Vantaa plans to reopen Petikko as a city-run golf course

Vantaa plans to restore the long-closed Petikko golf course and run it as a municipal facility, Yle reports. The city would maintain the course and collect its revenue, while an outside operator would run the clubhouse and restaurant.

The nine-hole course in western Vantaa has been unused since 2018. Restoration is estimated to cost 250,000 to 350,000 euros. The city has completed a tender process and is due to review the bids next week, when the proposal will also go before a city committee.

The city’s target is to reopen the course by 2028, though it could be ready as early as next autumn if decisions are made and work starts in time. A study commissioned by Vantaa estimates annual operating costs at about 309,000 euros, which would be covered by around 15,700 rounds of golf a year.

The course opened in 2017 but operated for less than a full season. In 2018, Vantaa asked police to investigate after saying that 1.8 million cubic metres of soil had been brought to the site without permission. The lease was terminated that summer, and the company behind the golf park later went bankrupt. Last year, a district court gave the construction company’s chief executive and the golf park company’s chief executive suspended prison sentences for environmental damage. Some parts of the legal process remain unresolved.

Golf specialist Markku Ignatius, who assessed the course for the city, says its foundations are in good condition, but the playing surfaces and irrigation system need work. He expects demand to be strong: Helsinki’s nine-hole Paloheinä course recorded about 47,000 rounds in 2025. Ignatius says a city-operated model would be unusual in Finland, with Stockholm the only comparable example he knows of in the Nordic countries.