Journey to Australia

Day 12: Stay at River Oaks Golf Resort & Play Gargurra Course

November 10, 2014 By admin

Day 11: Stay at Riverside Oaks Golf Resort & Play Bungool Course

November 9, 2014 By admin

The 18th green of the Gargurra Course with the modern Riverside Oaks Clubhouse in the background.

The Riverside Oaks Golf Resort was the first resort I stayed at in Australia and I could not have picked a better one! The golf was outstanding with the Bob Harrison designed Bungool Course opened just a week earlier and the refurbished Gargurra Course hosting the New South Wales PGA Championship, an event on the Australasia Tour, in a few weeks. The accommodations, only a year old, are first-class, very comfortable and so close to the golf you can drop a golf ball and it will roll down the hill to the first tee of the Gargurra Course. Proclaimed as Sydney’s only 36 hole championship golf resort, this is the one for Australians to revisit again and for International golf travelers to visit for sure if anywhere near Sydney.

With General Manager Kenneth Chan who’s passion is running a golf resort and running it well.

The ‘staying and playing’ experience at any resort is only as good as its owners and investors and their plans for the future. In late 2009 it was announced that China’s Nanshan Group was buying the Riverside Oaks property. They are one of China’s top 500 companies and also own Mission Hills, the world’s largest golf facility with twelve golf courses that has hosted World Cup competitions. Their plans to invest in accommodations and a second golf course have all come to fruition. Riverside Oaks is their Australian flagship property and is the training base for the Chinese National Squad (whose Olympic Team is being coached by Australian Greg Norman). Kenneth Chan is the General Manager. After meeting and conversing with Ken there is no doubt in my mind that even bigger and better days are ahead for the Riverside Oaks Golf Resort. The three days and two nights I spent there were big and better already and I now know that golf resorts in Australia are on par or better than their famous golf courses and other resorts around the world!

CLICK here for VIDEO INTERVIEW with David Scott, Deputy Manager of the Riverside Oaks Golf Resort.

With Golf Course Superintendent Glenn Gibson-Smith (L) and Deputy Manager David Scott (R). Two A-Plus golfers on the team at Riverside Oaks Golf Resort.

More specifically, the ‘staying and playing’ experience at any resort is only as good as its day-to-day management team and support staff. David Scott is no Deputy Barney Fife! Here’s a young buck, former professional golfer with a passion and all the energy in the world to make your stay at Riverside Oaks memorable, engaging and fun or whatever you want it to be. I loved the part of the interview where he says his wife gave him a nudge. Yes, this is a remote resort (it’s 60 km from the heart of the Sydney CBD), an hour from Sydney in the middle of nowhere but that is the point. Their is a peacefulness aside a lazy, though powerful, and magnificent Hawkesbury River. A quietness where you can hear yourself exhale and say “this is good’ and hear the putt drop and clink into the cup. It is all about the golf and a relaxing resort experience with friends and family!

The 4th green on Bungool, the sweet and beautiful spot in the opening salutation.

Being one of the first to play the new Bungool course was exciting and invigorating. The course is in great condition for being one week old, sort of like that newborn baby getting quickly cleaned up and placed on a mother’s bosom. This baby is perfect and will grow into being a perfect adult golf course someday soon. I sort of laughed as I arrived to find a member sharing his challenging experience of playing Bungool for the first time—difficult lies, deep rough in places (baby needs first hair cut but don’t you dare cut that beautiful hair), and new putting lines that need more expertise than perhaps even some of the pros that will be playing her sister course in the NSW PGA have the ability to read. I felt like I was at home at The Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass. No one said life or golf was suppose to be easy all the time!

I love how Harrison takes you out and around over the first three holes and then back within that outline for holes 4 and 5 before taking you to the far end of the layout on the tenth green before bringing you back home. Sort of a links design with a twist to bring you to your senses in a secure, safe enclave early on in your round.

My first gallery of kangaroos early on the Bungool Course!

The kangaroos, my God, the kangaroos! So many, yet quite well behaved and as mindful of any gallery of patrons I have see at the Masters. Though it took me a few holes to get comfortable playing in front of a gallery and not being fearful of an errant shot hitting poor little Joey or his sibling or mom or dad. No worries, it is a beautiful experience playing alongside the Hawkesbury River and in front of countless interested marsupials!

I scored high on the Bungool but went low (for me) on the Gargurra Course sinking a 30-footer for birdie at the last and posting a 78. No worries, no thoughts of sticking around for Stage 1 of Q-School that begins at Riverside Oaks on December 17th. Though I do think that would be the ultimate story—to be fitted with the best technology, coached by the best instructors and see what the best can be for my golf game.

CLICK here for A VIDEO INTERVIEW with Golf Course Superintendent Glenn Gibson-Smith.

The signature 141-yard par-3 11th hole on the Gargurra Course.

It is always exciting to play on a golf course that professional golfers play and compete on for important titles, especially immediately before and after those competitions. Glenn came out to say hello to me on the second green. Here’s another person at Riverside Oaks with game. I liked his comment of “being stuck in the game ever since (my dad put a club in my hands at age 9). I wish I could one day say what he said, “playing off scratch at the moment.” Here’s a superintendent that knows what needs to be done course wise even before the golfers do. Only a recent addition to the Riverside Oaks team, with a plan in place for both the new (Bungool) and the old (Gargurra) there is no doubt in my mind that theses two golf courses will become the best conditioned in the Sydney area within a year or too. From my amateurish perspective I think they are pretty much there already. Kangaroos and a 78 I tell you!

With Chris Fox, learning the PLANEPUTT system of putting. My eyes haven’t seen the reality of my putting stroke until this day!

As I mentioned above I welcome golf instruction at any time but did not realize on the way out to Riverside Oaks I would find some there. I met Chris Fox, a PGA Professional, upon arrival to Riverside Oaks. In fact, it was he that was so gracefully and sympathetically listening to a member’s woes after playing Bungool. He is a putting coach and has developed the PLANEPUTT system and trainer. He has worked with Sydneysider Matt Jones who won the the 2014 Shell Houston Open with a chip in to defeat Matt Kuchar in a playoff. I guess if you have confidence in your putting you can be aggressive with your chipping.

Chris Fox with his son Ty. My gosh, this kid can play! From our tees too!

Chris came back in the next day, his day off, to explain the PLANEPUTT system to me and to play the latest new nine on Bungool. In reality, putting is all about angles, planes and the inherent deception our eyes see and our brains translate for us. Chris’s system is a way to separate the facts from the myths while actually putting and getting a feel for the correct putting stroke. Not only did he give me some great putting advice (maybe I should stay for Q-School? NOT!) but gave me a tip on my grip that will change my golf game for the rest of my life. In a nice way, sincerely and honestly he told me not one professional golfer has a grip like mine with an exposed left thumb. He showed me the proper position for my hands to be in. It felt funny at first and still does occasionally but the results are there. A simple and correct grip leads to a simpler swing which leads to solid contact and straight ball flight. Hey maybe 78 is not my best score. THANK YOU Chris Fox, a consummate golf professional, who loves golf, people and sharing his knowledge and exuberance of the game! You can tell that by playing golf with his 7-year old son Ty, what a joy!

Reminiscing a bit, back to Day 11, staying at my first golf resort in Australia. Riverside Oaks Golf Resort is impressive with the new Bungool Course and the Gargurra Course, which is hosting the NSW PGA Championship this week. (Facebook Link, Andy Reistetter, 12/1/14)

Here are a few more pictures that tell the story of my memorable ‘stay and play’ time at Riverside Oaks Golf Resort:

Riverside Oaks is not only a great resort but is championship golf at its best!

A Riverside Oaks room is spacious, comfortable and inviting!

View from my room. Definitely a plus to stay on course and be able to drive your golf cart to the room.

There are water sports on the Hawkesbury River after the golf sports at Riverside Oaks.

Mommy with Baby Joey in the Pouch!

Another of my friends. Wanted to offer him a club and ball to play along but I was afraid he would accept the invitation and beat me!

Filed Under: "Play-Write" Golf Courses, Journey to Australia, Travel Golf

Day 10: Happy 100th Birthday Dan Cullen, Legendary Australian Golfer!

November 8, 2014 By admin

CLICK here for VIDEO INTERVIEW with Dan Cullen, Legendary Australian Golfer.

With Dan Cullen and his daughter Marianne.

You meet the nicest people at golf clubs in Australia! Dan Cullen Jr. was one of those I met at New South Wales Golf Club. Then you meet their father, who happens to be celebrating his 100th birthday, and then his devoted daughter Marianne and then an admiring neighbor Vally May comes over with a birthday card for the man that helped her lower her handicap from 27 to 16 (and she is still smiling about that). Next thing you know you feel part of a great family celebrating life in its purest sense with simple humility and gratitude and you feel what must be that special sense of what it means to be an Australian—today and 100 years ago.

With the all-inspiring good fellow Dan Cullen.

I have been inspired by some great people in the game of golf, beginning with my father who came to golf as a caddie at Scranton CC soon after the depression hit, my older brother L.P., a Cornell educated golf course architect and park designer, many professional golfers growing up through television and now in person, Dick Donovan, the renowned bibliographer of golf books and the written word, the hickory club restoration expert Harry Horton and many, many, many others in golf—the game and the business.

Dan Cullen with his still happy golfing student Vally May delivering his 100th birthday card. You meet friends for life in golf.

Dan Cullen, Sr., the Centenarian, impacted my life and inspired me in all of two hours time that I visited with him and his daughter Marianne. If you ask me what I want to do for “the rest of my life,” my reply will be “I want to be like Dan Cullen.” As much for his longevity, golfing prowess, and his patriotism; but more for his love of life, family and his attitude and perspective on all of the above and what is beyond in the ultimate home hole for all of us. I conversed with a 100-year old man who has the spirit of a 40-year old man. I once read somewhere that every 40-year old man needs an 80-year old man for a friend and vice versa. That goes for a 55-year old and 100-year old youngsters too! Well anyone can benefit from knowing or meeting Dan Cullen. What a joy our visit together was!

Enid & Dan, the loving couple, in their younger days. Still loving each other after 74 years!

Not only did Dan celebrate his 100th birthday on November 14th, he and his wife Enid celebrated their 74th wedding anniversary on the very same day! A picture of them together in their younger days hangs with a clothes pin nearby Dan and tells you all you need to know of their love affair. Obviously meeting their son Dan and daughter Marianne does tell you more—two of the nicest people I have ever met in my life.

Dan’s swing, a “Cullen-esque” swing is a thing of beauty!

Dan’s story is a simple one in life made simple by how he followed his heart and his God-given abilities. He inadvertently came to golf tending to horses as a kid in bushland outside of Perth. He would watch them in a field for a shilling while their riders went nearby to have lunch. The riders turned out to be landowners who were building a golf course. Dan became a caddie, learned of and developed his golfing skills to twice reach the height of being the Western Australia Amateur Champion. Bobby Locke came along and suggested he go to the east coast of Australia where golf was more prevalent and the opportunities greater. There was also another reason for the move, to follow his girlfriend Enid whose family was relocating east to become Sydneysiders. They were married and then the Australian Air Force called him into service in WWII. His bravery and success as a bomber pilot are well documented.

I asked him if Bobby Locke really hooked his putts and his reply was “I don’t think so, he just rolled them in (to the hole).”

Sign for Cullens Golf Range near St Michaels Golf Club.

He took a bold move in his mid fifties which would set the course and be the foundation for another legendary accomplishment. He saw the need for and took the risk of opening up the Cullens Golf Range adjacent to St. Michael’s Golf Club and not far (maybe a driver) from the New South Wales Golf Club. Before that Dan and other club PGA golf professionals would instruct their students out on the first fairway dodging errant tee shots from other members more in need of their services. With excellent practice facilities and interactive instruction with students like Vally May, Dan’s golf game progressed to a new plateau. He would become an inaugural member of the Australian PGA’s Senior Circuit. He traveled to Great Britain for competition and an opportunity to qualify for the British Open. He did so thus becoming the oldest to ever qualify for the British Open at age 64.

Dan Cullen, age 100, young at heart! Still moving so fast it is hard to get a clear picture of him!

Mr. Cullen felt at home on the driving range and his objective in anyone’s first lesson was to “get to know then a little, be a bit friendly.” He wanted people to be comfortable and believed that “golf is easy, it is not hard. If you get people relaxed and they think golf is playable. They don’t know what they can do with a golf club.” Dan’s job was to help them discover what they could do with a golf club and how much fun they could have doing it!

Five years later, after retiring at age 95 and selling the driving range, that is still called Cullens Golf Range, Dan Cullen is still practicing what he preached, only now out of a recliner in his living room, with a smile and the confidence of knowing he lived life to its fullest. He is a shining example of what life and the game of golf are all about.

Happy Birthday Dan Cullen and wishing you many, many more!

Advertisement for instruction and clubs from the 1937 & 1938 Western Australian Champions Dan Cullen.

Not every professional golfers has clubs with their name on them. Dan Cullen does!

Dan Cullen, an inaugural member of the Australian PGA Senior Circuit.

Filed Under: Journey to Australia, People in Golf

Day 10: Visit Dan Cullen & Play Bondi Beach Golf & Diggers Club

November 8, 2014 By admin

Filed Under: Journey to Australia

Day 9: Play The Lakes Golf Club, Sydney’s Progressive Club!

November 7, 2014 By admin

When you arrive at The Lakes Golf Club, you are greeted with the words “THIS IS THE LAKES, Be Brave, Be True, Be Strong.” The words are inscribed on the prominently placed “Defining Moment” statue, the upper torso of a male golfer shortly after impact. I don’t have the build, muscles or swing of that gifted, glorious golfer but I was brave, true and strong as I walked the lovely links amidst the lakes with club member Dan Wathen. My lasting memory of the golf I played today will be the driver, 3-wood to 25 feet and the ball disappearing into the cup on the 14th hole for an eagle. The same hole that Greg Norman once took an eleven on in the self-generated heat of competition. But golfing legacies are made over careers not a single hole and the model for the “Defining Moment” statue could be Greg Norman, not Andy Reistetter. But I did have my defining moment for sure on the 14th.

CLICK here for a VIDEO INTERVIEW and course tour with Darren Walthen.

Darren has to be the nicest guy ever to walk and play a round of golf with. Watch the video and you will see—knowledgeable, honest and friendly for sure. Insightful too as he said that he “fell in love with the game, challenged myself and here I am twenty years later and still trying to beat myself.” Isn’t that the game of golf we all love in the simplest of terms? The course tour and associated stories goes on and on starting with his prophetic words on the first tee to expect to dunk three to six balls in them there thirsty lakes. Stories about Adam Scott, Tiger Woods and Greg Norman stories all from times The Lakes GC hosted the Australian Open for three consecutive years before Royal Sydney last year and The Australian this year. A rota of four historic golf courses hosting the Open are emerging with the fourth being New South Wales Golf Club where Adam Scott won for the first time in Austral

Filed Under: Journey to Australia

Day 8: Play New South Wales GC, Australia’s Golfing Gem Overlooking the Pacific Ocean.

November 6, 2014 By admin

Standing on the tee of the signature par-3, 185- meter (202-yard), 6th hole at NSWGC.

Today marked a very special day in the “Golf Journey to Australia,” I played my first round of golf “Down Under.” I could not have been invited to play a better, more inspirational, or more meaningful golf course historically or to me personally. While Aboriginal Australians were the first to live on this island continent, the British were the first from Europe to officially claim area on the Australian mainland. That occurred as a result of Captain James Cook’s arrival in 1770 on the Endeavour, landing in Botany Bay and coming ashore and finding fresh water not far from the 16th tee of the New South Wales Golf Club. What a thrill to put a peg in the ground with Club Captain Phil Banister and a number of other NSWGC members. Playing this seaside links course, an Alister MacKenzie original, that dates back to 1928, was as fitting a beginning to my journey as Cook’s discovery was to end his. I think I must have been as excited as he to discover and walk upon such a beautiful piece of land.

CLICK here for a BEAUTY VIDEO of the New South Wales Golf Club.

The 5th green in the foreground and the island rock outcrop which is a part of the Cape Banks Aquatic Reserve.

Each hole of the NSWGC is unique and memorable. Mackenzie died six years after the golf course opened but he praised it in Golf Illustrated with the following words: “At Sydney , I made an entirely new course for the New South Wales Golf Club at a place called La Perouse. This is a sand duned peninsula which overlooks Botany Bay and presents, I think, more spectacular views than any other place I know with the possible exception of the new Cypress Point golf course I am doing on the Del Monte peninsula in California.” I laughed when Ron, an Aussie turned American CEO and now again a retired Aussie, commented that “Cypress Point isn’t windy enough.” That was before the round. I wholeheartedly agreed after the round.

Eric Apperly, who won the Australian Amateur in 1920, continued along the lines of MacKenzie’s grand vision with alterations in 1932 and then again with a restoration in 1949 after the course had been converted to a military function in WWII. In the first ten year’s of the club’s history, MacKenzie and Apperly, fashioned the golf course pretty much as it is today, 76 years later, and I had the privilege to play that golf course on a beautiful day. It was an extraordinary walk!

The 13th green. It seems like all the holes are on the ocean or have an exceptional ocean view.

How unique and amazing are the 18 holes of this La Perouse Pulchritude? Let me count the ways! All four par-3s point in a different direction as do all four of the par-5s. This superb design feature maximizes the effect of the wind and along with an up-and-down routing amongst the outback-like terrain greatly that confuses the golfer, any golfer, professional or mere amateur. The first four holes are an interesting warm-up to a blind walk up the 5th fairway (see video above) in search of the golfer’s second shot. Once over the ridge one sees the ocean and then after completing the now downhill par-5 one walks across a narrow bridge to the 6th tee placed on a rocky outcrop that doomed the SS Minmi in 1937. Remnants of her 1455 displaced tons are still there wanting to fill your mind and wreck your tee shot. There you have the Gem of Australia Golf—links, seaside, wind—and you have her for the remaining 13 holes. If you are lucky enough to survive the test, you can hear the bell of the SS Minmi ring your drink or dinner order is ready in the Clubhouse lounge overlooking the 18th green. I had the pleasure of seeing and interacting with all of her today!

CLICK here for a VIDEO INTERVIEW with Club Captain Phil Banister.

It was an honor and a privilege to join in with the regular Thursday member competition. Phil is in the checkered sweater at the head of the table.

Club Captain Phil Banister hosted my visit to New South Wales GC and I was warmly greeted by countless members, Golf Manager Brett Folkes and General Manager David Burton. Folkes played collegiate golf in the United States on a golf scholarship from Georgia Southern University, pursued a professional golfing career, and worked in junior golf in the States before recently returning home to Australia. Burton is the consummate professional in the golf club business and is a past president of Golf Management Australia (GMA). Phil, not only was a great host at the club but offered me a room, if needed, to stay in when my first week accommodation was still in question. An affable guy, there is no wonder why he has been elected and has captained the club for the last three years. A lover of the game, the club and all things Australian, he reminded me of Adam’s Scott‘s pivotal win at New South Wales GC in the 2009 Australian Open. It was his first career victory in Australia and from there he went on to become the first Aussie to win the Masters in 2013.

If you ever get the chance to play the New South Wales Golf Club, I would highly recommend that you do so. Its history and place in the game of golf is unique and unmatched. Whether it is your first round of golf in Australia or the last round of golf you play in your lifetime, it will be eternally memorable. It is for me!

Stunning first round of golf in Australia at the New South Wales Golf Club… (Facebook Link, Andy Reistetter, 11/10/14)

Member Glen Martin pointing to the wreckage of the SS Minmi. He has watched it slowly deteriorate and fade from existence his whole life through.

What remains of the wreckage of the SS Minmi.

The bell of the SS Minmi is alive and active in the Clubhouse at NSWGC.

Looking back from the 14th green, evidently Nick Faldo’s favorite hole at NSWGC.

Typical bunker, though no two are alike, this is sandy, seaside links at its best!

The 18th green and Clubhouse at New South Wales Golf Club.

Filed Under: "Play-Write" Golf Courses, Journey to Australia

Day 7: AAT Kings Magical Manly Tour & Captain Cook Lunch Cruise

November 5, 2014 By admin

Trifecta—Opera House, Sydney Skyline, Harbour Bridge & me!

This was the third day I bused into the city and left my Berlin Blue rental car curbside back in Kingsford. Up early for the AAT Kings official Magical Manly & Beyond Tour which is unofficially the Sydney North & Manly Beach Tour. What a tour it was crossing the Harbour Bridge to the north with a stop at Milsons Point for what I call the ultimate trifecta Sydney picture—you, the Opera House, the Sydney Skyline and the Harbour Bridge!

Arabanoo was an Aboriginal Australians and this was his land.

Hopping back on the coach bus and leaving the safe driving to the expert—our driver Rob; and leaving the tour guiding to the expert—again our driver and tour guide Rob! Next stop was the Arabanoo Lookout at Dobroyd Head in the Sydney Harbour National Park. What a view of the Tasmanian Sea, the sea of the South Pacific Ocean, situated between Australia and New Zealand, with the Manly headland in the foreground.

The Shell Sculpture at Manly Wharf.

Our next stop was Manly Beach and it was a magical place. The Corso, a pedestrian Main Street connects the two Manly Beaches—the one on the ocean and the one on Manly Cove. I liked the Shell Sculpture in front of the Manly Wharf, a big shell that connects the natural environment; the harbour and the ocean marine life. Supposedly it emits clouds of mist but all I saw was a young lady sitting peacefully atop the shell and then she disappeared. The tour stop was lengthy, enough time to mill around Manly and be at the beach and also enjoy the community feel of a small town. I love Manly now just like all the Sydneysiders who mentioned it to me as the place to go and have a relaxing good time.

CLICK here for a VIDEO INTERVIEW with Captain James Cook!

I never know who I am going to meet on the these Golf Journeys! But Captain Cook at age 287 years was not one of them!

Before I knew it the AAT Kings Tour was over and it was time for the Captain Cook Lunch Cruise. I didn’t realize I was going to meet the real Captain Cook. I mean Captain James Cook of the HMS Endeavour, the first to reach Australia in 1770 near Botany Bay. The New South Wales Golf Club overlooks Botany Bay and Captain Cook found fresh water there below the 16th tee. The Captain has a bit of an edge to him and was astonished to learn that now there was a golf course above his old watering hole. The more soft spoken and humble Captain James T. Kirk of the Starship USS Enterprise he is not, though he is a likeable fellow and puts on one heck of a luncheon aboard his modern replacement ship called the MV Sydney 2000. The character actor who is Captain Cook is Paul Ellis and here is his website—The Whole World is a Stage! Employ him, he means business!

The Sydney Opera House from the deck of the Captain Cook flagship vessel MV Sydney 2000

The lunch on the Top Deck was elegant and delicious (see pictures of appetizer, entree and dessert below). The cruise was spectacular and a timely Grand Finale to my Sydney touring! Having taken the Sydney South & Bondi Beach tour on Monday afternoon and the Sydney North & Manly Beach in the morning, cruising along the perimeter of the vast and jagged Sydney Harbour, brought all the geography and history learned to a comprehensive crescendo for me! While tour stops, photo opportunities and great zoom lenses enable great pictures, there is no better vantage point than being on the water in the harbour aboard one of the nine Captain Cook vessels. I can see why Captain Cook remains on the water to this very day.

Another great day on the Golf Journey to Australia & New Zealand! Like I say in the last picture of the Day 7 post- I could not be happier with the first week of the ‘Golf Journey to Australia & New Zealand.” It has been beyond my wildest dreams! Thank you to many, many people and business organizations! (-: (Facebook Link, Andy Reistetter, 11/7/14)

Check out this lunch!

Smoked ocean trout, fennel with black caviar and dill mayonnaise dressing.

Beef tenderloin fillet, smoked sweet potato, cavolo nero, baby beets and sauternes jus.

Mississippi mud cake, berry coulis, and fresh cream.

Andy the Star in my own mind! Surely have been treated like one in Sydney!

With AAT Kings expert driver and tour guide Rob. Like Stuart on Monday, this guy knows his stuff and knows how to share it!

I could not be happier with the first week of the ‘Golf Journey to Australia & New Zealand.” It has been beyond my wildest dreams! Thank you to many, many people and business organizations!

Filed Under: Journey to Australia

Day 6: The Melbourne Cup & Hat Day in Australia!

November 4, 2014 By admin

View of Anzac Parade and construction outside my window in Kingsford.

Tuesday, November 4th, 2o15. Blind open at 6:42 am. Penthouse room on Anzac Parade. Planning, preparing and writing daily updates. A working morning if there ever was one so far on the ‘Journey to Australia & New Zealand.’ There is a construction crew working on the street by 7 am doing a little jack hammering. It doesn’t faze me one bit or impact my writing. Not sure why other than to say I am completely living in the moment on these odysseys. Everything is so new and everyone is new to me. It is a lot of work making contacts, working out the logistics and schedule. Somethings, most things, somehow miraculously fall into place. I never know what to expect.

With my new friend Marek, a Czech golfer and golf coach.

There is a knock on my door. I open it to see this young fellow who says hello like he knows me. The lady I rented the room from told me that one of the flat mates was a golfer and this was he—Marek Mohyla, who grew up near Prague in Pardubice in the Czech Republic. I like him immediately and invite him into my humble abode. What a great kid and I immediately think of my maternal grandfather Josef Vlasak, a Czech, who immigrated to America from Uhersky Brod, which is 300 km, from Prague near the Slovakia border, which is where my other three grandparents came from. Here’s a young man, self admittedly, living his dream, with a good understanding of the connection between golf and life, and in the process of immigrating to Australia. God bless this young man! As you see in the interview, his English is good after coming here a year ago speaking none. I wonder how similar and how different are the immigration odysseys taken by Marek and my grandfather?

One from the archives, watching Jessica Korda with father Petr on the bag on the last hole of LPGA Q-School in 2010.

As a junior golfer he played golf with Jessica Korda who I saw qualify for the LPGA in Daytona Beach in December 2010. Her first professional win came at the 2012 Women’s Australian Open at Royal Melbourne. I like the part in the video that Marek admits Jessica would beat him as a junior player. The Czech Republic’s greatest male player, Alex Cejka, who has won eleven professional tournaments, shot a Sunday 79, playing with Tiger Woods in the final group, to lose the 2009 PLAYERS Championship. That day, a couple of groups ahead, I saw Henrik Stenson shot a bogey-free 66 to win it. That’s golf. That’s life. I am so happy to have met Marek. Anybody in the golf business in Sydney looking for a good man, here he is!

Hats galore in Sydney on Melbourne Cup Day. I can only imagine what it was like in Melbourne.

What I learned (by luck from my flat mate Aren) on Monday I applied again on Tuesday as I hopped a bus into the Sidney CBD to see just how big this Melbourne Cup horse race is. Marketed as “the race that stops a nation,” it is true though the buses were still moving. I made it downtown and fell short of making it to Ryan’s but I went into ‘Establishment’ only minutes before the 3 pm race started. I will call it ‘Hat Day’ as there was a sea of hats, quite original, stylish, and pretty I might add, atop the heads of the women. Having no knowledge of the horses entered, other than knowing there were 24 horses in the field, I placed no bet and enjoyed watching the crowd and their reaction to Protectionist, the first German horse to do so, win the Cup! The roar of the horses coming around the turn on the backstretch took me back to Churchill Downs where I visited before the PGA Championship at Valhalla.

So Day 6 was all about hats and horses and meeting my new Czech mate (that’s a pun on his chess comment in the video) Marek!

Another fun day in Sydney! Still no golf yet but playing New South Wales Golf Club, The Lakes Golf Club, Riverside Oaks and The Australian Golf Club in the next week before I head south to Melbourne for The Masters. Know anybody that would like to host me in Melbourne? (-: (Facebook Link, Andy Reistetter, 11/5/14)

Gidday Up at the Establishment on Melbourne Cup Day!

Gidday Up at the Establishmont on Melbourne Cup Day!

Ladies with hats galore!

I did make my way to Ryan’s and sat and chatted with John Seward Johnson II’s Waiting. His newspaper had an article about a Shark named Norman being Ready to Strike Again!

Filed Under: Journey to Australia

Day 5: AATKings Tour of Sydney!

November 3, 2014 By admin

With our driver and tour guide Stuart. Making Australia and New Zealand come to life. Us tourists too!

The motto of AATKings, which began in 1912 when the Pyke family pioneered coach touring in Australia and continued in the 1980s when a team was formed with pioneering adventurer Bill King’s Northern Safaris, is “Bringing Australia and New Zealand to Life.” I can attest to the experience of that saying in Sydney, Australia and hope to do the same in Melbourne, Brisbane and New Zealand as this ‘Golf Journey to Australia and New Zealand’ continues!

Day 5, Monday, November 3rd, Down Under time was spent on the “Sydney Sights & Bondi Beach” AATKings tour. And oh what spectacular sights they were! The coach driver, a.k.a known as the tour guide, can make all the difference in the world on a tour like this. Stuart, our designated driver and tour guide, did just that making the tour more informative than a tour and a lot more fun than a bunch of strangers riding the bus together. Thank you Stuart for the great time!

Sitting in Mrs. Macquarie’s Chair thinking oh what a view!

For the most part I will let the pictures below do the talking.

Though I will make two tourist points. No. 1 is that tour company know their business and know their territory and know their what their customers want. I never would have found Mrs Macquarie’s Chair on my own. Her chair is an exposed sandstone rock cut into the shape of a bench, on a peninsula in Sydney Harbour, hand carved by convicts from sandstone in 1810 for Governor Macquarie’s wife Elizabeth. I am glad I had a chance to sit in it and look out over the harbour.

With father Rajan Govender and daughter Pivessnie. We had a good time!

Point No, 2 is that not only did I meet a great tour guide I was able to make a few friends on the bus including Rajan Govender and his daughter Pivessnie. They are from Durban, South Africa and invited me to come visit them during next year’s “Golf Journey to South Africa.” Who says you make new friends on the golf course? You can make them on the AATKings tour bus too!

After this tour, not only do I feel oriented to Sydney but I also feel at home.

Good Morning USA, Good Night here in Australia. Week 1 of 11 has not even passed yet. I am not sure I can keep up this pace and I haven’t even golfed Down Under yet… thought did play one hole at NSWGC… lots of golf coming… time to got to bed, sleep and rest up for another day Down Under! (Facebook Link, Andy Reistetter, 11/4/14)

Here are the pictures, no safari yet!

One view is to the Harbour Bridge and Opera House…

… the next view is to the Sydney Skyline.

Gap Park, the opening gap of the Sydney Harbour.

Springtime in Sydney…

Bagpiper on Bondi Beach. We happened to come while there was a solemn voyage to take a loved one’s ashes to sea and spread them.

The iconic Sydney Opera House is really two and contains 3 theatres and a concert hall.

Filed Under: Journey to Australia

Day 4: WOW Sydney & Hosting the 2000 Olympics!

November 2, 2014 By admin

So much respect for prior Olympics and ones since 2000. Here I am with a key date, the last time golf was played was in 1904 at St. Louis at Glen Echo CC.

Sydney has so much respect for prior Olympics and ones since 2000. Here I am with a key date, the last time golf was played was in 1904 at St. Louis at Glen Echo CC.

I made it 3-for-3 on Sunday, November 2nd with a tour of Sydney jetting around in my little Berlin Blue Nissan Micra. Australia is golf, the beach and Sydney, the capital city of New South Wales to me. Up early, I hopped in the car and headed out on the M1 and M2 to the western suburbs. I felt like James Bond, shifting with my left hand while taking pictures with my right hand. Through lots of tunnel and with light Sunday morning traffic I was on my way to see Sydney. Zipping through toll booths with no attendants, the rental car thingamajig was beeping often. Tolls are not cheap here and I think I will be charged a little extra at the end of the week.

Are people in Sydney friendly, helpful and overly nice to be around or what? This is how I met Jim, the security guard!

I didn’t know where I was going until I saw a sign for Sydney’s Olympic Park. We all remember how well they hosted the Summer Olympic Games in 2ooo. Why visit the Olympic Park? Easy answer when you look at what I was doing last year at this time—on a ‘Journey to Olympic Golf.’ Now Sydney would be the fifth (Atlanta 1996, St. Louis 1904, Mexico City 1968, Rio de Janeiro 2016) Olympic City I visited on my quest to define the ‘Olympic Spirit of Golf.’ Simple logic: extract the Olympic Spirit from prior Olympics and combine it with the history and tradition of Golf. Hey, nobody has done it for 112 years, so who is to say that is not how to define the ‘Olympic Spirit of Golf.’ Well actually junior golfers compete in the Junior Olympics for the first time in Nanjing China this summer. Maybe I should go ask them. I did try to go to Nanjing but no sponsors appeared!

CLICK here for VIDEO INTERVIEW with Jim Pearson at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Park.

I don’t know about me (well I do and the answer is NO) but Jim is a deserving NSW Champion in my mind. He knew there was golf memorabilia in this place!

So seriously here is how things go for Andy Reistetter on these journeys. I am driving through the Olympic Park area (it is vast) and see a sign for Golf. So I turn wondering what the heck Golf had to do with the 2000 Sydney Olympics? I mean Aussies are very sophisticated and forward looking people but this was 14 years ago? So, of course, I get to a dead end roundabout without seeing another sign or anything that looked golf related. I see a security guy so I pull over and ask him about it. “Yeah, they should have taken that sign down four years ago,” said Officer Jim Pearson. Evidently there was a driving range within Olympic Park that Australian golfer Bob Stanton would stage huge golf merchandise shows. Stanton won the 1966 Dunlop International at The Australian Golf Club by beating Arnold Palmer in a sudden death playoff. The range was also used for overflow parking during the 2000 Olympics. Golf is back in the Olympics in Rio in 2016 after a 112-year absence… I am thinking Australian golfers will excel there as much as the city of Sydney and Cathy Freeman excelled at the 2000 Olympics!

CLICK here for a BEAUTY VIDEO of driving through the CBD of Downtown Sydney!

I became quite intimate with Sydney, courtesy of an AATKings tour on Monday, Day 5!

My day concluded with a drive through downtown Sydney, what they call the CBD (Central Business District), and a trip across the Harbour Bridge with a glimpse of the Sydney Opera House. The still pictures at the end are from my exceptional AATKings tour on Monday (Day 5). I am taking the liberty of merging days since part of me is 15 hours behind and the rest of me is right here in Sydney, Time Zone UTC +10:00!

What a day of visiting the Olympic Park and seeing Sydney, Australia!

http://www.andygolftraveldiary.com/day-4-wow-sydney-hostin…/ Day 4 spent driving around Sydney and visiting the Sydney 2000 Olympic Park. (Facebook Link, Andy Reistetter, 11/3/14)

Filed Under: Journey to Australia