MELBOURNE - The world's longest golf course is to open in Australia this year.
MELBOURNE - The world's longest golf course is to open in Australia this year.
The Nullarbor Links, which will span two time zones and measure more than the entire length of Britain, is expected to be completed next month and will host its inaugural tournament on October 22.
Project chairman Don Harrington said: "This is the longest golf course in the world."
The course, conceived five years ago "over a couple of beers", stretches over 1365km of desert. With holes at 18 towns it is meant to attract tourists to the Eyre Highway, which traverses the desolate Nullarbor Plain and hugs part of Australia's southern coastline.
Golfers will stop at one roadhouse, play a hole, then drive on to the next tee - 100km down the road in some cases. The par-71 course will take three or four days to complete, with each player awarded a certificate.
Each hole will showcase a local attraction, from whale-watching to ancient fossil beds and a working sheep station, and include sights such as the Big Kangaroo statue at Border Village straddling South and Western Australia.
"There's a lot of history and you can see all of that on a golf course," Harrington said.
The course is the brainchild of Bob Bongiorno, who was managing a roadhouse at the time and now lives in Kalgoorlie at the course's western end.
He said he tried hitting a few balls when he first moved into the Outback but got sick of encountering spiders when trying to retrieve them. - AFP
Golfing no longer Par
MELBOURNE - The world's longest golf course is to open in Australia this year.
MELBOURNE - The world's longest golf course is to open in Australia this year.
The Nullarbor Links, which will span two time zones and measure more than the entire length of Britain, is expected to be completed next month and will host its inaugural tournament on October 22.
Project chairman Don Harrington said: "This is the longest golf course in the world."
The course, conceived five years ago "over a couple of beers", stretches over 1365km of desert. With holes at 18 towns it is meant to attract tourists to the Eyre Highway, which traverses the desolate Nullarbor Plain and hugs part of Australia's southern coastline.
Golfers will stop at one roadhouse, play a hole, then drive on to the next tee - 100km down the road in some cases. The par-71 course will take three or four days to complete, with each player awarded a certificate.
Each hole will showcase a local attraction, from whale-watching to ancient fossil beds and a working sheep station, and include sights such as the Big Kangaroo statue at Border Village straddling South and Western Australia.
"There's a lot of history and you can see all of that on a golf course," Harrington said.
The course is the brainchild of Bob Bongiorno, who was managing a roadhouse at the time and now lives in Kalgoorlie at the course's western end.
He said he tried hitting a few balls when he first moved into the Outback but got sick of encountering spiders when trying to retrieve them. - AFP
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