Nesvöllur

Seltjarnarnes occupies the small peninsula that juts west from Reykjavík, and Nesvöllur sits right at its tip — one of the most dramatically situated golf courses in Iceland, with the North Atlantic pressing in on 3 sides and the panorama of Mount Esja rising across Faxaflói bay to the north. The course belongs to Golfklúbbur Seltjarnarness, one of Iceland's older clubs, and the layout winds through the flat, wind-scoured headland in the way that Icelandic coastal courses tend to: low to the ground, exposed to whatever the weather decides, and entirely at the mercy of the wind direction on any given day. Arctic terns nest on the peninsula in summer and will famously dive-bomb golfers who stray too close — a hazard no handicap system accounts for.

Playing here in June or July means golf under the midnight sun, a genuinely surreal experience that draws visitors specifically for it. The course is short by championship standards but plays very differently depending on wind strength and direction.

For anyone based in Reykjavík, Nesvöllur is minutes from the city center — an accessible, atmospheric round that delivers a concentrated dose of what makes Icelandic golf unlike anywhere else.