Jul 28, 2009, 10:13 GMT
Sydney - Nine years to build a golf course and six holes still not finished?
Alf Caputo, project manager of the Nullarbor Links in Australia's south-west, has some explaining to do.
'The logistics of actually building these holes with such an amazing distance in between each one and bringing products to each site has been an experience all of its own,' Caputo explained.
He has a point: 1,265 kilometres separates the first from the 18th hole on the Nullarbor Links, the world's longest.
A round of golf on a course that stretches along the Eyre Highway between seaside Ceduna in South Australia and the historic gold-mining town of Kalgoorlie in Western Australia takes four days.
Players - Caputo is hoping for 26,000 in the 12 months after the August 15 opening - will pass through two time zones and a landscape so desolate and featureless that most travellers only bother to stop for petrol.
Bob Bongiorno, former manager of the Balladonia Road House on the Nullarbor Plain, dreamed up the idea as a way of slowing down the 250,000 motorists who make the Ceduna-Kalgoorlie trip each year.
'Most people like to travel across the Nullarbor as quickly as possible,' Bongiorno said. 'I wanted to create awareness of its magnificent geographical features and rich history.'
Some of the holes are dedicated ones on established courses along the way - Ceduna, Norseman and Kalgoorlie - while others are purpose-built at hamlets like Cocklebiddy and Widgiemooltha.
The idea is that motorists stop at one hole then drive on to whichever town or road house hosts the next one. They stay the night, perhaps at a sheep station, then drive on to the next hole. Driving time between the holes varies from 45 minutes to nearly 3 hours.
The Nullarbor Plain is an unforgiving place - barren, flat, dry as a bone. The purpose-built holes will also be testing. The greens will be synthetic but all the browns and reds will be authentic natural rock and sand.
'It's not just a game of golf, it's a true Australian experience,' Bongiorno promised.
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