The World’s 5 Most Unbelievable Golf Courses: 4 Locations to Add to Your Bucket List (and 1 to Avoid!)

Golf is a game steeped in tradition, rules and etiquette. The well-mannered golfer knows to be aware of his shadow, repair his ball marks and keep quiet on his playing partner’s backswing.

Even during huge tournaments the crowds are stunningly quiet, showing respect for the players and the time honored game itself.

But throughout the world there are golf courses that push the edge. They challenge the limits of skills and patience. They are so unusual that Ripley himself may not believe they exist.

Here’s our list of 5 golf courses so unusual, so odd, you may not believe they exist:

1. Nullarbor Links

There are only 1,500 golf courses in all of Australia. Go figure that one would be over 800 miles long and still be a par 72. It’s called Nullarbor Links and its 18 holes stretch along the Eyre Highway from Western Australia to Southern Australia.

Opened in 2009, it is billed as the “World’s Longest Golf Course”, with one hole at each of 18 stops along the way. The course was built to promote tourism and economic activity along the mostly desolate highway and apparently it’s working. The “course” was a 2012 finalist for the Australian Tourism Award.

2. Prison View Golf Course

If you are willing to submit to a background check to play a round of golf, Prison View Golf Course in Angola, Louisiana may be just the ticket. The 9-hole course is actually located on the grounds of the Louisiana State Penitentiary, and according to its website it offers a “spectacular view of Louisiana’s only maximum security prison.”

Spectacular views indeed!

The course features a practice range, pro-shop and restaurant. The challenging course includes 37 bunkers and water will come into play 16 times.

3. Camp Bonifas Golf Course

Located just south of the DMZ in South Korea, the United States Army has what many are calling the world’s most dangerous golf course.

Of course the “course” is only a single 192-yard par 3 hole just a few hundred yards from the DMZ that separates North and South Korea. It is also said that players must be armed – talk about shooting a bad round!

4. North Star Golf Course

The U.S.A’s most northernmost golf course is the North Star Golf Course in Alaska. One of only about 2-dozen courses in the entire state, the scorecard includes an animal checklist. You may see more than birdies and eagles up here. The checklist includes moose, muskrat, fox, hawks, and coyotes. There have even been grizzly bear sightings.

It is best to play with a golf cart… a very fast one.

5. Don Mueang Airport

Don Mueang International Airport in Bangkok, Thailand is the 18th busiest airport in the world. So what would be good use of that green space between landing strips?

A golf course, of course!

There are no barriers between the runways and the course itself, so red lights are used to let players know of an impending aircraft. Nice touch.