Top 5: Golf courses you must play…if you dare
Stop! Take your hands away from your keyboard and don’t press enter on booking that holiday to the beach until you feast your eyes on some of the wildest courses the world of golf has to offer.
If you are the daring type then testing your nerve, and golf skills, at one of these exotic locations will be right up your street.
Some of us find it daunting when a golf course throws up too many water hazards or tricky bunkers. But it becomes a whole different ball game when the obstacles become sharks, racing cars and active volcanoes.
Take a look at these courses and keep them in mind when booking your summer getaway.
5. Ice to see you
The annual World Ice Golf Championships have been held at the world’s most northernmost golf course at Uummannaq, Greenland, since 1997.
You better wrap up warm if you are going to tackle the freezing conditions and unconventional hazards in the form of glaciers and icebergs.
4. A red hot round in Indonesia
Nothing eradicates the problem of slow play better than the looming possibility that a nearby volcano could erupt at any moment.
Merapi Golf Course in Yogyakarta is a stone’s throw away from Mount Merapi, an active volcano.
A beautiful but daunting place to have a round of 18.
3. Gentlemen, start your engines
Playing golf inside the grounds of one of the most iconic racing tracks in the world of motorsport has got to be high on the bucket list of many sports fans.
Holes seven to 10 of The Brickyard Crossing golf course in Indianapolis are located right in the middle of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The other 14 holes are adjacent to the track but the real thrill comes with stepping onto the track to play the other four holes.
Naturally, the course is closed during race events.
2. We’re going to need a bigger buggie
Fishing your ball out of the water at Carbrook Golf Club in Loganhole, Australia, is strongly discouraged.
After the nearby Logan River burst its banks in the 1990s, several bull sharks were swept into the course’s man-made lake.
The prospect of seeing a fin sticking out the lake, which comes into play on holes 12 to 15, has put Carbrook on the golfing map.
1. Don’t look down
The Legend Golf and Safari Resort in Bosveld, South Africa, is home to one of the world’s longest and highest par 3s.
Accessible only by helicopter, the hole is situated on top of the Hanglip Mountain with a 361-metre shot to the green situated 400 metres below the tee.
And if that bonus 19th hole wasn’t enough to whet your appetite then the other 18 holes, each designed by a different world-class professional, will certainly make you eager to make the journey to South Africa.
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