Monty swaps firing for driving ranges

Colin Montgomerie has helped transform soldiers’ firing ranges into driving ranges on a trip to Afghanistan to support foreign troops and promote golf in a country with plenty of bunkers, but few fairways.

The 48-year-old Scot gave golf lessons and donated equipment to troops and Afghan children on a three-day trip this week where he travelled from the main British military base in Helmand, one of the country’s most violent regions, to foreign troops’ headquarters in the capital city Kabul.

The former European Ryder Cup captain said he had helped turn a 300m firing range into a makeshift golf driving range at Camp Bastion in Helmand.

“We used the long-range firing range,” Montgomerie told reporters in Kabul yesterday.

“It was quite good to get the lads out and to have a go.”