Assam - Doom Dooma

 


 January 30 2013
 
 
But---It’s just a par 3—but what a par three

 

An old Digboi member recalls;  there was a hole on the Digboi golf course which was almost as scary ... and no helicopter to get you up there and back!  Perhaps my memory is exaggerating it a bit!! 



Forget pitch and putt - this tee-off point on top of a 1,410 ft. mountain in  South Africa
is the hardest golf shot in the world, and more than $1 million awaits the player who can score a hole in one.

Players must take a helicopter to the top to play the longest and highest par three on the planet.

Taking the shot also requires courage. A player needs to teeter terrifyingly close to the edge of the mammoth hillside.

Indeed, the Extreme 19th Hole is so high the ball takes almost 30 seconds to reach the ground.

Channel Nine cricket commentator Mark Nicholas recently joined an elite list to have the shot in just three swings.
"It was awesome, riveting and phenomenal," he said, "it's like the end of the world when you get up there and it's an awful lot of fun. It's such an adrenaline rush taking the helicopter up and then rushing back down."

The hole is based at the Legends Golf and Safari Resort, within the Entabeni Safari Conservancy in South Africa 's
Northeastern  Limpopo  Province . The other 18 holes were designed by world golfing legends including
Trevor Immelman, Sergio Garcia, Padraig Harrington and  Australia 's Robert Allenby.

A round of golf - including a buggy and lunch - will set you back R450 ($70).

The Extreme 19th cost is $1060 per foursome, which includes the helicopter ride, souvenir cap, glove, and a DVD of you playing the hole.

So far, no one has even come close pocketing the million-dollar prize, but Harrington became the first golfer to conquer the hole within par.

Harrington said, "This is the type of innovation and excitement we need to get more people playing golf.
There aren't many new innovative ways to play the game but this is certainly one of the best. I think this hole is awesome. I love the whole experience, the helicopter, the views, the drama and having the green the shape of  Africa .
And now I've got bragging rights over all the other professionals who have played this hole
and not managed to make a three. I love everything about it."

 

 

February 13 2011
Denise Sloan also sent in a photograph  from her archives of three handsome young Upper Assam batchelors

We have eventually been able to identify them with help from Peter Bartlett, John Thyne, and Mick Garnett and can now say that Denise Sloan's puzzle has finally been solved. 

 

 

 

From left to Right

Colin Wilson, Mick Garnett, Tony Foster

The photo was taken in 1966




January 23 2011
 We are very grateful to Denise Sloan nee Pollard for forwarding this photo from 1964 and indebted to Peter  and Merle Bartlett for working hard to give the names shown--Thank you Denise and Peter& Merle

At the Smudge Smith Cowdray Park gatherings in 2007 there was much discussion about this photo .Hopefully people will write to the Editor with some or all of the missing names--please quote numbers

(This version is thanks to the superb memory of Neil and Enid Coombes and the number sorting by Peter Bartlett--Thanks to you  All--Editor)

The original photograph has been halved

Top  Photo is the Left half of the original picture

 Front row, from the left are: 1. Neil Coombes, 2. Jimmy Ross, 3. Billy Stewart, 4. DK, 5. Peter Wilson,

Second row: 13. DK (striped tie), 14. Kathleen Kennewell, 15. Ann Gardiner, 16. Jo Ward, 17. DK, 18. Mrs Ted Kemp, 19. Nodie Ward, 20. May Carlyle, 21. Bob Aitken, 22. Enid Coombes, 23. Betty Reid, 24. Diana James, 25. Davinda Makoll

Back Row: 38. Wendy Burton, 39. Mary Pollard, 40. Ted Kemp, 41. Pam Farbrother, 42. Robin Farbrother, 43. Dr. Bill Thorne, 44. Clare Thorne, 45. Ken Tolmie, 46. Jim Hendin, 47. Alec Bruce,




 

Bottom Photo is the Right half of the original picture

Front Row : 6. Tom Cavers, 7. Nigel James, 8. Colin Bell, 9. Dr. Bill Burton, 10. Dick Scott, 11. Stan Clarkson & 12. Jim Wilson.


Second Row:  26. Peter James, 27. Jack Ward, 28. Margaret King, 29. Jill Aitken, 30. Joy Clarkson, 31. Pat Bruce, 32. Frances Swales, 33. DK, 34. Inder Singh, 35. Pat Knights, 36. DK  37. Raj Berry
Back Row : 48. Archie Lennox, 49. Dennis Hudson, 50. John Kennewell, 51. Harry King, 52. Doug Carlyle, 53. Vic Swales, 54. Angus Ward, 55. David Gardiner, 56. Lennie Reid, 57. DK,  58. Dennis Pollard, .59 Nan Cavers, 60. Reg Flynn, 61. DK & 62. Bablu Choudhury