Well, It Does Sound Appropriately Baffling
I wanna see how this turns out:
Struggling to stand upright against a howling wind, Bragi Benediktsson looked out over his family’s land — a barren expanse of snow and ice that a Chinese billionaire wants to turn into a golf course — and laughed. “Golf here is difficult,” said Mr. Benediktsson, a 75-year-old sheep farmer.
It was 11 a.m., and a pale sun had only just crawled sluggishly into the sky. The snow, which began falling in September, will probably continue until May. Even for Icelanders accustomed to harsh weather and isolation, Grimsstadir is a particularly desolate spot.
But thanks to a poetry-loving Chinese tycoon with a thing for snow, it has become the setting for a bizarre Icelandic saga featuring geopolitical intrigue, tens of millions of dollars and a swarm of dark conspiracy theories. At the center of the drama is Huang Nubo, a former official in the Chinese Communist Party’s Propaganda Department who, now a property developer in Beijing, wants to build a luxury hotel and an “eco golf course” for wealthy Chinese seeking clean air and solitude.
Extra points for working in the phrase “Icelandic saga.”
Of all the Bond movies to try and bring to life – DIE ANOTHER DAY? Really?
Halle Berry AND an Aston Martin, what’s not to like?
The Chinese think long-term, apparently.
‘struth! As the Touregs invade Hastings, Mr. Huang and his buds will be trying to finish their 18 holes by 10 a.m. to avoid heatstroke.
More coal, comrades!
agenda 21 fails again
Is it terrible?
Ah, well, if raw money can buy an indoor ski resort in Dubai, it can buy a golf resort in Iceland.
Hope the groundskeeper budgets for a Zamboni for the greens.
Maybe they’ll put a dome over it?
Just like Scottish links courses, only snowier and even harder to pronounce.
Well, they allegedly play hockey in places like Phoenix, and LA (and a minor league franchise in San Diego) and Florida. Of course that’s indoors….
I feel like there should be that particular kind of music right after anyone says “Grimsstadir”
Bjørkian yodeling?
Think Gene Hackman/Superman getting new ocean front property. Then substitute global warming for earthquakes and Doral as the new Icelandic sea side links.
Buy low, sell high.
Slso, too, the Chinese Commie Capitalists (CCC) are expecting to take over the professional golf tour after they dominate professional basketball they way they have taken over global manufacturing. Always looking to increase those margins.
First, they get Scotsmen to win tennis tournaments…
i’m guessing ice traps on this course. being a real golfer, i only worry about windmills in front of holes.
Not the usual white golfballs I guess.
Their balls will be blue, I am sure.
This has something to do with submarines and Tom Clancy doesn’t it?
Jeez Louise, I thought it was the opening of another mystery novel by the late Stieg Larsson – “The Girl With the Irons – Or, Maybe A Five-wood.”
Or more accurately, “The girl with the Irons Meets the Character Standing in for the Author, Who Has a Five-Wood” . . .
“The girl with the Irons Meets the Character Standing in for the Author, Who Has a Five-Wood” . . .
probably not in that wind.
Hårumph.
I would say that anyone with a less than tournament level handicap would experience an Icelandic saga every time that they attempt to find their ball.
Cheers,
Alan Tomlinson
What’s Mandarin for “I shot 30 over par. FUCKING ELVES!”