630 yard Par 3?

[Danny White]

That's right, a 630 yard par 3... with the tee box on a cliff 1400 feet in the air... accessible only by helicopter. It takes 30 seconds for your ball to reach the green!

Quite simply the most amazing golf hole on the planet

The brand-new golf course at the Legends Golf & Safari Resort in South Africa is an amazing stretch of 18 holes designed by 18 different top-flight golfers, including Padraig Harrington, Colin Montgomerie, K.J. Choi, Retief Goosen, Justin Rose, Trevor Immelman and Vijay Singh. And I'm sure each one of those 18 holes is a perfect mini-masterpiece of challenge and reward. Along with, apparently, a lion or two along the way, if we're to believe the brochures.

But that's nothing. Wait until you get to the bonus 19th hole.

The course's so-called "Xtreme 19th" hole is a par 3 -- a par 3 whose tee is atop a cliff on Hanglip Mountain, more than 1,400 feet above a green carved like the continent of Africa. You've got to take a helicopter to get to the tee box, and from there it's more than 630 yards to the pin. Once you tee off, it takes nearly 30 seconds for the ball to hit the ground.

Should you manage to drill a hole-in-one on the 19th, congratulations -- you've just won yourself a million bucks, and the right to call yourself the most Xtreme golfer on Earth! And unlike certain signature holes (Island Green at Sawgrass, we're looking at you), you can play just the Xtreme 19th, if you like, without messing with all that full-round business. You can, of course, add it to your existing round, a la carte. And for tournaments held at the Legends, it will serve as the playoff hole. Playing all 19 holes runs about 2,000 South African rand, or about $220 in American bills, but for that you get the helicopter ride, plus a bunch of souvenir swag and a DVD of your shot.

One-Eyed Golfer (via Waggle Room) uncovered some astonishing video of Harrington and Raphael Jacquelin playing the hole. Check out the height of this thing above the green:

[youtube]b3_W_JryhR0[/youtube]

 

[BrAinPaiNt]

I think they showed a clip of this on Morning Joe this morning.

I don't golf but I would like to do that, heck you get a cool helicopter ride and view at the very least.

 

[Yeagermeister]

John Daly could reach the green in 2.

 

[BrAinPaiNt]

John Daly could reach the green in 2.

Only by tripping in a drunken stupor and rolling all the way down the hill.:

 

[Yeagermeister]

Only by tripping in a drunken stupor and rolling all the way down the hill.:

These days yeah pretty much

 

[DallasFanSince86]

Easy shot.

 

[silverbear]

John Daly could reach the green in 2.

Naw, from 1400 feet up you could probably reach the green with a sand wedge...

 

[Hostile]

That would be fun to play. The guys on the ground tracking the ball would have one heck of a hard task if it wasn't a good shot.

 

[the kid 05]

That would be fun to play. The guys on the ground tracking the ball would have one heck of a hard task if it wasn't a good shot.

and a heck of a job if the golfers have good aim as well...imagine the nugget you'd have on your head after the ball hit ya

 

[silverbear]

That would be fun to play. The guys on the ground tracking the ball would have one heck of a hard task if it wasn't a good shot.

Shank one off that tee, you wind up in Ethiopia...

 

[Yeagermeister]

and a heck of a job if the golfers have good aim as well...imagine the nugget you'd have on your head after the ball hit ya

You may not have a head anymore :laugh1:

 

[Bob Sacamano]

I think they showed a clip of this on Morning Joe this morning.

I don't golf but I would like to do that, heck you get a cool helicopter ride and view at the very least.

you'd probably have to work 2 years just to afford it

 

[trickblue]

Naw, from 1400 feet up you could probably reach the green with a sand wedge...

There is a golf course in the area here at Leander that has a par three green you can't see from the tee...

Cool hole...

 

[silverbear]

There is a golf course in the area here at Leander that has a par three green you can't see from the tee...

Cool hole...

I don't like blind holes, never have... I think it was Ben Hogan that said any hazard was fair, as long as you could see it... I agree with that...

 

[Sarge]

Only by tripping in a drunken stupor and rolling all the way down the hill.:

What's wrong with that?....

 

[Yeagermeister]

What's wrong with that?....

If no one sees you nothing at all :laugh2:

 

[Scranton Tiger]

Well, it wasn't going to be too much longer before golf balls with a GPS chip in them turned up anyway. Maybe this hole will speed up the process. That is awesome. Playing that course, and the 19th hole is definately going on my bucket list.