112 Miles to the Pinby Duncan Lennard

Open competitors finding the rough tough or the greens gruesome at Carnoustie might fancy the Club de Golf Rio Lluta in northern Chile's Atacama Desert, as the 7,000yd coursepossesses not one bush or blade of grass. On the other hand, it does have scorpions lurking at the bottom of the cup, and "greens" composed of seashells, sand and motor oil... It is just one of the quirky venues detailed in Duncan Lennard's exploration of the wilder fringes of golf – others include Skukuza, in Kruger National Park, where the resident pro once found himself putting out from between a giraffe's legs, and Kodiak Island, off the Alaskan mainland, where you incur a five-shot penalty for waking a hibernating bear. Lennard's thesis is that by casting off the shackles of tradition, players can regain the spirit of fun that drew them to the game in the first place. The naturist, urban, speed and long-distance (hence the title) golfers he meets seem to agree. Magnificently bonkers stuff, affectionately recounted.