World's longest golf course to open in Australia

MELBOURNE (AFP) – The world's longest golf course, stretching along1,365 kilometers (848 miles) of desert highway with holes at 18 townsand service stations, is to open in Australia this year, organizerssaid Tuesday.

The Nullarbor Links, which will span two time zones and measure morethan the entire length of Britain, is expected to be completed nextmonth and will host its inaugural tournament on October 22.

“We're very excited about it. It's been a long time coming and a lot of effort,” project chairman Don Harrington told AFP.

“This is the longest golf course in the world. It's unique terrain, there's something for everybody.”

The course, conceived fiveyears ago “over a couple of beers,” is meant to attract tourists to theEyre Highway which traverses the desolate Nullarbor Plain and hugs partof Australia's southern coastline.

Golfers will stop at one roadhouse, play a hole, then drive on tothe next tee—100 kilometers down the road in some cases. The par-71course will take three or four days to complete with each playerawarded a certificate.

Each hole will showcase a local attraction, from whale-watching toancient fossil beds and a working sheep station, and include sightssuch as the Big Kangaroo statue at Border Village straddling South andWestern Australia.

“There's a lot of history and you can see all of that on a golf course,” Harrington said.

“Both Australian tourists and golfing enthusiasts around the world have shown support for what we're doing.”

The course was the brainchild of Bob Bongiorno, who was managing a roadhouse at remote Balladonia when he came up with the idea.

Bongiorno, now living in Kalgoorlie at the course's western end,said he tried hitting a few balls when he first moved into the Outbackbut got sick of encountering spiders when trying to retrieve them.

There should be no such hazards on the synthetic greens of theNullarbor Links, although golfers who hit a stray shot into the desertwill face a monster sand trap.