Golf...

[Frankie abbot]

I played kullo golf near Porvoo today recommend the course,green fee wasnt to bad got a nice club house too.Anyone got any recommendations for courses in the Helsinki area.I hear St.Lawrence, lohja is a good course anyone played there?

[otyikondo]

Rather depends what you want in a course. St. Laurence is usually in very good nick, greens are slick, 36 holes these days, I think, but scenery-wise it's a bit dull to my mind - holes in a field. Same with the courses out towards Salo.
Hillside in Vihti is attractive, interesting, has some good gradients without too many blind holes. Nice views, too. Couple of stand-out signature holes and a few good grip-it-and-rip-it ones, including one with an absurd tee-to-fairway height difference that then goes UP towards a cliff-surrounded raised green.
Nurmijärvi is a bit similar, but has 3 x 9, and DOES have a few annoying blind-shots where you have to trust in the mirror and the common sense of the people behind you. Also has a (IMHO) silly hole in a horseshoe shape as the 9th on one of the rounds. Around three sides of a lake. Quite good for big hitters on the whole, but it does have a couple of irritating (again, my opinion) holes where the dogleg forces you to open with a mid-iron and then thrash your second.
Kurk is delightful, though to my mind you can keep the new nine they added a few years back (though it's always easy to get on there). The back nine on the old course is a joy to the eye and has a couple of really cute par-threes - one over a lake to a raised green (14) and one over a ravine (11). Pleasant atmosphere there, and they have - or had - English pros, if that's important to you. Tight fairways, lots of trees, esp. on 10 and 17. Anything not straight and you are in deep sh*t. Likelihood of wildlife. Seen foxes, deer, elk, spotted woodpecker, and the lake at 14 is a landing ground for migrating waterbirds in the autumn. We used to be members there, but the drive was a bit of a threshold to going - even if it is only half an hour.
Ringside is more "holes in a field", but quite a good challenge if the wind's blowing the wrong way. Has a good long par four - used to be 16, but now it will be 7, because they swapped the order - that can be a real sod into a headwind.
Master's a bit snooty, but an A-OK golf course as such. Three (maybe four now, I haven't played there in a while) legs of nine, each with a distinctive character. Well-kept. But snooty. Be warned.
EGS is probably the "best" course around - maybe with the exception of Tali, which is a nice mature course in town.
Ruukki is a bit of a hike, but worth it on a nice day. Some attractive holes and interesting landscaping - one hole seems to have the tees set into the side of a former terraced orchard. Ruukki also has one monster of about 600 metres from the back tees. Pity it's extremely boring. 2, 3, 4, and 5 are nice group of holes - the second has a very awkward rising fairway with a steep rake from left to right that dribbles your ball into the crap on the right - and naturally it's OOB on the left. Third is very pretty downhill longish par-3 to lakeside green. Four follows shore of lake in a long dogleg right. Five is a genuine woodland par-three to a well-guarded and quite tricky green.
Nordcenter is a tough bastard - lots of upsanddowns and potential for losing balls and temper quickly. Masochists only.
Gumböle only has nine holes, but will be opening up a back nine after Midsummer. Front nine is OK, though as yet a bit rough around the edges when compared with the likes of some of the others. Still a work in progress - they'll be adding more water later, which will make at least one of the doglegs there much more of a decent challenge - right now it's too tempting to cut the corner into light rough and whack it out with a trouble wood. Naturally I haven't played the new holes, but they look quite short (par 34) and a bit "holes in a fieldish".
Haven't ever played Peuramaa.
Sarfvik is a bit similar to Master. Expensive and exclusive.
The word is that the best course by a country mile is a nine-hole gem out near Porvoo, but it's private (very) - and owned by Amer. I think our son got on there once with an invite, but at the time he was playing off scratch or 1, so maybe that helped.

[Mölkky-Fan]

Nice summary of courses. I am a member at Nurmijärvi, so a little biased... but it is a good and tough course, and blind shots and lake holes make it quite challenging . Also has a good par 3 if you need to brush up a bit.

Nordcentrum and Ruukki Golf near Fiskars are nice courses, I have a soft spot for Ruukki with one wooded/ hilly nine and one flat nine. Hillside I play quite a lot but I find it a little easier than most, nice scenery though. Ringside is a bit flat, first 9 are easy but I always have problems with second 9 for some unknown reason (doesn't seem like it should be difficult, but I always struggle).

Talma near Korso is also a nice course for a fun round. L

Do not get tricked into playing Paloheina which is about the worst course I have ever played (public). Luukki Golf, my wife is a member there officially but I have never played it.

Never played St Lawrence, but it is on the way to our summer cottage so must give it a try sometime.