Colin Montgomerie heads to Afghanistan for a round of golf with the English troops
The celebrated Scott Colin Montgomerie is now heading to the war-ravaged Afghanistan on a goodwill and morale-boosting tour for the fighting English forces in the region. The veteran will visit the only golf course in Kabul, the Kabul Golf Course, also considered as one of the most dangerous golf courses in the world and will play some celebrity rounds with the English troops engaged in the country.
This is first of its kind tour, undertaken by any of the celebrated English players and Montgomerie also revealed that he will be taking a huge load of golf equipment for the troops, although he will not be taking his own bag along with him.
"I am looking forward to it very much," he told Reuters."I'm not taking my own golf clubs but I have gathered together a lot of equipment for the troops. It's going to be a special occasion as I have never undertaken anything like this before. I'm then heading to Hong Kong and looking to play myself into the Dubai World Championship."
The KGC is a gory picture of what has happened in the country in the past two decades of war. The fairways are dusty while the greens are oily and slow, indicating many of the rockets which pounded the course during these years. Once a sprawling facility for the sport during the times of King, KGC barely shows any glimpse of its splendid past.
The 42-year-old Scot, who remained a lethal force on t he European Tour and won several accolades during the zenith of his career, has now slumped to 102 on the Race to Dubai Money List and needs serious efforts to mark a comeback. Turning professional in 1987, Montgomerie has won no fewer than 40 professional events around the world, with most of the victories coming on his home tour. Despite of his close encounters, Montgomerie was never able to win a major event in the course of his career.
He finished for runners up five times in major championships which probably makes him the most unfortunate English player. He posted three runners up finishes in the US Open in the years 1994, 1997 and 2006. He was part of the Ryder Cup Team for a whooping nine times and was able to see the English Team posting a victory for no fewer than six times. He was also the non-playing Captain in the 2010 Ryder Cup where the English Team won their sixth title in the course of the history.
Montgomerie was also bestowed with Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OOBE) in 2005 for his contribution to the English golf. He remained European Tour Player of The Year for four consecutive years from 1995-1999. A Houston Baptist University graduate, Montgomerie currently resides in Glasgow, Scotland.
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