January 20, 2011 8:37 AM

I'm dreaming of a golf vacation...in Pyongyang

OK, so my swing’s a bit rusty; it IS winter after all, and golf in Portland during the winter requires a high tolerance for mud splattering in all directions. Still, I’ve been looking for a reason to hit a range and try to get my swing back in order…and I may finally have a reason.

Being the adventurous sort, I’ve always had a weird thing for repressive Stalinist regimes. When I was in Kosovo, I was fascinated by Albania, which until the early ’90s was not far behind North Korea when it came to being reclusive and repressive. On my way home, I got to spend a few minutes in Albania, and even though it was no longer ruled by the brutal Enver Hoxha and was nominally free, it still felt like being in an another world…if only for a brief interlude.

Now North Korea (not without reason referred to as “The Hermit Kingdom”) is attempting to (sort of) become a card-carrying member of the international community…if hosting a golf tournament can be considered such an effort. Yes, for a mere $1300 (depending on the exchange rate), you can enter the first annual Democratic People’s Republic of Korea Amateur Golf Open. Hell, yes, I’d go…in a heartbeat. The idea of playing golf in a country that subjected it’s World Cup soccer team to a six-hour public humiliation? Man, I’d hate to think what they might do to the caddies if they recommend the wrong club….

The tournament’s web site looks as if it’s state of the art…if we were still in 1998…but for a country that can’t feed their people, I suppose we should probably cut them some slack, no??

Hey, if Kim Jong-Il can shoot 38 under par for 18 holes, I should finally be able to break 80…right??

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This page contains a single entry by Jack Cluth published on January 20, 2011 8:37 AM.

You can't fix a problem if you can't be honest about what the problem is (Part Deux) was the previous entry in this blog.

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