Top 10 Most Dangerous Golf Courses

There are people out there who think that golf is boring, we can’t believe it either but apparently it’s true. Now these people are entitled to their opinion, it’s wildly wrong, but next time you come across such a person you should refer them to todays All Square article. Today we’re talking about the top 10 most dangerous golf courses in the world. Places where instead of golf buggies you’ll need armoured tanks and if your ball goes near the lake you just leave it behind. Here goes…

Lost City Golf Course in Sun City, South Africa

Apart from boasting a mysterious name, the 13th hole at this course is home to the most dangerous species of crocodile on the planet and the largest in Africa! These agile beasts have been known to take down buffalo and even rhinos so maybe it’s not worth going to get that ProV1 you hit by the waters edge. The crocs live around a dam on this hole and will happily have you for supper, beware!

Legends Golf and Safari, South Africa

One particular hole at the Legends Golf and Safari Resort will have anyone who struggles with height gripping onto their club with the whitest of knuckles. Dubbed the ‘toughest par 3 in the world’, the 19th hole at Legends is not a comfy bar with lounge music. No, to play this particular hole requires a quick ride in a helicopter up to the top of Hanglip mountain to the tee box is required! Apparently once you strike the ball the tee is so high that it takes around twenty seconds for the ball to land! Only one person has been known to record par here! Who knows if that’s down to the hole being hard or golfers losing their nerve. One thing is for sure though, if Jason Day struggled with vertigo at Chambers Bay then this hole is certainly not for him!

Camp Bonifas, South Korea

OK so that’s crocodiles and a bit of height, good try South Africa but your natural dangers aren’t quite scary enough for some of the toughest golfers out there. To step it up a notch let’s take a trip to South Korea where we will up the ante and bring in some real man-made danger. Fancy playing a 192-yard par 3 with a green surrounded by land mines? No there is no typo there, we are talking about the concealed explosives. Yes Camp Bonifas is located in the demilitarised zone of South Korea! Oh and if the potential of causing a real explosion when playing an explosion bunker shot isn’t enough, soldiers still train around here so your golf can be accompanied by the soothing sounds of gunfire!

Merapi Golf Club, Indonesia

Let’s go back to some natural danger for the next course. Staying in Asia for now, Merapi Golf Club in Indonesia is home to one of the most active volcanoes on Earth! Yes, smoke can be seen emanating from Mount Merapi for around 300 days per year and the local people believe that the volcano is a palace used by the rulers of the spirit kingdom. The last major eruption from Merapi was in 2010 so if it were to go off you’d get some great pictures but it may mean the hooters will bring an end to your round.

Arikikapakapa Rotura Golf Course, New Zealand

No the difficulty of pronouncing this golf club isn’t what makes it dangerous, although it is a tough one, but a quick look on the club’s website gives an amusing and whimsical clue to the danger herein. ‘A unique geothermal golfing experience’. If you feel your golf lacks geothermal experience but Merapi is a bit extreme then Arikikapakapa Rotura is the course for you! Yes this course in New Zealand boasts some boiling mud pools and and steaming hot lakes. If you’re a fan of the smell of sulphur then you’ll want to play this one.

Prison View Golf Course, Louisiana State Penitentiary

‘Dead man walking’ the line from the famous film The Green Mile which was inspired by the very prison that this course is in the grounds of. Yes there is a chance that Stephen King wrote this book whilst playing the course and, given the nature of the book, wracking up bogey after bogey. Believe it or not, this is a public course set in the grounds of the Louisiana State Penitentiary and, as such, requires strict background checks to be carried out before you can go play it. This isn’t a prison for petty criminals either by the way. Three quarters of the inmates here are on death row or serving life sentences however they still find time to maintain the course. Just to add insult to injury they aren’t allowed to play the course, I can’t imagine a golf club is something you want to give someone who’s been done for murder, and the tee markers are in the shape of handcuffs!

Pyongyang Golf Course, North Korea

Given the political situation in the Korea region at the moment, and not wanting to be thought of as biased by our members in North Korea, we felt we should add a course from there since we’ve given a spot to their ‘friends’ south of the border. Pyongyang Golf Club plays host to the People’s Republic of Korea Amateur Open but it has an unassailable course record. You see this track shot to fame when the former leader of North Korea, Kim Jong Il shot an incredible 38 on this par-72 course! Whilst we have absolutely no reason not to trust him we are astounded by the ‘fact’ that he carded 11 aces in this incredible round. This was the one and only time he played golf, a great talent that we golfing fans shall never have the pleasure of witnessing, it can be a cruel world sometimes.

Furnace Creek Golf Course, Death Valley, California, USA

Our next two courses are going to represent an exercise in contrast but, given the name, our first course of the two is one of the hottest places you can play. Situated in the Death Valley National Park, famed for its incredibly high temperatures, you will want to pack some 50+ SPF for this round! Oh and by the way, Furnace Creek holds the record for the highest reliably recorded temperature ever on Earth at 56.7°C! You may want to delay your tee time until after noon for this round. This course actually sits 214ft below sea level which means your ball also won’t fly as far as it would normally but it will be your lowest ever round. So given that this is the hottest course on earth, can you take a wild stab in the dark as to what the next course may hold?

Uummannaq Golf Course, Greenland

Yes, you guessed it, it’s the coldest now. Ever heard of the Drambuie World Ice Golf Championships? If you haven’t you should look them up, they look like great fun, but this is the course that plays host to the unique event. Your classic white golf balls will be pretty useless here as this course is laid out on fjord ice. Also, and this is really cool if you’ll pardon the pun, due to the nature of the ice this course is built upon it constantly changes shape! Yes, movements from icebergs and snowdrifts can really change the landscape so if you don’t like a hole just give it a few minutes and hope for a change. Here’s the crazy thing, it’s not unreasonable to see a 100°C difference between this course and the last one mentioned, temperatures can hit -50°C here! So cold, in fact, that graphite shafts could shatter at impact.

Kabul Golf Club, Afghanistan

OK, we’re almost done here, but the last one is another one that sane people need not apply to. Not only is Kabul a place you wouldn’t want to be sent on business of any kind, how about some golf whilst you’re there? Yes, it has a course. Given the current situations playing out in the region, this has to be the worlds most dangerous course. Best part of all is that you need to be sneaked into the course under armed guard and your clubs need to fly separately! There is a sign at the entrance to the club saying ‘No guns or bodyguards allowed’. This, like our entry from South Korea, used to be a battlefield and so also has the added hazards of landmines, rocket launchers and burnt-out Russian tanks. You’ll possibly want to request some surveillance from a drone just in case but this is a course where you can bring a whole new meaning to bombing a drive!

So there you have it folks, if life at the country club is starting to get a bit dull, why not take a trip to one of these ten courses to spice things up? Something to consider though, given that South Africa and the United States are our most represented nations here with a total of two entries each, is it any wonder that they produce such outstanding golfers so regularly. Just showing up to a major championship and playing 72 holes without the prospect of a lion attack or helicopter ride must be quite the escape. Thank you for reading.

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