112 Miles to the Pin

'Golf', the writer Jim Bishop once said, 'is a game played by twenty million mature American men whose wives think they are out having fun.' For so many golfers, this description of the great game is all too true. That innocent thrill of striking a drive cleanly for the first time, or holing that amazing putt, is all but a distant memory. Bogged down by getting up at some ridiculous hour to get a decent tee time, their average round is a frustrating four hours of miss hits, hooks, slices and bad putts. But a whole group of modern players have left their regular course behind, and rediscovered the magic of the game in the process. These are the golf adventurers - players who are pushing the idea of golf beyond the traditional eighteen holes into something far more thrilling and exciting. Players like Andre Tolme, who decided to turn Mongolia into a par 11.880 course. Or Torsten Schilling, who spends his weekends teeing off from the side of the boat, aiming for various sites back on shore. Or the participants in tournaments such as Greenland's Mount Dundas, where competitors have to scale a 75ft sheer cliff face, just to get to the first tee.


 


From Death Valley to New Zealand's naked open, Duncan Lennard brings together these stories from the very edge of sport - remarkable golfers who have helped put the swing back into the game, tales to remind us why we fell in love with golf in the first pace.