Above the Arctic Circle, a rising star climbs the GOLF World Top 100 list

Viktor Hovland spends most of his year shuttling between airports, courtesy cars and practice t-shirts, the disciplined life of a modern Tour professional. That’s why it stood out when he stuffed his bag into the trunk of a car in Oslo a few summers ago and headed out with three friends on a 16-hour road trip to Lofoten Links. No appearance fees. No prize money. No sponsorship obligations. Just a world-class player doing what the rest of us do for fun: logging miles with friends to explore a busy, remote course.

Hovland is not your standard superstar. He favors deafening death metal and provides podcasts on eclectic topics. And Lofoten Links is not your standard layout. It’s in an unlikely spot above the Arctic Circle, where the sun barely shows its face in winter but stays out almost all summer. In recent years, the course has become an “it” destination for daydreaming golf junkies around the world, thanks in part to stunning photos of rock-lined greens lapped by waves in a backdrop of mountains and coast that appear to have been computer-rendered.

On the ground the drama turns out to be real. Lofoten is off to a dazzling start with one of the world’s most Instagrammable par-3s, the green of which is jealously guarded by the Norwegian Sea. The par-4s next to it are just as exciting. Each invites a bold line over water. Hoven Mountain overlooks the course and several holes climb up to it, including the uphill 5th and the sturdy par-4 14th.

As much as the setting feels otherworldly, the origins of the course are down to earth. In the early 1990s, British architect Jeremy Turner was invited by Tor Harald, a local farmer with a golfing habit, to build a few holes through the family land. After Harald’s death, ownership passed to his son, Frode Hov, who continued the passion project with Turner. A six-hole curiosity turned into nine and then more, until a full 18 emerged in 2015. The following years have brought further refinements. In GOLF’s latest World Top 100, Lofoten rose 22 places to number 66.

Additional energy behind Lofoten is thanks to Cabot, the global developer whose portfolio of properties stretches from Canada to the Caribbean and beyond. Cabot’s investment promises improved accommodation and infrastructure, aimed at shaping Lofoten as a destination.

Getting there takes dedication, though the journey doesn’t have to be as arduous as Hovland has made it. Regional flights and ferries can shorten the journey considerably. The reward is the beauty of the setting, the complexity of the challenge and memories that linger more than any score. However, if you insist on keeping count, then this is something to shoot for. During his visit, Hovland equaled the course record with a neat 63.