Nokia River Golf (River)

Overview: Nokia River Golf’s River course is the exact 18-hole routing at Alastalo in Nokia, surrounded by rural Pirkanmaa scenery and shaped by the Nokianvirta. The official course page gives 5,960 metres, approximately 6,521 yards, and par 72 from its tee-60 card. Numerous water areas, exposed terrain and substantial bunkering give the course a clear playing rhythm. The fifth drops 35 metres from tee to green, while the closing par 3 crosses water to the home green.

History: The River project began in the late 1980s, and golf began at Alastalo with nine holes in May 1990, and all eighteen were in play by July. A later expansion rebuilt the facility’s current River and Kartano routings, with the present River course and its companion layout entering play in September 2002. Kosti Kuronen was the architect for both stages, and the club’s history records his intention to balance playability, ecological construction and a close fit with the surrounding landscape. The 2002 date therefore describes the current River routing, not the first golf played at Alastalo.

Did You Know? The fourth hole has eight separate greenside bunkers, an unusually clear example of how Nokia River uses sand to define the approach rather than merely decorate it. The fifth is memorable for a very steep 35-metre descent toward the river, and the eighteenth finishes with a par-3 shot over water. Together those holes give the River course a stronger sense of vertical and aquatic drama than its under-6,000-metre length might suggest.