Know those premiere golf courses you dream of playing before moving on to the 19th Hole in the Sky?
Pine Valley. Augusta National. Pebble Beach. St. Andrews.
This blog isn’t about any of your bucket-list golfing destinations — unless you really dig the idea of “playing in the rough.”
Nope. This blog is about the other end of the golf course spectrum. It’s about the courses that come with more than their fair share of hazards. Nearby inmates, mines, dangerous animals and icebergs are included in Cheapflight.com’s compilation of the world’s roughest courses.
• Prison View Golf Course (Angola, La.): The public can play on this nine-hole course at the Louisiana State Penitentiary. Don’t worry. Prisoners aren’t allowed to caddy.
• Singapore Island Country Club (Singapore): Legend has it that Jim Stewart had a killer shot there at a 1982 professional event. Literally. He ran across a 10-foot cobra and promptly smacked it dead. To his shock, a second snake came out of its mouth. Yikes!
• Lost City Golf Course (Sun City, South Africa): This Gary Player-designed course has an especially hazardous water hazard on Hole 13: About 40 crocodiles. Yes, players are instructed to take a drop rather than possibly feeding the animals their hands if their ball goes in the water.
• Carbrook Golf Club (Brisbane, Australia): Don’t be surprised if your hand ends up in a bull shark’s mouth if you reach to get a ball in the water hazard. You and your golf ball are safe on land, though.
• Merapi Golf Course (Yogyakarta, Indonesia): Views of Mount Merapi are stunning. Just don’t hit too many balls onto the mountain — it’s an active volcano that erupted as recently as 2010.
• Camp Bonifas (Panmunjom, South Korea): This is a one-hole course. And it’s just a par-3. Only 192 yards long. No sweat, right? Well, there might be, considering the hole is on the United Nations Command camp, which is 400 yards away from the demilitarized zone between enemy nations North and South Korea. Don’t worry. The 18-foot-high security fence keeps most badly hit balls away from the unexploded mines.
• World Ice Golf Championship (Uummannaq, Greenland): Yes, the course is on Greenland. The greens, however, are not on land — they’re on the icy fjords and icebergs. And because looking for white golf balls on ice wouldn’t be considered fun in minus-122 degree weather, the hearty linksters use red golf balls.
• Skukuza Golf Course (Kruger National Park, South Africa): It’s like a jungle out there, so be on the lookout for safari-type animals on this game reserve. Golfers must sign an indemnity form — and steer clear of the hippos in the water.
• The Ocean Course (Kiawah Island, South Carolina): Home of the 1991 Ryder Cup, this wind-whipped course is a challenge because of the elements, not to mention gators and snakes.
• Cape Kidnapper’s Golf Course (Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand): This course has stunning views of the Pacific Ocean, but watch your step, instead of the scenery, while traversing the 550-foot-high cliffs at the edge of six holes.