No Grass, No Greens, But Golf Is Back in Kabul
Monday, 24-May-2004, 10:03 AM ET

KABUL, May 24 (Reuters) -- Before teeing off, mind the bombed out barracks to your left. Dont aim for the fairway; there isnt one. The greens are actually black; a mixture of sand and oil. The clubhouse is collapsing and has no walls.

For a decade or so the nine-hole course set among rugged hills and mountains on the outskirts of Kabul has been abandoned and the grass has turned to dusty desert and scrub.

While there are no bunkers, the ball veers off at impossible angles when it hits a rock on lands in a ditch.

The water feature has dried out, but the rules still apply if you land in it.

The good news: you can use a tee for every shot.

Now two players, who have been part of the on-again off-again history of the club that reflects Afghanistans recent past, want to rebuild it.

"During the war against the Russians we were forced to close down," said Mohammad Afzal Abdul, the 46-year-old club professional, who was a young boy when the course was built.

"When the mujahideen (holy warriors) took over Kabul City, we reopened. When the civil war began, we had to shut again."

Then the Taliban swept to power, and all hope of playing golf, which the hardline Islamic regime associated with wealthy Western diplomats, was lost.

"I told the Taliban that I used to work with foreigners," Abdul said. "I spent three months in a Kabul jail."

Things were not much easier under Soviet-backed leaders of the late 1970s and 1980s.

"I was arrested by the Communists for links with foreign diplomats and spent six months in prison," said Mohammad Bashir Popal, who works with Abdul at the club and hails from the southern city of Kandahar.

CHEAP FEES, MINE-FREE

The original course was built by the Afghans during the reign of Mohammad Zahir Shah, but moved to its present site after the kings cousin overthrew him in 1973.

It may provide new challenges to any modern player, but it used to be a lot worse. The entire area has had to be cleared of mines in recent months and three Soviet tanks and a multiple rocket launcher have been removed.

"What we need is for people to come and play and help us fund restoring the grass and getting access to water," said Abdul, before driving from the high perch of the first tee into a former Taliban barracks reduced to rubble by U.S. bombers in 2001.

The first hole, a 371-yard (340-meter) par 4, drops sharply then flattens out across a barren, rocky stretch crossed by a gravel road.

Caddies are sent ahead to spot balls that otherwise easily disappear in the glaring sun on parched, near-white earth.

"I dont have any clubs of my own, and there are no Afghans playing at all," Abdul added.

Ten foreigners have come to play at the newly opened course, and Abdul hopes many more from Kabuls burgeoning community of aid workers, diplomats and journalists will join them.

The green fee for two rounds of the nine-hole course is 500 afghani, or $10. A years membership will cost $60 from 2005.

Golfers are asked to bring their own clubs, balls and tees, and preferably artificial turf mats.

Some may even be invited to play in the Afghan Open in two months time -- a tournament the club pro has won before.

"I had to bury this in my back yard during the Taliban," he said, holding aloft the small brass cup he won in 1976.