As anyone who's ever swung a sand wedge in anger will attest, golf can be one of the most frustrating sports in existence.
But for all of the hooks, slices and shanks there’s always one shot in a round, one sublime moment of genius, that keeps you coming back for more. And then there’s the golf courses themselves. From the manicured to the mind-boggling, the windswept to the wild, there are some real gems out there.
So without further ado, here are the most extreme golf courses on the planet...
1. The High One – 19th Hole, Legend Golf Course, Pretoria, South Africa
The fact that you need a helicopter to get to the tee should give you some idea of just how extreme the 19th hole at the Legend course in Pretoria is. Yes, take a chopper to the top of Hanglip Mountain and you’ll be faced with a par-3 hole with a vertical drop of over 470 yards. The green, in case you can't see it from all the way up there, has been shaped like the African continent.
Costing up to £700 for four players, teeing off on the world's longest par 3 isn't cheap, but along with the helicopter ride, you will also receive a souvenir cap, glove and DVD of your experience, along with six balls to hit from up high (each conveniently fitted with a tracking device). And did we mention there's a prize worth over $1m for the first player to make a hole in one? With that sort of cash you'll be needing your own helipad.
2. The Hot One – Furnace Creek Golf Course, California, USA
Why is this course so extreme? The clue’s in the name. Well, that and the fact that it’s in Death Valley, where temperatures can reach over 125 degrees in the peak of summer. That, though, is positively chilly compared to the highest ever temperature in the area which came in July 1972 when the ground surface temperature hit 201 degrees (93.9C) – the highest temperature ever recorded on earth, and surely enough to reduce a few drivers to a gooey mess.
What's more, at 214ft below sea level, Furnace Creek also happens to be the lowest golf course in the world so yes, you can say you played your lowest ever round there without actually lying. We won’t say anything...
3. The Volcanic One – Merapi Golf Club, Slemen, Indonesia
We’re all suckers for a stunning golf course and Indonesia’s Merapi Golf Club is certainly picture postcard pretty. But appearances can be deceptive because that mighty mountain in the background is Mount Merapi (literally ‘Fire Mountain’ in Indonesian) and it’s one of the most active volcanoes on the planet. Play a round here and you’re almost guaranteed to see smoke billowing from top of it and, if you’re really unlucky, it may even erupt as it did in 2006, 2010 and 2018. Our tip? Ditch the clubs and run like hell.
4. The Top Secret One – Pyongyang Golf Course, North Korea
Think of bunkers and flags in North Korea and a golf course might not be the first thing that springs to mind – but in Pyongyang you'll find the only course in the country. Left spookily empty for the bulk of the year, the fairways and greens are fairly well kept. Visitors can arrange a round in advance but you will need a tour guide, and – as documented in this eye-opening writeup of one visiting player's experience – the guides may even fail to find said course. Hiring gear is possible but they may not have your shoe size, while the few golf bags they do have contain some pretty random clubs, so best take your own set.
If you do make it over for a game, you'd do well to match the efforts of North Korea’s former leader, Kim Jong-Il, who apparently played his one and only round of golf here in 1994, shooting 34 shots over 18 holes, including 11 holes-in-one! Just amazing.
5. The Shark-Infested One – Carbrook Golf Club, Queensland, Australia
There are water hazards and then there are water hazards at Carbrook in Australia. If you dunk your ball in the one on the 15th hole then take our advice and just reload and play another one. Your other option? Stepping into a lake that’s home to some very angry bull sharks and trying to retrieve it. Take a look at that by clicking here. Now, we know golf balls are pricey but some things just aren’t worth it, are they?
6. The Watery One – 14th Hole, Coeur D’Alene Resort, Idaho, USA
Golf fans often cite the 17th hole at Sawgrass as the most difficult ‘island’ hole in the game. They’re wrong (not least because it’s not really an island). No, if you want a proper island hole look no futher than the 14th hole at Idaho’s Couer D’Alene Resort and golf course where you actually have to get an electric-powered boat, named ‘Putter’, to reach the floating green.
If you successfully complete the hole you also get a certificate from the boat’s skipper as you head off to the next tee. “The 14th is the ultimate risk and reward,” says the club’s head pro Andy Mackimmie. “Land on the island, and you're a hero. Otherwise, you'll join one of thousands of balls fished out of the water by divers every year.”
7. The Wild One – Skukuza Golf Course, Kruger National Park, South Africa
In 2014, one golfer at Skukuza golf course was dragged into Lake Panic by a crocodile and killed while trying to retrieve his ball. Yep, set in the heart of the Kruger National Park, Skukuza is a course that’s regularly invaded by the full gamut of the wild animals that call it home, meaning you always have to be mindful of your surroundings. Expect hippos, baboons, giraffes, warthogs and, yes, big cats to get in your eye line as you line up a putt. Worryingly, there are no fences on the course to keep these animals out, simply people employed to keep watch on your behalf. Just be wary when anyone says they play off scratch...
8. The Chilly One – Uummannaq, Greeland
This small island off the west coast of Greenland, about 500 miles north of the Arctic Circle, is home to the World Ice Golf Championship in March each year. Played on frozen fjords, it features ‘whites’ not greens, while players use red balls for obvious reasons. But playing golf in sub-zero temperatures isn’t easy.
Such is the extremity of these conditions, you need to layer well. Players are also given lessons in how to deal with snow blindness and training in how to spot frostbite before it’s too late. And that really would be a handicap.
9. The Really Long One – Nullarbor Links, Australia
Less of a round of golf and more of a road trip, Nullarbor Links is an 18-hole, par-72 course golfing odyssey spanning a mind-boggling 1,365km. There’s one hole in each of the stops along the Eyre Highway, from Kalgoorlie in Western Australia all the way to Ceduna in South Australia, with seven of the holes being played on existing golf courses and the other 11 created near roadside stops along the route. And while the average distance between holes is 65km, there are two holes that are almost 200km apart.
And if that wasn't enough, as you'd expect from a land as scorched as Australia, many of the greens are, well, a nice hue of reddish orange.
10. The Downhill One – The Elfego Baca Shootout, Socorro, New Mexico
How difficult can a single hole be? Well, you should bear in mind that you will be teeing off from the top of Socorro Peak (just the 2,550-feet above the green) and you’ll then you have to play your way down the mountain, attempting to get to a hole that’s three miles away. That might be the least of your worries though, as along the way you’re likely to encounter an array of potentially deadly hazards, including rattlesnakes, abandoned mineshafts and even mountain lions.
Ok, not so much of a course but instead just a one-off hole that locals like to have a shootout on, but it's still one of the wildest ways to play in the old west. Taking its name from a local legendary gun slinger from the area, the Elfego Baca costs US$100 to enter and requires a good dose of craziness given the elements and hazards, but also a good level of skill, too.
Each golfer is given 10 custom-made balls and must finish with at least one of them to score, while the rules state players can use a small piece of carpet as a tee on every shot.