More War Zone attractions: Kabul golf course

There’s a story on CNN about a golf course owner in Afghanistan, Mohammed Afzal Abdul. The course isn’t a new one (who would be that crazy?), but the tenacity of this man in the face of repeated devastation (and arrest) at the hands, first of Russian troops who used the course as a base and drove tanks over all the greens, followed by Taliban forces who blew up the club house because it served alcohol, is incredible.

Now the grass is gone, replaced by sand stained gray with oil to keep it in place, and visitors are few in comparison to the glory days when foreign diplomats would come to play a round or two before retiring to the 19th hole for a well-deserved drink.

Although the course is on the outskirts of Kabul, I don’t recommend a visit, at least not for the forseeable future, as the road is frequently targeted by bandits looking to rob or kidnap those who pass by. But if you leave it for a couple of decades, perhaps you’ll have the chance to visit Mr Abdul’s course and meet in person a man who epitomizes the Afghani attitude to adversity.