Courses · LEGEND GOLF · THE EXTREME 19TH

This tee can only be reached by helicopter.

The Extreme 19th in South Africa is played from a tee on Hanglip Mountain that golfers reach by helicopter, about 400 metres above a green shaped like Africa. In 2008 a hole in one was worth a promised million dollars, until one ball stopped within two metres of the cup.

The one to remember

A million dollars, then 10,000.

Facts and sources

  • The tee of the Extreme 19th sits on top of Hanglip Mountain at the Legend Golf & Safari Resort, in the Waterberg in Limpopo, South Africa, and is accessible only by helicopter (the resort).
  • The resort gives the drop to the green as about 400 metres and the shot as 361 metres; Guinness World Records (2009) and CNN (2023) give the drop as 430 metres. It plays as a par 3.
  • The green is shaped like Africa, its contours copying landmarks such as the Rift Valley and Mount Kilimanjaro (the resort).
  • A ball hangs in the air for 20 to 30 seconds, by the resort's count; CNN reports an average of 22 seconds.
  • For the hole's opening year, 2008, a $1 million reward was promised to the first player to make a hole in one. After one ball careened off a rock to within two metres of the cup, the prize dropped to $10,000 shortly after (CNN, 2023).
  • The resort's leaderboard, kept up to 2018, has no hole in one; its best scores are birdies, the first made by the cricketer Franklyn Stephenson in 2010 (CNN). The hole closed in 2019, was rebuilt, and takes bookings again in 2026 (the resort).

Illustration: the mountain, the course around the green, the helicopter, the golfers, the caddies, the animals and the shots are drawn to explain, not surveyed. The timer in the long fall runs about six times faster than real time and stops at CNN's reported average of 22 seconds. The near miss's path off the rock is drawn, not recorded.

Sources

  1. Extreme 19th · Legend Golf & Safari Resort checked 11 October 2026
  2. Golf Fact Sheet 2026 (PDF) · Legend Golf & Safari Resort checked 11 October 2026
  3. Legend Golf & Safari Resort (home page) · Legend Golf & Safari Resort checked 11 October 2026
  4. Our Journey (historic highlights) · Legend Golf & Safari Resort checked 11 October 2026
  5. Inches from a 470-yard cliff, is this the most terrifying shot in sport? · CNN (Jack Bantock, 2 November 2023) checked 11 October 2026
  6. Longest par three golf hole · Guinness World Records (2009) checked 11 October 2026

The narration is AI-generated. Sources last checked 11 October 2026.

Script

The tee on this golf hole can only be reached by helicopter. It sits on top of Hanglip Mountain, at the Legend Golf and Safari Resort in South Africa, about 400 meters above the green. From up there, the green is a small patch far below, cut in the shape of the map of Africa. A drive from the top hangs in the air for 20 to 30 seconds before it lands. The hole plays as a par three. When it opened in 2008, the resort promised a million dollars to the first player to make a hole in one. Then one ball bounced off a rock and stopped within two meters of the cup. Soon after, the prize dropped to $10,000.