A club roughly hewn from a freshly chopped cherry branch, a tennis ball and a buddy to play with is all it takes to make golf an extreme sport that would test the skills of even top professional players. Over the last decade, a group of Czech “forest golfers” have pioneered a novel approach to this gentleman’s sport in the wilds of Bohemia on terrain that would usually be out of bounds on a regular golf course. “The idea was born when two friends at a summer camp decided to introduce the kids to golf,” says Jiri “George” Rehor, a teacher and veteran forest golfer. The sport has caught on, with dozens of Czechs competing up to nine times a year at forest golf tournaments played across the republic, including both singles and team events. On a sunny September Sunday morning in a lush forest in Uvaly just east of the capital Prague, about 20 extreme golfers are testing their skills on a rough 10-hole course crossed by a yawning ditch. Most have come equipped with clubs made of walnut, sour cherry or other harder types of wood, a tennis ball or two and snacks Forest golfers held their first tournament in 1999.”We’ve been playing full seasons and had fixed rules since 2000,” says Rehor. There’s no age limit. Sunday players at Uvaly range from young children, their parents to players over 60 and all play by the motto “fun that we’re dead serious about”.
