Because seven out of the top ten are all within the continental U.S., today we’re looking at the Top 5 Golf Courses scraped from their list, whilst allowing only one entry per country.

#5 Hirono Golf Club, Kobe, Japan

Situated between rolling hills overlooking the city of Kobe, Japan, the Hirono Golf Club is the location of a very exclusive 18 holes. Its claim to fame isn’t the number of major world competitions it’s held², instead it’s simply how hard it is to get in. Apparently this is the course that all other Asian courses are measured against, but I’m not sure how anyone would know; given that getting a tee time at Hirono is nigh on impossible.

Coming in at #37 on the Golf.com’s list, the C.H. Alison-built course is the only entry in our worldwide Top 5 that comes from a non-English speaking country.

#4 Royal Melbourne (West), Melbourne, Australia

Just south of the main urbanised area of Melbourne is the West course of the Royal Melbourne Golf Club which is known for its “intricate bunkering, tough but fair challenge, variety of shotmaking, and exceptionally fast and true greens”. Designed by world renowned course architect, Dr. Alister MacKenzie it’s ranked 6th on Golf.com’s list, but comes it at number 4 on our improved version!

#3 Royal County Down Golf Club, Newcastle, Northern Ireland

Our third course was designed by Old Tom Morris for just 4 guineas. Considered the best in Ireland, the Royal County Down opened in 1889 and today is considered the tenth most exclusive club in the world.

The imagery isn’t the brightest, but does capture the climatic conditions of Northern Ireland perfectly. However, according to the club website, the Royal County Down is one of the most photographed links courses in the world, and with rolling greens peering out over the Irish Sea, it’s easy to see why.

#2 St. Andrews (Old Course), St. Andrews, Scotland

This is of course where the game of golf began. Officially recognised as being designed by “nature”, the 14th century-built Old Course at St. Andrews is the blessed hope of all that play the game. It is the oldest course in the world and probably #1 on the “must play” bucket-list for most golfers. For our list, it comes in at #2 (#3 on Golf.com’s list).

The Open Championship,³ the oldest professional golfing competition, has been held at the Old Course at St. Andrews every five years since 1873. Unfortunately, the last time a Scot won was in 1910.

The Old Course is held in the public trust by an act of Parliament, and every Sunday golfing is banned for the day to allow the course to rest, so it is instead enjoyed by locals for family picnics and leisurely strolls through the greens.

#1 Pine Valley Golf Club, Pine Valley, New Jersey

Finally we reach the Pine Valley Golf Club. Originally built upon 164 acres of marshland by George Arthur Crump, today the private course sprawls nearly 2 sq km in the thick pinelands of New Jersey.

According to Wikipedia, Crump, a hotelier who knew the area from his hunting expeditions, was subject to obsessive idiosyncrasies that ultimately contributed to designing the #1 course in the world.

Some of those peculiarities included:

1. Holes should not be laid parallel to each other.
2. Consecutive holes should not play in the same direction.
3. Players should only be able to see the hole they are playing on.

Don’t expect to play here anytime soon however – to get a tee time at Pine Valley you have to be personally invited and accompanied by one of the board members! Interestingly, Tiger’s been invited, though he’s never played.

Have you played Hirono, taken in the views at the Royal Down, or paid homage at the Old? What do you think about Golf.com’s assessment of the “best”? Have they got it spot on or are there others that deserve the honour? Let us know in the comments, and make sure to leave a link to your favourite course.

Locations: Australia, Japan, New Jersey, Northern Ireland, Scotland / Categories: Stadiums and Sport

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Despite their name, Carolina Bays can also be found in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, North Carolina, Virginia, Georgia, and northcentral Florida. They vary in size from one to several thousand acres, and are often gathered in groups. Many are filled with water and named as lakes, but most contain vegetated wetland.

Most striking however, is that every single one is invariably aligned in almost exactly same direction – which has led some people to claim that they might be the result of a meteor impact. It would have to have been a pretty serious impact, as there are estimated to be over 500,000 of them. This is Lake Waccamaw, north Carolina, which is widely considered the largest Carolina bay.

George Howard (a bit of a Carolina Bay fanatic), has created an exhaustive KML file that marks the location of many thousands of the bays in North Carolina. This image was taken in Google Earth, and shows the white outlines that have been used to mark the locations.

So, who here can solve the mystery of the Carolina Bays?

You can read more about Carolina Bays at Wikipedia. Thanks to Keith Wright, david and Ogle Earth.

Locations: Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, New Jersey, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia / Categories: Natural Landmarks, Weirdness

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Here’s a small private plane-shaped pool in Miami.

This is the Flying W Airport in New Jersey, where they have a cool plane-shaped pool with “W”s on the wings. Flying W is described as a “flying airport resort“, and whilst I’m not sure exactly what that is, there’s definitely real planes parked right next to the pool. Very odd.

Over in Cairo, Egypt, they’ve taken a quite different approach and illustrated a fighter jet on the bottom of this circular pool, which also features a very large bird of prey. Do these insignia hold some sort of significance I wonder?

Finally, in China, they’ve dispensed with swimming pools, a built an entire lake in the shape of a plane! This is right next to a decent sized airport, so maybe this is a hotel.

Whilst swimming here might not be very pleasant, if you look closely you’ll see that instead, you might be able to take a boat trip in this plane!

Thanks to 93f2, Felippo, Majoska and kjfitz.

Locations: China, Egypt, Florida, New Jersey / Categories: Aircraft, Stadiums and Sport

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The 1st largest clock in the world is also the Colgate clock. This one replaced the above clock at the now defunct New Jersey offices, but after Colgate left the area in the 1980s it sits alone on the waterfront.

The claims of “largest in the world” for each is disputable, and both clocks are facing an uncertain future as developers move into each area.

The similarities don’t end there – after the Indiana clock starred in the 1999 film The Insider, the New Jersey clock starred in the 2006 flick Inside Man. Spooky.

Thanks: Ironguts & James

Wikipedia: Indiana Clock & New Jersey Clock

Locations: Indiana, New Jersey / Categories: Large Type, Movie Locations, Structures

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I was following the roads I take to get to college, and found what looks like an image of a barn and silos etched into a field a short distance northwest of Flemington, NJ

Anyone know the story behind this one?

Thanks: Christopher Wallace

Locations: New Jersey / Categories: Natural Landmarks, Weirdness

View in Google Earth

So far the collection is made up of a T-Rex to the East, a Apatosaurus (the correct name for what we like to call Brontosauruses) to the West and between them, just a little to the North, a caveman. (These ground level photos also show a Triceratops somewhere in the area, but I can’t spot it in the satellite pic).

The models take about 6-9 months each to design and build yet Mr. Hauser is expecting to continue production for as long as there’s slow days at work.

Thanks: Alex

Locations: New Jersey / Categories: Shadows

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The USS Wisconsin is currently berthed in Norfolk, VA. It is in an Inactive Reserve status, meaning that it is still a commissioned warship of the U.S. Navy, but not in active service.

The USS New Jersey is now a museum at Camden, New Jersey.

The USS Missouri is berthed in Pearl Harbour, Hawaii.

The USS Iowa is part of the previously posted Suisun Bay reserve fleet in California (it’s the big one on the end). The Iowa is the only ship of the four which is currently not open to the public but has recently been acquired by Stockton, California where it will be a museum.

Thanks: Robert Amos for compiling links to all four ships and many other people for submitting at least one of the ships.

Locations: California, Hawaii, New Jersey, Virginia / Categories: Watercraft

View in Google Earth

Firstly stretching over a large part of Alaska, all the way into the Yukon territory, is this gargantuan hole in the landscape. Interesting shape too…

Next we leap to the other side of the country for a very strangely-shaped hole West of El Paso. See the odd in-road of detail at the bottom-left corner of the rectangle? Weird.

While we’re down in Mexico, look at this super-cool hole which appears to be eating the surrounding landscape. Good lord!

Another country-wide leap and we’re somewhere off the coast of New Jersey, where this unsuspecting little boat is about to steer itself straight into the next episode of Lost!

However, could this incredibly exciting conspiracy theory simply be something much mre mundane..?

Muchos gracias to Eder Chiunti, Dan Karran, Lurlock, JoakimE and Ian.

Locations: Alaska, Mexico, New Jersey, Yukon / Categories: Weirdness

View in Google Earth

Thanks: Peter & Elliott C. Evans

Locations: New Jersey / Categories: Monuments

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Update: I know you were all dying to see the world’s largest water spheroid, so here it is!

Thanks: Jay Soffian & B.Dalton

Locations: New Jersey / Categories: Shadows, Structures

View in Google Earth