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| Afghanistan |
| The world's most dangerous golf tournament |
| 2007-10-25 |
| As course hazards go, the threat of a suicide bomb attack places the Kabul Golf Course in a class of its own. Four suicide attacks in the Afghan capital in three weeks, the last of which killed 12 people on the road to the clubhouse, ensured that the latest Kabul Desert Classic could safely claim to be the most dangerous golf tournament on earth. The open competition, on Afghanistan's only course, was begun in 2005 by aid workers. Funds raised went to an Afghan charity set up by the veteran ITN journalist Sandy Gall. The fairways of St Andrews are but a distant dream on a scrub covered course where the greens are a grassless mixture of sand and oil, and a bouncing tee shot sends up puffs of dust like a raking burst of machinegun fire. Some of those present suggested that the 3rd Desert Classic might be the last. "It all depends on our foreign friends," said the clubÂ’s leathery pro Mohammad Afzal Abdul, 50, a scratch player who has worked the course since the 1970s. "If they stay things could improve. If they leave it to the Afghans, everything will collapse again." Mr Abdul was arrested for two months and beaten with cables after the Taliban found his collection of golf trophies and accused him of working with foreigners. The event went ahead on Friday with a security cordon provided by a local warlord; a figure described by one Kabul diplomat as "a hard-drinking human rights abuser who should be in The Hague, not on a golf course." The nine-hole course was opened in 1967 and enjoyed its heyday in the early 1970s when Kabul was a tranquil way station on the hippie trail. However, the Russian invasion ended the flow of international visitors and it was only the Russian Ambassador who ventured onto the course during the 1980s, playing off a handicap of 24. During the bloody civil war of the 1990s the area witnessed frequent tank battles. Most of the 30 competitors were drawn from the aid worker community, though the event organisers, American Lawyer John Dempsey, 37 and French media relations company boss Amaury Coste, 34, were delighted to see the first Afghan entrants. The winners were two Afghan eighteen-year-olds with less than a yearÂ’s golfing experience each. Hashmatullah and Ali, both of whom have only one name, are among the first Afghans to take an interest in the sport and receive daily lessons from the course pro in exchange for a spot of gardening. "I started six months ago and have played every day since," said Hashmatullah, beaming with pride after an impressive 4-under-par round. He hopes to compete for Afghanistan in the Asian Games in Nepal next year if the Afghan government is able to fund a team. |
| Posted by:Pappy |