Article: Its greens are brown, soldiers guard the gate, and the clubhouse is a shack. But somehow, Kabul Golf Club survives. Raymond Whitaker plays a round amid the ruins, while James Corrigan navigates the fairways of the world's most frightening courses

"Good shot!" exclaims 17-year-old Ali Ahmad as I tee off in a cloud of dust at the first hole of the Kabul Golf Club. As he is officially one of the two best golfers in Afghanistan, I know he is being kind.

Last week, Ali and his fellow caddy, 15-year-old Ashmat, defeated all comers in the biannual tournament at Afghanistan's only golf club. Their knowledge of local conditions was clearly a help - the nine-hole course, to the west of the Afghan capital, has no grass, only prickly scrub that leaves barbs in the socks of unwary golfers.

"Fairway" shots are taken from a circle of plastic turf carried round by the caddies, and the "greens" are brown, because they are created from a mixture of ...

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