EXTREME GOLF
Extreme Golf - Luxury Travel Magazine
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Extreme Golf | |||||
| By: Martin Sayers, Issue 34 – Winter 2008 | |||||
| (Awesome Eight Golf Challenge) | |||||
| IF YOUR REGULAR SUNDAY AFTERNOON GOLF GAME IS PROVING A LITTLE TAME, HOW ABOUT TAKING ON THE ULTIMATE CHALLENGE AND PLAYING THE GAME IN EIGHT OF THE MOST EXTREME ENVIRONMENTS ON EARTH? | |||||
| Golf may not be the most adventurous of pastimes; golfers do not hang off cliffs, surf atop 50-foot waves or throw themselves out of planes. It is supposed to be a sedate and relaxing sport. However, there is a golfing adventure out there for those golf-crazy-enough to take it on. This quest takes the intrepid golfer to eight of the most extreme golf courses in the world – the highest, the lowest, the hottest, the coldest, the most southerly, the most northerly, the hardest and the greatest. | |||||
| This is the Awesome Eight Golf Challenge. The challenge is the brainchild of eccentric Scottish golfer, Robin Seiger, who took it upon himself to play eight of the most extreme golf courses in the world within one year. His idea was to create the most exclusive golf society in existence – a society whose membership is only open to those who have completed all the eight courses on the Awesome Eight list. | |||||
| Luckily you are not required, as Robin did, to drag a bag of clubs around the world on a series of economy class flights. The Awesome Eight has since evolved into the ultimate golfing experience: a package that includes travel by executive jet, accommodation in luxury hotels, and incredible excursions. The trip takes place in two month-long stages, one in Winter and one in Summer, and the cost is a cool $193,000. | |||||
| The very first of these Awesome Eight tour experiences sets off from London in November of this year (for Australian customers, air travel from Sydney to London and back to Sydney at the end of the tour can also be arranged at an additional cost). You will join around 25 fellow golfers and set off in a luxury Boeing 757-200 to Las Vegas, Nevada, where accommodation is provided at the exclusive Bellagio hotel, and activities include a helicopter ride over the Grand Canyon followed by a champagne picnic. The golf takes place at the Furnace Creek course, set in the beautiful Californian desert. Furnace Creek is the world’s lowest elevation golf course, at just 214 feet below sea level. Although flat, the course is not easy and has featured in Golf Digest magazine’s list of ‘America's 50 Toughest Courses.’ | |||||
| After three days in America the Awesome Eight sets out south- wards to Argentina to play the most southerly golf course in the world at Ushuaia, right on the tip of South America. The course provides a stern test as winds whip in from the Arctic and the course is criss-crossed by fast flowing streams. | |||||
| From Argentina, you are whisked out across the Pacific to meet the sternest golfing test of the trip in Hawaii. Ko’olau golf club is carved out of the forest on the windward side of the 2,000-foot Ko'olau Ridge mountain range, and is widely regarded as the toughest golf course anywhere in the world. From Hawaii, The Awesome Eight continues westwards and touches down in Australia to take in Alice Springs golf club – home to the hottest course in the world. Awesome Eight founder, Robin Seiger, rates Alice Springs as one of the friendliest clubs he has ever visited. This first stage ends with a visit to Dubai and a chance for a round of golf at the Desert Miracle golf club – so-called because in 1988 it became the first all-grass championship golf course in the Gulf region. This is not one of the original Awesome Eight courses – the stopover at Dubai is all about pure luxury. A chance for weary golfers to relax at the ultra-exclusive Al Maha Desert Resort, and enjoy the beaches and shopping for which Dubai is famous. | |||||
| The second part of the Awesome Eight golf trip begins in May, with the Awesome Eight party being whisked up to the edge of the Arctic Circle to play at North Cape golf club, the most northerly course in the world. After the golf, a cruise will take place to the North Cape, the northern-most tip of Europe, where it is possible to see the incredible spectacle of the Northern Lights. From Norway, a hop across the Arctic takes the Awesome Eight party to Alaska to play North Star golf club (the coldest golf course in the world, so much so that it has to close for six months of the year). Thankfully, by playing it in May, snow is unlikely to be a problem. North Star may also be the only club that provides an animal checklist on the scorecard – hawks, owls and eagles are all common sites and even the elusive lynx has been spotted. | |||||
| After the excursion to the top of the world, the Awesome Eight heads south again to play at the world’s highest golf course – at La Paz in Bolivia. Set against the majestic beauty of the Andes, this is one of the most scenic golf courses in the world. But be careful, the altitude means that the average 4-iron shot will shoot past 200 yards. The activities laid on include a visit to the world famous Lake Titicaca and a look around Tiwanako, ancient capital of the Incas. After Bolivia, the Awesome Eight finishes at what is internationally recognised as the greatest golf course in the world: St Andrews in Scotland. Accommodation is provided at the luxury Fairmont hotel, situated beside the famous links itself. After taking on the exhilarating rigours of the Old Course – familiar to anyone who has watched the British Open over the years – competitors are taken on a tour of Glamis Castle, childhood home of the Queen, followed by a look around the British Golf Museum. A proportion of the price of each trip goes to support the Douglas Bader Foundation, a charity that helps disabled people worldwide. The finale of the trip is a special dinner at St. Andrews, a fitting end, to a truly unique experience. | |||||
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| Awesome Eight Golf Challenge | |||||
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