occur. The sun rises at 06:07 AM WGT and sets at 07:08 PM WGT at that time of the year. The tournament is set in the most amazing and challenging environment. The stage is set for the world's most impressive golf tournament and the players will have to keep their concentration high while playing in one of the world's most spectacular landscapes. Freezing glaciers and huge glistening icebergs, ranging from 500 to 100,000 years old, frame this golf course which is almost 600 km north of the Arctic Circle. As one participant once described it, it is "like playing on the moon!". Playing golf on a frozen seascape is not the only task at hand. Coping with extreme temperatures challenges players both physically and mentally. Physical exposure on the course, especially cold fingers, posed a problem for some golfers. Many people want to try their strength at a tournament, which, as one former participant expressed it, "beats anything you have ever tried in your career as a golfer". Of course, there is always the unlikely risk of losing a ball to a polar bear. Or as Scotland�s Jonathan Brown put it "the only hole-in-one I scored was when one leg disappeared suddenly through a seal's breathing hole in the ice!". Jokes apart, the championship is played only with good and safe conditions, and despite the cold surroundings, warm memories remain among the players: 2002 Champion Roger Beames summed up "I cannot even begin to tell you what an incredible event this has been! We have all been egging each other on and the team spirit has been brilliant. I guess it's not your usual round of golf that's for sure, but its probably the most amazing one!". History of golf in Greenland Ice golf is actually centuries old and it was known right back in the 17th century. A painting by the Dutch painter Aert van der Neer (1603-1677) shows players with a club in their hands attempting to get a ball into a hole in the ice covering a frozen canal in Holland. At that time the game was called "Kolven". The World Ice Golf Championship was the brainchild of Mr. Arne Neimann, a local resident and hotel proprietor on Uummannaq. In 1997 Mr. Neimann challenged architect Rolf-Henning Jensen to design Greenland's first golf course, which proved remarkably easy to do. With support of the local community, Uummannaq Municipality and Greenland Tourism, the World Ice Golf Committee was set-up to establish the ice golf championship. The World Ice Golf Championship in Uummannaq has become a genuine and inimitable international golfing event. Residents living near the Uummannaq fjord are always ready to get involved, and their presence lends this golf tournament local colour and a unique atmosphere. Golf was an unknown phenomenon in Uummannaq until the World Ice Golf Championship. To introduce the town to the sport of golf, an ice-golf school was set up during the weekend before the World Ice Golf Championship. Once the world championship, which takes place the following weekend, is over, the course is at the disposal of the local citizens. Golf is now growing in Greenland. In addition to the sea ice in Uummannaq there has also been the opportunity to play golf on the sandbanks of the river at Kangerlussuaq. In summer 1999 Nuuk Golf Club was opened in Greenland's capital, Nuuk. The 9-hole course has been built not far from the landing strip, and today 35,000 square metres of green grass imported from Iceland is growing, making it Greenland's largest lawn. In Ilulissat on the west coast and in Narsarsuaq in Southern Greenland they are currently working on plans for further golf courses.
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