( CNN ) -- The thought of it is enough to make fair-weather golfers shudder in horror . But for hardier sporting souls , a sub-zero round in the Arctic snow could be the perfect off-piste adventure this winter . Welcome to a world where greens are `` whites , '' where snowplows -- not mowers -- groom fairways , and players swap snazzy pants and Pringle sweaters for ski jackets and mittens . Like normal golf , the goal remains frustratingly simple and the rules are largely the same as they are on grass . But the obstacles are somewhat different as players battle a strange playing surface and the cold . At Björkliden , a ski resort in Swedish Lapland which started offering snow golf last year , players can expect a warm welcome but a decidedly chilly round . `` We are 250 kilometers to the north of the Arctic Circle . It can be anything from zero degrees Celsius down to -25 , but usually the average is around -10 , '' says Merja Bergwall , marketing and sales manager for Lapland Resorts , the company which manages Björkliden 's facilities . Thin a ball at those temperatures and your poor hands may never recover . But for most the experience is a happy one , Bergwall says , with players enjoying clean , crisp air under frequently blue skies while mastering the art of driving , chipping and putting on snow and ice . Björkliden 's winter golfers tread the same path as summer guests , playing the route of a long-established grass course beneath . `` Summer golf has been here since the 1930s , but we wanted to do something for the wintertime , '' explains Bergwall . `` We have nine holes and we use snowplows that we usually use on the slopes ( to smooth the course ) . '' Visitors pay 350 Swedish Krona ( around $ 50 ) for a round , which includes club hire and balls . Tee times after dark are also available thanks to glowing golf balls -- and night golf also lets players witness one of nature 's most magnificent spectacles up close . `` It 's very , very magical if you catch the Northern Lights . We are one of the best places in the world to watch them , '' Bergwall says . The Aurora Borealis can be seen frequently in Swedish Lapland during the winter , but sadly the opportunities to get stuck into snow golf are more limited -- the course is only open for three weeks in March . `` We want to keep the 'whites ' in the right condition to ensure a good standard of play , '' says Bergwall . Björkliden joins a long list of European destinations which host snow golf events . Engadin Golf Club in St. Moritz , Switzerland will welcome entrants to the 35th Snow Golf Cup later this month , and in March patrons of the annual Boerl and Kroff Snow Golf tournament will reconvene on Wispile mountain in Gstaad . Other annual events are scheduled to take place in France and Austria , but 2014 will not see the return of the World Ice Golf Championships in Uummannaq , Greenland which has , since 2009 , fallen foul of the weather . `` Global warming has made it more difficult to arrange the event as we ca n't rely on ice being formed on the fjord of Uummannaq -- the place where the event used to take place , '' Malik Milfeldt of Visit Greenland told CNN . Happily for Björkliden , there have been no such issues with the weather so far and plans are in place for a weekend of competitions in late March , with the Scandinavian Snow Golf Masters forming the centerpiece . Read more : Can desert dancing inspire McIlroy and Mickelson ? Read more : Is Jordan Spieth the next Tiger Woods ?
Ski resort in the Alps offers opportunities to play snow golf . Visitors can tee off during the day or at night on the nine - hole course in Börkliden . Intrepid night golfers can experience thrill of playing under the Northern Lights . Snow golf is proving popular across Europe , especially Switzerland .