Solutions for toughest golf climate in Europe

Losby Golfklubb outside Oslo, Norway is one of the toughest places in the world to present a top-quality golf course due to the extremely harsh winter weather. Hardly no daylight, meters of snow and ice for months and a season from May to September requires exceptional management to still produce top quality golfing conditions.

"We are constantly making improvements to handle the climate, but demands are high and people here generally like to take off their skis one week and start playing golf the next. We can have ice covering greens from November to April some years like this and keeping grass alive is a real challenge” says Course Manager Duncan Bruce who has taken on the challenge at the course for the past 8 years after moving to Norway from the UK.

Clay soils and the club's signum with white bunker sand has previously been a real challenge and a fabric bunker liner was installed some 11 years ago in preparation for a Challenge Tour event. The solution did not fare well and Capillary Concrete replaced the fabric starting some 10 years ago, with the process ongoing since then. This year, Duncan plans to renovate another 10 bunkers and he has several that have been in almost 10 years and counting without ever showing any problems. The sand stills stays clean and white and drainage is working well in spite of the freezing conditions that sometimes can penetrate the ground 2-3 feet deep.

“We have had these Capillary Concrete bunkers in for almost 10 years now and had no problems. It is a very durable solution and we continue to replace the fabric until the whole course is finished” says Per Kristoffersen who is the Daglig Leder, or General Manager, at the club ranked in the top 3 in Norway. The club currently works with EIGCA Member Christian Lundin at reGOLF Design with a Master Plan for upgrading the original Peter Nordwall design.

For more information go to www.capillaryconcrete.com