CNN
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it’s hard to call you Golf an extreme sport. It is a low-risk game played at a leisurely pace in mostly scenic, but ultimately common, locations.
importance to majority of, because in different parts of the world – and in one instance, outside the – Golf taken to the extreme.
In all these places, the familiar rules of curriculum design have been thrown out; Dress codes are exclusively nude, tee boxes require helicopter travel to access, fairways sit on the rims of active volcanic craters, and the water hazards are home to sharks and alligators.
Famed golf course designer Pete Dye once said, “If one were to put a flagstick on it, the avid golfer would be playing Mount Everest.” The following courses are a love letter to that ethos.
Kantarat Golf Course, Bangkok, Thailand
Generally speaking, golfers prefer to stay calm when they swing. At professional events, stewards will signal to instruct nearby spectators to remain silent.
Not surprisingly, no Tour events are hosted at Bangkok’s Kantarat Golf Course, where players periodically have to tune out the deafening roar of passenger airplanes taking off from either side.
The 18-hole, par-72 course built in 1952 by the Royal Thai Air Force is located between two runways at Don Mueang International – Asia’s oldest operating airport. It was the first golf course established in the Thai capital, and the second ever in the country after the Hua Hin Royal Golf Course.
The cost of a week round trip for visitors is 300 baht per course Website, a very reasonable $8.62 for those willing to put up with the overhead distractions. Air Force personnel can play at a discounted price of 100 baht – about $2.87.
Camp Boniface Golf Course, South Korea
described by Sports Illustrated Touted as “the most dangerous golf course in the world” in 1988, the course at Camp Boniface—located 200 yards south of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) dividing North and South Korea—isn’t a course: it’s a single. , 192-yard, par three hole.
American and South Korean service members stationed at the military outpost are greeted with an enterprise beneath a fairway like no other – one surrounded by barbed wire and military trenches, and finished with a putting green made of artificial turf it happens.
At most golf courses, the signs at the introduction of each hole show only the number and its yardage. Camp Boniface’s sign follows the same formula before adding a warning: “Danger! Do not remove balls from the rough. Live mine field.”
A tongue-in-cheek joke? Not according to a 1998 Washington Post article that Told that at least one wayward ball had detonated a landmine.
Legend Golf & Safari Resort, Limpopo Province, South Africa
For 18 holes of South Africa’s legend golf course, each designed by a different pro golfer, players enjoy an immersive visual experience. In most places, it will be time to retire in the clubhouse. Here though, a helicopter will be waiting to escort you to what the course claims is the longest par-three hole in the world.
“The Extreme 19th” tee box is located on the edge of a huge cliff on Hanglip Mountain at 4,500 feet above sea level, some 400 meters (434 yd) up, and 361 meters (395 yd) away, the highest point in African history. Green shaped like. continent. Most drives remain in the air for no more than half a minute, with cameras and tracking technology being used to spot balls.
According to South Africa, it is a challenge that has attracted some of the world’s top golfers and biggest celebrities, with actor Morgan Freeman being one of an elite group to record par on the hole. Official tourist destination.
Former Barbados cricketer Franklin Stephenson made history as the first man to make a birdie, but think of musician Phil Collins, who could only manage a double bogey.
Carbrook Golf Club, Queensland, Australia
Finding water with your ball during your round can snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. At Carbrook Golf Club in Australia, Jaws can snatch your ball.
Long considered a local legend, rumors of bull sharks in water hazards at a Queensland-based course proved to be true in 2011 when general manager Scott Wagstaff uploaded youtube Footage of a fiend local circling right in front of the greenery.
Arrival of the bull shark – believed by many scientists most aggressive shark species – a result of heavy flooding during the mid-1990s, Wagstaff reported golfing world in 2012. According to Wagstaff, the shark entered the lake of course after the nearby Logan River overflowed and has remained there ever since.
Today, they have become part of the course’s identity. The club’s logo features a shark, its youth program is dubbed the Junior Shark Academy, and the “Shark Lake Challenge” is staged as a monthly tournament.
Lake Baikal, Siberia, Russia
Holding an annual golf tournament on the world’s deepest lake sounds like a recipe for lost balls, but organizers in Siberia have found an unexpected golfing ally: snow.
Every March, Lake Baikal hosts the “Baikal Prize Open”, where competitors don coats and gloves to play golf on the frozen surface of the water. The balls are specially brightly colored – red, orange, or yellow – to ensure that they can be seen amid the endless floor of snow and ice, and the holes are enlarged.
In 2020, the lake hosted the World Ice Golf Championships, a tournament held for a long time in Uummannaq, Greenland.
Fra Mauro Formation, Moon
Granted, no Officer golf courses on the moon, but as far as extreme golfing goes, The Legendary Adventures of Alan Shepard Left this world in February 1971.
Snatching a modified club in his suit, the Apollo 14 astronaut hit arguably the most famous two shots in the history of the game, and the only ones made on the lunar surface. He may have fumbled the first, and the second only traveled 40 yards—not the “miles and miles and miles” he initially claimed—but Shepard’s exploits have long been the epitome of NASA space missions. resonate as one of the most iconic, human moments. ,
Unaffected by wind or erosion, the balls remain frozen in time, remaining stable for half a century. With the launch of Artemis I last month, mankind’s long-awaited return to the lunar surface edges closer, but the universe’s most exclusive golf club is set to remain restricted for a while yet.
“Maybe one day we’ll have colonies on the Moon and it’s like Stonehenge — we don’t want to mess with the Apollo landing sites,” Brian Odom, NASA’s chief historian, told CNN.
“I think they (the balls) are where they need to be and we need to make sure they are protected like they were.”
The Incredible True Story of the Time an Astronaut Played Golf on the Moon
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– Source: CNN
Volcano Golf Course, Hawaii, USA
“Kilaua ranks among the world’s most active volcanoes and may even top the list,” reads a US Geological Survey report. report good, Seems like a good site for a golf course.
Located close to the crater rim of Hawaii’s southeast-most volcanic island, the Volcano Golf Course brings a whole new meaning to “playing with fire.” Perched 4,000 feet above sea level, the course provides golfers with breathtaking views of Mauna Loa – the world’s largest active volcano – to the west and Mauna Kea to the north.
that proximity made the players explosion Both Kilauea and Mauna Loa earlier this month. Kilauea erupted in 2018 catastrophic damage Hundreds of homes nearby, but the eruption that began in 2021 has confined lava to the summit crater.
Kiawah Island Golf Resort, South Carolina, USA
As if taking on one of golf’s most notoriously difficult courses wasn’t challenging enough, players on Kiawah Island’s Ocean Course must share the fairways with hordes of sharp-toothed residents.
Host of the 1991 Ryder Cup and 2012 PGA Championship, the course welcomes an array of wildlife – including turtles, dolphins and bobcats – but alligators usually steal the show. Resort official Brian Hunter told CNN that whether swimming through water hazards or basking in the South Carolina sun, the reptiles are naturally shy of people and require little handling.
“Really, as long as people respect the alligators and don’t feed or disturb them, there isn’t much to manage,” Hunter said.
“Feeding them is just as bad because they soon learn to associate people with food, which is clearly not a good combination. So, really the key is to observe and appreciate them from a distance.
“They are truly remarkable creatures, and play an important role in the ecology of the island.”
Nullarbor Links, Australia
One hole down, only 17 more and 863 miles to go. At Nullarbor Links in Australia, the world’s longest golf course brings a whole new meaning to “long game.”
Starting in Ceduna in the west of the country, players stop at scattered holes in nearby towns and roadhouses along the Eyre Highway before completing their round – often days later – in the western city of Kalgoorlie.
Taking on the challenge has become a bucket list item for golfers around the world. Each year the Nullarbor Links stages its “Chasing the Sun” tournament, which spans the entirety of the course.
La Jenny, Le Porge, France
A course in France has taken a unique approach to golf’s infamous dress code problem: no dresses.
Located near Bordeaux in the south-west of the country, La Genie Naturist Holiday Resort boasts the world’s only naturist golf course. Weather permitting, nudity is mandatory on the six-hole course.
As well as hosting tournaments and Pro-Am competitions, the course also offers visitors a driving range and golfing lessons, taught by a member of PGA France, according to the resort. Website,