north korean open

over the last few decades, the sport of golf has undeniably become more inclusive and more international.  however, that fact did not prepare me for this:


nope, your eyes are not playing a trick on you.  and no, i didn't create this with microsoft paint.  this is the actual logo for the democratic people'e republic of korea's amateur golf open.  according to the official website, the tournament 'took place on the 29th april 2011*. journalists from associated press and japanese/korean media were on hand to cover the event, which was played by 17 competitors, from 8 different countries. the nationalities included uk, south africa, finland, france, germany, australia, luxembourg and dprk.'

while i'm all about celebrating the joys of golf, something about this particular competition seems incredibly odd.  not surprisingly, the united states didn't make it into this year's tournament...  perhaps it had something to do with posters like these:

"the US is truly an axis of evil"**

"wicked man"**

in case you were wondering, the tournament was played in a callaway format (no idea what this means) and olli lehtonen and johannes raitio from finland were the winners.  good job guys - this one will really make your moms proud.

oh!  if you're thinking about playing next year, the 2012 open will be held in pyongyang from may 19 to 21.  better sign up now before all the spots fill up...


* most of the free world missed this tournament as '29th april 2011' was coincidentally the day of the royal wedding - not a great day to go up against in the ratings world (take that! kim jong il).

** posters courtesy of the california literary review of  north korean posters: the david heather collection