One of the signatures holes on a new fantasy course at Mission Hills in China will see players attempt to hit a green surrounded by a noodle-style hazard complete with chopsticks.
(CNN) -- It's crazy golf on an insane scale -- a putting green swimming in a giant bowl of noodles and chopsticks, the Great Wall of China for a hazard, a fairway threading through Mayan ruins and a panda-themed hole.
China is getting into golf in a big way ahead of the sport's reintroduction to the Olympics in 2016, and even its take on the mini version of the game is larger than life.
"Traditionalists will probably hate it," says design guru Brian Curley, principal partner in Schmidt-Curley, the company behind the 22 courses that make up the Mission Hills complex in Hainan Island.
"But this is real golf, with real clubs on real fairways," he told CNN.
Just about everyone has tried their hand at crazy or mini-golf, a scale-down variant of the game which has the ability to delight and infuriate in equal measure.
Read: Golf brings China, U.S. closer together with PGA Tour upgrade
Chinese golf prodigy, 14, in U.S. Open
Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods look on in amusement before banging a ceremonial gong to mark the start of their "Duel at Jinsha Lake."
Duel at Jinsha Lake
Usually situated at seaside resorts or other leisure locations, the prerequisites for success are a modicum of actual golfing skill, the ability to putt in a straight line or at unlikely angles off prominent obstacles -- and a large slice of luck.
President Barack Obama, who takes every opportunity to hit the fairways when not leading the Western world, even tried his hand at crazy golf while on holiday with his family in Florida in 2010.
Making a par on his opening hole, he then had to watch as his nine-year-old daugher Sasha made a hole in one, besting her dad in front of the gathered ranks of the world's media.
Obama might well be tempted to put his handicap on the line at the ground-breaking new course being constructed at Curley's Mission Hills Haikou development.
Combining the wacky elements of mini-golf with the "grown-up" version of the game, the proposed 18-hole layout would leave little chance of aces by nine-year-olds -- but still plenty of chances of humiliation for the average golfer.
Fantasy golf
Mindful of the impression that there is a "sameness" to the courses being churned out in their droves in the fastest expanding golf market in the world, Curley and his team wanted to come up with something that he felt would appeal to the wider Chinese public and other visitors to the resort.
So instead of bunkers, rough and trees, the players will be faced with a replica of the Great Wall of China winding its way the length of a 400-meter par four hole.
It also has a hole to rival the infamous "island green" seen at TPC Sawgrass in Florida, home of the the U.S. PGA Tour's Players Championship.
That tricky 17th sees the best in the world attempt to hit their ball onto a tiny green surrounded by water, and spectators delight in seeing the likes of Tiger Woods find the lake.
Fifteen-year-old Lydia Ko is the youngest LPGA Tour winner in history courtesy of her win at the Canadian Women's Open. She was just 14 when she triumphed at the the New South Wales Open in January 2012, becoming the youngest player to win a professional tournament. She clinched the U.S. Amateur Championship two weeks ago.
Golf's young prodigies
David Leadbetter is recognized as one of the world's leading golf instructors, and has worked with stars such as Nick Faldo, Nick Price, Ernie Els and Greg Norman.
Golf's best coaches
At Mission Hills' new course, set to open in 2014, the water is replaced by an 80-meter wide noodle bowl with 50-meter giant chopsticks.
Standing on the tee, players will not know whether to laugh or cry, and the degree of difficulty may not end there.
Tiger Woods eyes long rivalry with McIlroy
Wind machine
Curley is promising the addition of "man made" gale force winds on each tee, adjustable depending on the standards of the players and available by hitting a red button.
There is a par-5 threading its way through Mayan ruins, while another green is created in the image of the "Birds Nest" Olympic Stadium in Beijing. Another hole is styled after China's favorite animal, the panda bear.
On a conventional golf course, the degree of difficulty is often dictated by which tee the player chooses to play from. Leading professionals play from the tees furthest from the hole, while higher handicappers can opt to hit their first shot from much closer.
On the Chinese fantasy course, one of the par-3s will give golfers the choice of hitting their ball onto a tiny green surrounded by lava rocks.
In true mini-golf fashion, the other easier option at the volcano theme hole will let players hit towards a mound from which the ball will be whisked nearer the hole down a pipe.
Curley and his team needed the permission of the owners of the complex before committing to the costly project, but Mission Hills' chairman Dr. Ken Chu is an enthusiastic backer.
"This will be a fun alternative for families, novices and children on holiday," he was quoted in the Asian edition of Golf Course Industry International.
Only time will tell if Chu's faith in the project proves founded, but the Mission Hills group has already established itself as a host venue of leading professional tournaments.
Last year the Hainan Island development staged the World Cup teams event for the first time, taking over from the Mission Hills complex at Shenzhen.
This year Shenzhen was the venue of the prestigious HSBC-World Golf Championship event, won by Englishman Ian Poulter.
The Ryder Cup hero conquered the conventional bunker-bound Olazabal course in 21 under par, but knowing Poulter's reputation as a golfing trendsetter, he will probably be itching to test his mettle on Curley's new wacky creation at the first opportunity.
Schwartzel triumphs at Alfred Dunhill
Loading weather data ...
© 2013 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
A view from the tee of the shot facing the golfer on the chopsticks and noodles hole.
The Great Wall of China hole will provide a challenge with a difference for the golfers who play the new course.
A sketch of the design work behind a hole on the course, in which a mock-up of the Great Wall of China is threaded throughout its entire length.
A par 5 on the new course is dedicated to the ancient Mayan civilization, but golfers will have their work cut out if they stray off the fairway.
One of the holes is dedicated to the most popular animal in China, the giant panda, and this sketch illustrates the design features.
Work is well under way on the hole named "Panda-monium" ahead of the course opening in 2014.
The Birds Nest Stadium which hosted the 2008 Summer Olympics is the inspiration for one of the greens on the new course.
This year the Mission Hills group hosted a World Golf Championship tournament, the HSBC Champions, on a bunker-laden course at its Shenzhen complex designed by former Ryder Cup captain Jose Maria Olazabal. Ian Poulter is seen here on his way to winning the title.
Conventional golf tests such as the daunting 17th island hole at TPC Sawgrass in Florida often rely on water to provide the challenge with a small green to aim at.
President Barack Obama, his wife Michelle and daughter Sasha tried their hand at mini golf on a holiday in Florida in 2010.
Both McIlroy and Woods, pictured above, had their handprints immortalized in clay as a lavish ceremony featuring drum majorettes and fireworks preceded their clash in the Chinese city Zhengzhou.
World No. 1 McIlroy cannot keep a straight face as the players pose at the first green, ahead of a clash reported to be paying the pair a combined total of $2 million.
"The scene was barely-controlled chaos," wrote Sports Illustrated's Alan Shipnuck. "Some 3,000 fans streamed across the fairways, with soldiers locking arms in a human fence to keep the throngs off the greens."
A course marshall practices kung fu as she awaits the golfers' arrival.
"On the tee boxes there were so many camera clicks it sounded like machine gun fire," Shipnuck wrote.
Local golf fans talk with one of the models who inhabited the greens in their evening wear in scenes seldom seen on any golf course.
Woods tries to maintain focus as a luxury boat passes by, with the clubhouse car park also boasting a collection of Rolls-Royces, Ferraris, Aston Martins and Maseratis.
Young fans show their support for McIlroy and Woods in a country that is seen as the next great market for golf to conquer.
McIlroy never trailed Woods after starting with a birdie, going on to card a five-under-par 67 -- one less than the world No. 2.
McIlroy awaits his trophy on a day that coincided with the launch of the multi-million-dollar "Golf Villas" to be built around the Jinsha Lake course.
Guan Tian-Lang, 13, made history as the youngest player at a European Tour event when he teed off at his home China Open in April 2012.
However, he could not better the achievement of Jason Hak, who was 14 when he became the youngest player to make the halfway cut at a European Tour event at the 2008 Hong Kong Open.
Thompson is the youngest player to win on the European Ladies' Tour. Here she receives her trophy at the Dubai Ladies Masters on December 17, 2011.
Seen here with former child prodigy Michelle Wie in 2010, Leadbetter has established coaching academies around the world.
Leadbetter's golf empire has grown from his main academy in Florida to locations all around the world.
He says he has scaled back his on-tour coaching these days, but does a lot of corporate work and writing.
Butch Harmon made his name coaching Tiger Woods. Here he guides Woods during the 1995 Masters -- two years before his breakthrough victory at Augusta.
After splitting with Woods in 2004, Harmon linked up with the former world No. 1's greatest rival Phil Mickelson three years later.
Woods spent six years with coach Hank Haney, seen here teaching a young Chinese golfer at the launch of his academy at China's Mission Hills Hainan in Haikou in 2010.
Pete Cowen, seen here coaching fellow Englishman Simon Dyson, has been at the forefront of Europe's recent golfing dominance.
Cowen has long worked with Darren Clarke, who finally won his first major title at this year's British Open.
Cowen has also helped Clarke's fellow Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy, who this year claimed his first major triumph at the U.S. Open.
|