AUSTRALIA (Dec. 12, 2005) -- The proponents of a plan to build the "world's longest golf course" in Australia's Outback say the concept is on track to open by December 2006.

Following the Eyre highway as it winds across Nullarbor Plain, the Nullarbor Links would be an 18-hole golf course with one hole in each of the towns along the highway--with as much as 62 miles between holes.

The course would begin starting in Kalgoorlie-Boulder in south-east Western Australia, cross the Nullarbor and end more than 850 miles away in Ceduna in South Australia.

It was dreamed up by Bob Bongiorno a roadhouse manager in Balladonia, who said it combines his love of golf and hopes of boosting tourism. "I brought my golf clubs when I first came out here seven years ago and tried hitting a few balls in the bush. I had to fight the spiders to get them back, though, so I gave (them) away."

Bongiorno said about 300 vehicles pass along the Eyre Highway each day, but most motorists are intent on completing the journey as quickly as possible and don't stop.

The hope is that Nullarbor Links will provide the travelers a reason to stop along the way. Every course will showcase a local feature – from whale-watching spots near the highway to ancient fossil beds

"There's a lot of people who believe it could become Australia's next great icon, you know, like the Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge because not only is it a game, it's an interpretive story of the Nullarbor," Bongiorno said.

Unfortunately, since Nullarbor (No Trees) is the world's largest single piece of limestone, there's probably not going to be an opening for a golf course superintendent at the links.