Why build a course here, let alone play on it? Why, to piss off the North Koreans (a traditionally reserved and mild-tempered bunch), of course. The camp was the home of several skirmishes since the 1950s and once it became demilitarized, the course was built in 1972 and named after a U.S. soldier killed in the line of duty near the course. Since then, American and South Korean soldiers, and civilian tourists, have played the course to combat the taunts of North Korean soldiers that are within earshot.

Via ESPN

You can't even get to the course without passing through an area surrounded by North Korean soldiers, armed and watching your every move. Visitors are encouraged to not make eye contact with the soldiers and everyone who wants to vacation at this hip golf murder resort is required to sign a waiver, which acknowledges "serious injury or death" as distinct possibilities on your trip. (In case you're still on the fence about where you should vacation this year, death-by-landmine, we should point out, almost never happens in Disneyland.)

While risking your life to observe your awesome, awesome freedom in front of furious North Korean soldiers is fun and all, there is very real danger on the course. Clubs, balls, hats and other personal objects are routinely misplaced on the mine riddled fairway, and cannot be taken back without the possibility of an explosion. And, at least once, a ball was teed off and actually detonated a mine.

On this Indonesian golf course, views of distant forests and farms and an impressive mountain dominate the course. Except the mountain is pretty close. And sometimes smoke comes out of it. And maybe lava. And if it starts to shake, you might be forced to evacuate in the middle of your game.

(The Merapi Golf Club sits right next to an active volcano, in case that wasn't clear.)

The Volcano, Mt. Merapi, isn't one of those "she'll blow any day now" volcanoes either. It's one of those "Oh crap, it's erupting again! Save the children!!!" types. Since the mid 1990s, it has erupted three times, most recently in October 2010 when ash and lava flows killed over 350 people. So why the hell would people want to golf here?

Via The Jakarta Globe

According to the resort's web site, "Mount Merapi Golf Course is a scenic haven for golfers and sightseers alike. Located on the slope of Indonesia's most active volcano, it's also a cool escape at an altitude of about 1,000 meters." People come here to golf because of how pretty it looks and the low heat, fully knowing that the temperature and scenery can drastically change within a few minutes from "gorgeous and comfortable" to "terrifying and killing me."

Via Leonard Adam

Despite being only five miles from the crater, golf is still actively played here, with emergency warning systems all around the course in case of another big one -- which, remember, could happen at any time. When humanity eventually becomes extinct and the aliens explore Earth, the geological record showing that we used to recreationally play a boring, shitty, white-people-sport under the gaze of a regularly-erupting volcano is probably going to be one of our most embarrassing.

Uummannaq is less about playing a good game of golf and more about surviving a miserable game of "Don't ask me what the score is, I'm just trying not to die." To combat the temperatures, which can go as low as holy shit 30 below, players have to stay in groups, wear thermal clothes and, like Bonifas, sign a waiver clearing the course of any wrongdoing if the player dies.

Via World Ice Golf Championship Committee, Greenland

Despite the danger, snow golf continues to grow in popularity as an "extreme" sport, catering to that very rare demographic of people who think "golf sure is quiet and relaxing, but I think I'd like it a lot more if I could die at literally any moment." Players who are that perfect combination of bored and stupid that they think a sport is only worthwhile if there's a real danger involved. Why not just play at a prison?

One of the interesting things about Prisonview is that it's not a golf course that is specifically for prisoners, who are, in fact, only allowed on the course to work on it. It was originally built to entice employees to stay at the prison during weekends because this prison is so bad that employees need incentive to be there beyond the fact that they are already getting paid to do so. Nowadays, it's open to employees and any non-prisoner (who doesn't mind a full-body search directly before they tee off).

Another interesting thing is that, while California's Pebble Beach course has been called "the No. 1 course in America," Prisonview has been called the "bloodiest [prison] in the United States." Understandably, games have been suspended on several occasions due to riots and other emergencies, but you really should expect that when you show up at a place called Prisonview.

Just to recap: Someone built a golf course in the middle of one of the most dangerous prisons in America, then told the incredibly violent prisoners they were for forbidden from ever actually using the course, and then they encouraged a bunch of wealthy, entitled, golf-loving thrill-seekers to use the course whenever they wanted. That's like opening up a restaurant in the middle of a hungry lion cage, or like opening a golf course in the middle of a fucking prison.