We like to think that golf travel can be exciting and interesting and that we can continue to find unique places to hit a golf ball. While of course there is an insatiable demand for visits to the classic golf courses, why not consider a visit to one of the world's more unusual, unique, natural and unnatural golf courses, likely to be situated in some unusual places.
Mankind has left almost no stone unturned in his exploration of the planet, and neither has the modern golfer with courses now found in most countries and shots even having been hit on the moon. Golf courses can be found in every geographical extreme, from the heat of the Atacama or Sahara deserts, to the ice of Alaska, and now even on the tarmac streets and pavements of some of the world's great cities with the launch of Urban Golf. Below you can find details of some of the more unusual golfing locations:
The highest playable golf course is in La Paz, the capital of Bolivia. At 10,650ft, the air is much thinner, so balls fly considerably further. The lowest course in the world is Furnace Creek Golf Course in Death Valley National Park in California, where you tee off from 214 feet below sea level. Surrounded by the foothills of the Andes lies the world's most southerly golf course, just outside the town of Ushuaia, Argentina. At a latitude of 54 degrees south, the nine-hole layout is near Cape Horn and a 12,500 miles from the most northerly course at North Cape, Norway. The northernmost point in Europe is also home to what is indisputably the world's most northerly golf course. Located at more than 70 degrees north, only 1,300 miles from the North Pole, it is also officially within the Arctic Circle. Between mid-May and the end of August the sun never sets. During the twilight winter months players are treated to views of the Northern Lights, snowbound mountains and cliffs bathed in moonlight.
The longest course in the world is currently being built in Australia. The Nullarbor Links course is scheduled to open in late 2008, and will offer 18 holes played over a whopping 800 miles along the desolate Eyre Highway. With an average of about 50 miles between holes, the course will be a welcome diversion for travellers making the long drive through one of Australia’s most remote regions, with stop-offs in roadhouse stations to tee off along the way.
Another interesting possibility is ice golfing. The annual World Ice Golf Championship is held each March atop moving ice floes on an island in Northern Greenland. Participants play with red balls that are more visible against the calving glaciers.
The world's largest golf complex is at Mission Hills Golf Club in Shenzhen, China. The club has 12 different golf courses, each designed by legends such as Nicklaus, Faldo, Ernie Els, and Annika Soranstam, thus offering 216 holes of golf.
At North Star Golf Club in Fairbanks, Alaska, the course scorecard actually includes a checklist for wildlife sightings, which may include moose, snowshoe hares, coyotes, sandhill cranes and marmots. During the summer, when the sun shines nearly round-the-clock, North Star is open 20 hours per day. The course closes between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. and even then, just for maintenance.
How about the course outside Pyongyang, North Korea, one of the world's most exclusive golf courses where legend has it Dear Leader Kim Jong-il made history by shooting 11 holes-in-one in his first ever round which finished at 38 under par according to state media. The 7700 yard course is an international standard layout and was built in the mid-1980s by North Korean businessmen based in Japan.
The more daring golfer might like to try 18 holes at Kabul Golf Club, Afghanistan which reopened in 2004 after having been closed down by the Taliban. While the course was being restored three Soviet tanks and a multiple rocket launcher had to be removed from the site. The course is rather rugged, it has no grass and no delineation between the fairways and the rough, and the greens, called browns, are a mix of sand and oil packed with a heavy roller and swept with a broom.