Skjoldenæsholm Golf Center (Trent Jones Jr. Course)

Thirty miles from Copenhagen, Skjoldenæsholm Golf Center’s Jones Course is an open, risk/reward layout framed by forests. Our client at “Skoli” was a pension fund that already owned seven existing golf courses and wanted the Jones Course to serve as its flagship, worthy of wide recognition. The natural layout employs wispy grasses and plant types to create interesting contrasts along the ground plane and meld with the natural setting. Skoli was the first course in Denmark to feature multiple teeing areas. The 7,100-yard layout is all about position.

Skjoldenæsholm Golf Center Design Challenges

Several unusual challenges confronted us in designing the golf course. First, we had to incorporate a rock wall hundreds of years old into our routing. Taking our cue from courses such as North Berwick, we used the wall as a hazard that crosses several holes. We also had to design the routing on a site bisected by the Danish Tramway Museum. Just as at Prestwick and Royal Adelaide, railway tracks run adjacent to several holes, creating a sense of connection between golfers and the outside world. Finally, three holes at Skoli are located beside a national scenic highway in a zone where nothing not considered ‘natural’ is allowed to be built. Because golf course bunkers aren’t considered natural, we designed holes 13-15 with “grass defenses” such as hollows and valleys.

Praise from Soren Clemmensen

Soren Clemmensen, President of the Danish Golf Union, had this to say about the course. “The contours of the landscape have been used in optimal and poetic ways. In my opinion, Skjoldenæsholm is the most challenging course in Denmark. I was pleasantly impressed.”