ONE of the world's most extraordinary golf courses is within the Arctic Circle in Finnish Lapland, where the game is played every winter on the frozen river Kemijoki.
Enthusiasts tee off from the city of Rovaniemi, in Finland's northern-most province, with red golf balls that are less likely to get lost on the icy nine-hole course.
In this freezing climate, many golfers play without gloves and they appear equally comfortable in the half-light of the Finnish winter.
The Arctic Golf Finland Association laid the course and the club patron is Santa Claus.
Chairman of the association Mauri Lindell said the 'greens' (known in Rovaniemi as 'whites'), were stamped out with shovels after the first snowfall on the frozen river.
He said golf on ice differed little from playing the game on grass, except carts were substituted with snowmobiles.
