CLICK HERE to Donate to The First Tee- THANK YOU!!!

Please, as a favor to me, please consider making a donation to The First Tee to help celebrate the return of golf to the Olympics & my Olympic Golf odyssey… my goal is to raise $100,000… any size donation is appreciated… 100% goes to The First Tee… simply click on the link below and select ‘Journey to Olympic Golf’ on the drop down menu… The First Tee is a great organization… helping kids develop into young adults and our future leaders! THANK YOU!

Quite humbled to unexpectedly receive an Olympic Medal for my support of Olympic Golf through the “Journey to Olympic Golf” and searching to define the “Spirit of Olympic Golf.” While my role was unofficial, the person who presented this medal to me knows of my heartfelt love for the game of golf & everything about it. I will treasure this Olympic experience., the special Olympic Spirit I felt here in Rio and all the friendships made here for the rest of my life! TROML Baby!!!   (Facebook Post with 10 pics, Andy Reistetter, 8-22-16)

CLICK HERE for a Summary of the ‘Journey To Olympic Golf’ & Finding the Olympic Spirit of Golf!

“Well-deserved Olympic honor for Andy Reistetter. As a Ponte Vedra Beach resident and golf traveler/writer Andy has provided a very personal view of two weeks at the Olympics in Rio culminating with his very own Olympic medal.”   (Facebook Post, GolfTEC Jacksonville, 8-23-16)

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CLICK here for a composite VIDEO of how I got to the Olympic Golf Course every day!

Hey,want to come along with me to the Olympic Golf Course this morning? This is how we do it!   (Facebook Post with 1 link to video, Andy Reistetter, 8-18-16)

Suzanne’s artwork shows the actual path traveled to Rio, the ‘swoosh’ of the golf ball from the days of hickory to the modern game, and leaves us with several inspiration quotations!

So many people have helped me on this personal 3-year “Journey to Olympic Golf (JTOG)”… connecting me with people along the way… hosting me… sharing their personal relationship with golf in a video interview… keeping in touch with me on Facebook while abroad for 8-1/2 months in the last 3 years… there are none that I am more thankful for than Suzanne McCourt who created a beautiful piece of artwork commemorating the 100-day, 14-country, 18481-mile original JTOG… shows my odyssey detailing places I went and taking golf from 1904 Hickory Golf at Glen Echo CC in St; Loiuis to this modern game in Rio 2016 with one swoosh across the map. So many masterful insights. including the quote section, of the newly reemerging Spirit of Olympic Golf in what I call Suzanne’s neo- realism style! Thanks Suzanne McCourt! See you at Pebble Beach! Here is her website and her mindful and heartful artwork… http://suzannemccourt.com/   (Facebook Post with 5 pics, Andy Reistetter, 8-18-16)

Back in January 2014 with Gil Hanse…

Being here now at the Olympic Golf Course (aka the Reserva de Marapendi Golf Course) after being here then 3 years ago when it was a well-designed sandbox is an amazing experience! What Gil Hanse, Jim Wagner, Amy Alcott, & their team of “Merry Men” have done here is quite extraordinary! Here are some Before & After pictures! The design & creation of this golf course surely has a lot to do with this new emerging “Olympic Spirit of Golf!” More on that later…   (Facebook Post with 8 pics, Andy Reistetter, 8-18-16)

JTOG Day 98 (January 2014): Gil Hanse’s Olympic Golf Course in Rio de Janeiro.

BEFORE: Post 1A designated the location of the first tee in the well-designed sandbox in January 2014… only 2-1/2 years ago!

AFTER: Post 1A has been replaced with this Rio 2016 Olympic banner…

BEFORE: Post 1B designated the landing area on the par-5 first hole. That’s Kyle Franz in the foreground, one of the Merry Men!

AFTER: Landing area of the par-5 first hole with Hanse mounding guarding & hiding the green… this is St. Andrews links, this is Melbourne Sandbelt, this is awesome design!

BEFORE: Post 1D designating the green at the first hole looking back towards the tee. Mounding visible on the left.

AFTER: First green from behind the green looking back at the fairway. Note the mounding and additional high rise luxury residential buildings being constructed!

BEFORE: 3rd green and in distance 2nd green looking to the gentle mountains to the south.

AFTER: Closer view from behind the second green looking back at the fairway. Water hazard barely visible to the right…

Yes, the Olympics are about sport but they are also a cultural exchange… I first learned about the Cultural Olympics from Paulina De Labra in Mexico City on the original Journey to Olympic Golf. Here in the Rio 2016 Olympics they are known as Hospitality Houses. There are 55 here and I have visited 4 so far… Germany 1 on the Beach, Denmark, Colombia and Germany 2 in Barre da Tijuca… very enlightening, sort of a mini World’s Fair, lots of fun… definitely want to do nearby Czech House and Japan 2020… See Paulina’s video in this article, her insight (her Uncle developed the very first Cultural Olympics at the Mexico City 1968 Olympics) is very passionate and inspirational…   (Facebook Post with 30 pics, Andy Reistetter, 8-18-16)

CLICK HERE for Article:   The first Cultural Olympics which were staged in Mexico City in 1968!

CLICK here for Video Interview with Paulina De Labra explaining the 1968 Cultural Olympics.

Pictures from Germany 1 on the Beach, Denmark, Colombia and Germany 2 in Barre da Tijuca:

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Made it to Rio! Nice flight, definitely an Olympic buzz upon arrival! Passed on Claro, went with Exactta SIM for $72US, unlimited data for 30 days… after bathroom cleanup heading to Botafogo to pick up my Olympic Golf tickets… as TROML luck would have it my airbnb host is a professor at the nearby National University & is going to give me a ride out to Barra da Tijuca to check me in! Off to a good start! GO USA!!!   (Facebook Post with 30 pics, Andy Reistetter, 8-2-16, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)

Nice day driving over from NJ, connecting with my sis, ditching Flame (Torch’s replacement), taking LIRR to Air Shuttle to JFK… seems too easy… very grateful that all has come together to go see Olympic Golf in Rio! TROML Baby!   (Facebook Post with 13 pics, Andy Reistetter, 8-1-16, JFK, New York, New York)

TROML Baby! Found a room for the first 5 nights! Only 4 km to the, Olympic Golf Course! Arrive tomorrow 8:45 am Rio GIG, get SIM card for my cell phone at the airport, pick up Olympic Golf tickets in Botafogo, head out to Barra de Tijuca… would be a really good first day in Rio! These are my signs in Portuguese to amuse people & help me along the way on this, the REAL Journey to Olympic Golf!   (Facebook Post with 1 pic, Andy Reistetter, 8-1-16)

This was an awesome show! Brought me back to when I visited the Olympic Golf Course three years ago… and made me realize that my Olympic Golf experience will be all about the golf course itself, the game of golf itself and the 60 men and women from around the world that will come to compete to be the Olympic Golf Gold Medalist… as in life it is all about the people who show up and are present in your life, ourselves included, and not the people and their issues that choose not to be present… the Olympic Spirit of Golf is emerging from within… TROML Baby! Rio here I come!   (Facebook Post, Andy Reistetter, 8-1-16)

Have to find a TV with Golf Channel Sunday night at 9 pm… Countdown to Rio Follows Seven-Year Journey of Golf’s Return to the Olympics from: Golf Being Voted Back in as Olympic Sport in 2009; Initial Course Architect Pitches; & Building of the Course Venue… love the Golf Channel… love Olympic Golf!!!   (Facebook Post, Andy Reistetter, 7-30-16)

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Great first day in Rio! Olympic Golf tickets for all 8 men’s & women’s competitive rounds… 1904 Olympic Golf Gold Medals were given to me by the only American Oltmpic Host Clu, Glen Echo CC, to pass along to the men’s & women’s Olympic Champions… awesome host, awesome room, nice drive along Copacabana & Ipanema beaches then up though Leblon/Gavea past where I stayed last time to my new home for in Barra da Tijuca!   (Facebook Post with 30 pics, Andy Reistetter, 8-2-16)

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CLICK HERE for Sneak Peak VIDEO of the new Olympic Golf Course!!!

Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful golf course is the Olympic Golf Course! A little sneak preview of the short par-4 16th, formidable par-3 17th & exciting & eagleable par-5 18th. Will be an exciting finish to determine the man & woman who will win Olympic Golf Gold! Good to be back after 3 years to see this beauty!   (Facebook Post with 30 pics, Andy Reistetter, 8-3-16)

Sneak peek at the Olympic Golf Course today… from the stands at 17 green, looking first at the 18th tee, 1st green… amazing feeling having seen it as a well designed sand box 3 years ago! Gil Hanse & Amy Alcott have created something very special for these Olympic Golf Games, the first in 112 years!   (Facebook Post with video, Andy Reistetter, 8-3-16)

With Australian Olympic Coach Ian Baker-Finch (center) & Australian Olympic Golfer Scott Hend (right).

“I would be 100% going to represent Australia if I am fortunate enough to get the spot,” Hend said. “There is no question about it for me.” Who knows maybe the Olympic Gold Golf Medal will go to a great guy from Ponte Vedra Beach. Florida? Two close friends, close in Olympic ratings, have that opportunity. Maybe “no questioning” when called to compete for your country in the Olympics is the key to discovering the “Olympic Spirit of Golf,” soon to emerge after a 112-year hibernation. GO Australia, GO Scott Hend 7 Marcus Fraser! I would love to see them win gold for their coach Ian Bake Finch, the nicest guy in golf!   (Facebook Post with link, Andy Reistetter, 8-2-16)

“If I can find that feeling (a dazzling 7-under 29 over one 9-hole stretch in the US Open qualifier) again,” Miguel Tabuena muses,” I can beat anyone… I think it’s totally my responsibility to grow the game. I’ve been put in this position for a reason. I will do what I can. I love the game…” Maybe we have our first Olympic Golf Golfer in 112 years…   (Facebook Post with link, Andy Reistetter, 8-2-16)

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