2013年9月2日星期一

Hainan Island; Home of the World's Zaniest Golf Course

The game of golf has long been the heralded as the serious man's sport.  Played by dignified businessmen to the leaders of our countries, the sport has never been synonymous with the roaring crowds of a football game, the vibrantly dressed cheerleaders of a basketball match or guttural yells of hockey enthusiasts.  While most of these things will never see the light of day during a round of golf, Brian Curley, an Avant-garde thinker and mastermind behind the new "golf-course" in Hainan China, want's to change to way people think when the word golf is come to mind.

A few years ago, Curley set out on a mission.  He wanted to bring a new dynamic to the game a golf.  For too long he saw the sport steeped in too much somberness.  The sport often alienated younger players from participating by being inaccessible or not as exciting as other alternatives.  How does one deal with this he thought?  Change the landscape.  And that is just what he has done in his new golf course design, literally changed the physical landscape of the gold course.

Gone from Curley's new course are the tired and overused fairways, sand traps and sprinkled hilly mounds.  What has risen up to take its place?  A much wackier, almost miniature golf course design.  However, Curley wants to make it clear that this is no course for amateurs.  His genre bending course design  leaves little to luck and relies heavily on a golfer's skill.

What can golfers expect with a round on this almost-completed course?  Well, for starters, golfers will take their first shot on a green that is designed to bear close resemblance to the country's famous Great Wall of China.  The Wall, replicated across some 400 meters in a par four hole, sets the golfer up for a series of eye-popping often beautiful, skill-testing shots.

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Many golf enthusiasts can recall the iconic 17th hole of the Sawgrass course native to Florida.  On this whole, thousands watched as the likes of Tiger Woods and other famous golfers attempted to land their ball atop a small island surrounded by water.

How did Curley take his own spin on this hole?  Well, with a bowl of noodles of course.  That is of course one 80 meter wide bowl of noodles complete with a pair of 50 meter chopsticks.  The center of this "bowl" has the standard hole much like the Sawgrass version.  But instead of water, the small island is surrounded by a lake of noodles.

This eclectic course doesn't stop there.  Other shots include a replication of the famous "birds-nest" stadium as well as a shot with bunkers and hills made to replicate China's famous mammal, the panda.

Another par five course closely resembles Mayan ruins while another shorter, par three shot will see golfers weaving their way in and out of a flowing lava stream and large, rocks that jut into the sky.

All of this sound intriguing?  Well, don't hold your breath just yet.  The course is still under construction and the finishing touches aren't slated to be finished until late 2014.

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