Coriolis
04-16-2005, 07:42 AM
OSLO (AFP) - With warm parkas, orange balls and rifles to keep polar bears at bay, golfers teed off this week in an ice-breaking tournament in the Svalbard islands near the North Pole, organizers said on Thursday.
With temperatures dropping as low as minus 28 degrees Celsius (minus 18 Fahrenheit) with wind chill, six golfers bundled up to do battle for the first Spitsbergen Open world ice golf trophy -- a crystal polar bear -- on an Arctic green that was, well, more white than green.
"You obviously lose a lot of the feeling when you play with big gloves. In order to win you have to be tough: the winner took his gloves off each time it was his turn," the promoter of the event, Arne Kristoffersen, told AFP.
The Svalbard archipelago, also known as Spitsbergen and located in the Arctic Ocean, is the northernmost inhabited region in the world. Residents number 3,000 and there are almost as many polar bears, but few trees to get in the way of a golf shot.
The tournament was played with orange golf balls, which are easier to spot in the snow, and under the protection of an armed guard -- local regulations stipulate that a rifle must be carried at all times outside residential areas.
"The polar bears were most noted for their absence," organisers said, not without a sigh of relief.
Registration is already open for the 2006 edition, the Svalbard Wildlife Service said.
With temperatures dropping as low as minus 28 degrees Celsius (minus 18 Fahrenheit) with wind chill, six golfers bundled up to do battle for the first Spitsbergen Open world ice golf trophy -- a crystal polar bear -- on an Arctic green that was, well, more white than green.
"You obviously lose a lot of the feeling when you play with big gloves. In order to win you have to be tough: the winner took his gloves off each time it was his turn," the promoter of the event, Arne Kristoffersen, told AFP.
The Svalbard archipelago, also known as Spitsbergen and located in the Arctic Ocean, is the northernmost inhabited region in the world. Residents number 3,000 and there are almost as many polar bears, but few trees to get in the way of a golf shot.
The tournament was played with orange golf balls, which are easier to spot in the snow, and under the protection of an armed guard -- local regulations stipulate that a rifle must be carried at all times outside residential areas.
"The polar bears were most noted for their absence," organisers said, not without a sigh of relief.
Registration is already open for the 2006 edition, the Svalbard Wildlife Service said.