Good to be safely back home in the USA! Midnight stop in Dubai, met SA golf writer Jason Mylroie (heading to the PGA Show too), 24 hours in air, one movie (The Intern), reading Nelson Mandela’s Long Walk to Freedom (2/3rds way thru 600 pages), Love flying Emirates, loved my time in SA! Find bed, sleep, Demo Day tomorrow at Orange County National, anyone going to be there? (Facebook Post, Andy Reistetter, 1/25/16)
Day 46: Final Two Nights at D’oreale Grande Hotel at Emperors Palace at JNB Airport
Okay, this is a bit over the top, even for me & these Worldwide Golf & TROML Journeys… last 2 nights in a gorgeous suite at the D’oreale Grande Hotel… chandelier, 2 big screens, 2 bathrooms plus VIP lounge… plus a tocket to the World’s Premier ABBA Tribute Show… maybe I should have a party.. or start packing… either way what a comfortable way to pause, reflect & give thanks for an incredible 6-week Golf Journey to South Africa! (-: (Facebook Post, Andy Reistetter, 1/22/16)
Beautiful breakfast buffet at the Peermont D’oreal Grande Emperors Palace Hotel, Johannesburg, South Africa served with lots of love… no sugar and only 700 Calories… look who joined me for breakfast! LOL (-: (Facebook Post, Andy Reistetter, 1/23/16)
Definite not a high Roller (actually a low roller as a golfer with a good putting stroke), but felt like one tonight at the ABBA concert! (Facebook Post, Andy Reistetter, 1/23/16)
All I can say, looking at 8 hours to Dubai, than 16 hours flying time to Orlando… the last 2 nights at Emperors D’Oreale were entertaining, nourishing & restorative… has been an incredibly successful & inspiratiinal 6-week Golf & TROML Journey to South Africa… thank you, thank you, thank you to all the beautifully friendly, warm, & generous people, places & experiences along the 7, 158 kms travelled… truly an amazing life experience… HELLO PGA Show… will I c u there? Hope so… (Facebook Post, Andy Reistetter, 1/24/16)
Day 46: Other Highlights of the Golf Journey to South Africa!
Farewell at TPC Sawgrass with friends Kimberly Graham & Dennis Berkholtz, Jarrad Kogos, & Stokes Hill… early Merry Christmas & Happy New Year Celebration… off to South Africa soon! (-: (Facebook Post 6 Pics, Andy Reistetter, 12/4/15)
Sadly time to bring the kiteboard & motorcycle inside… happily time to head to the Southern Hemisphere & South Africa… can’t deal with these brutal Florida winters anymore… thanks Alena Gilley & Paradise Grooming for Men for the haircut! (-: (Facebook Post 4 Pics, Andy Reistetter, 12/5/15)
Learning how to greet folks in South Africa… very friendly, welcoming, hospitable country! Might just stick with the firm handshake when I get back home but thinking my buddy Stokes Hill might go for this! (-: (Facebook Post Video, Andy Reistetter, 1/29/15)
Last tour of Joburg… beautiful afternoon, beautiful view… got this Sundowner thing down pat… last day here for now… Four Seasons Hotel The Westcliff Johannesburg (Facebook Post, Andy Reistetter, 1/23/16)
‘All From One,’ Unity Amid Diversity Exhibit in South Africa…
On Tuesday, January 19th, 2016, Day 42 of the Golf & Life Journey to South Africa, after playing the East Golf Course of Royal Johannesburg & Kensington Golf Club, I ventured up to Pretoria to do some sightseeing. What I saw was the PAST ‘All From One’ exhibit outside the Standard Bank offices in Rosebank.
You know how you know that a single brief interaction of a chance meeting with someone can change your life? Well this was one of those experiences with the ‘All From One’ exhibit and exhibit guide Gary Trower. It was brief but the seed was planted and of course the pictures taken for documentation purposes and future digestion of all the impacts.
While I am not a scientist in this regard, truth be known, we all do come from the same ancestors and are 99.9% alike yet why does the world focus on our differences?
‘All From One’ is the scientific base for our spiritual unity…
Here is more from the Palaeontological Scientific Trust (PAST) website and below the words are in the pictures to follow along in the exhibit just like I did during my visit to South Africa. Images courtesy of John Gurche.
I hope that you can commit to tolerance, unity, collaboration and conservation as I did that fateful day in South Africa. We are all ‘spiritual beings living a human life,’ and ‘we are a part of nature, not apart from nature!’ TROML Baby!
THE PALAEONTOLOGICAL SCIENTIFIC TRUST (PAST)
The science of our origins reveals the shared African roots of all people. PAST uses Africa’s ancient fossil heritage to build African dignity, promote social cohesion and environmental conservation, inspire scientific curiosity among school-going youth, and establish African leadership in the sciences related to our origins.
‘Unity Amid Diversity.’ Cultural and physical differences ensure the uniqueness of every individual. Yet underlying this diversity is a deeply woven humanity common to all people.
Our Place in Nature. Africa’s fossil heritage shows that the environment played a major role in the evolution of life and humankind. If the pace and extent of environmental change is too rapid or large for species to adapt, some will go extinct.
Welcome to the website version of the PAST ‘All From One’ exhibition. The physical version of the exhibition opened on 10 November 2015 and is touring South Africa. It has thus far stood outside the Standard Bank offices in Rosebank, Johannesburg, the Soweto Theatre in Soweto, the Iziko South African Museum in Cape Town, and Maropeng in the Cradle of Humankind outside Johannesburg.
The exhibition is a striking structure recalling both a DNA double helix and the skeletons of two large prehistoric animals. A smaller, reconfigured version of the exhibition was produced as part of the South African Treasures exhibition at the United Nation’s World Intellectual Property Organization General Assembly in Geneva in October 2016.
This website version of the exhibition contains similar information and some of the images from the two physical versions, plus additional information in “Dig Deeper” pages.
The ‘All From One’ exhibition draws on scientific evidence about our shared human origins and the shared origins of all life forms in order to challenge commonly held ideas about humankind and our place in nature.
You will see that you are unique, but that you share strong bonds of similarity with all other people, based on a deeply rooted common humanity. As a species, you will see we are but one twig among millions on the tree of life that sustains us all.
All told, you will see that shared origins is a potent force for tolerance, unity, collaboration and conservation.
Day 40: Four Nights at the Peermont Mondior was Pure Heaven!
Don’t want to leave the Emperors Palace Hotel Casino Convention and Entertainment Resort my home the last 4 nights… 4 diferent hotels… an Emporium… a Casino… right at O.R. Tambo International Airport… easy access to Joburg including Royal Johannesburg & Kensington Golf Club… special place in the history and business of South Africa… do you know what CODESA is or what an AEROTROPOLIS is?… very interesting… more details later… off to you guessed it, play golf, today at the Observatory Golf Club with a rich Bobby Locke history… CLICK here for the Peermont Mondior Website (Facebook Post, Andy Reistetter, 1/18/16
Day 39: Haydn Porteous Triumphs in Joburg Open at Royal!
Enjoying the Sunshine Tour’s Joburg Open at Royal Johannesburg & Kensington Golf Club… only one more week to the Golf Journey to South Africa… (Facebook Post, Andy Reistetter, 1/16/16)
Congratulations to 21-year old South African Haydn Porteous for winning his first European Tour & Sunshine Tour event at Royal Johannesburg & Kensington Golf Club. Solid final round 69 to win by 2 strokes. He along with Zander Lombard & Anthony Wall earned spots in the 145th Open Championship to be played at Troon. Exciting day, can’t tell you how much fun I have had and how well I have been treated these past two weeks on tour in South Africa! Great country, great people & great golf! Loving Joburg! (Facebook Post, Andy Reistetter, 1/17/16)
Day 37: Play Killarney Golf Club with Bobby Lincoln & His Buddies!
Centipedes, baboons & now peacocks… I think there is more to this video than meets the eye… (Facebook Post, Andy Reistetter, 1/16/16)
Day 36: Sun City Resort is as Spectacular as They Say!
Going to Sun City, gonna have some fun… going to Sun City Resort because there’s two golf courses there, two golf courses for every player to play… I am here… Gary Player CC tomorow and Lost City GC on Wednesday… (Facebook Post 9 Pics, Andy Reistetter, 1/11/16)
This place is cool… can’t believe I am trying Ostrich & Crocodile pie! Awesome golfing experience on the Gary Player Country Club course today… Loving Sun City Resort! (Facebook Post 7 Pics, Andy Reistetter, 1/12/16)
Okay, back to the golf… what an amazing golfing experience playing the Gary Player CC course yesterday… Lost City Golf Course today… another beautiful day in this paradise called Sun City! (Facebook Post 19 Pics, Andy Reistetter, 1/12/16)
I think if I get lost on this golf course and see a crocodile like that this may be my last golf journey… better to take stroke & distance than be eaten! (-: (Facebook Post Video, Andy Reistetter, 1/13/16)
Not something you see every day on the practice putting green! Pretty amazing, never saw a centipede before… wonder if there are really 100 legs?… wonder how they coordinate them so well why sometimes I trip & fall with only two… know what I mean? Sun City Resort is all about being out there with nature too… adjacent to the Pilanesburg National Park (Facebook Post Video, Andy Reistetter, 1/14/16)
Planet of the Baboons… they have taken over the clubhouse… the ultimate alpha male has yet to swing a golf club though talks a good game. Eerie call to mark his territory. We still went in for lunch after nine as that is the custom in South Africa and we were hungry! (Facebook Post Video, Andy Reistetter, 1/14/16)
What can I say other than I loved playing Lost City Golf Course at the Sun City Resort… from the moment I arrived… to playing with father Jerry & son Elliott… to the Crocodile Pit on the 13th… to views of the Palace of the Lost City… great golfing & living experience! TROML designation for sure! (-: (Facebook Post, Andy Reistetter, 1/14/16)
Incredible 3-hour property tour of Sun City Resort today with PR manager Nicole Turner… felt like a king touring the Palace of the Lost City… quite an interesting history and very detailed and ornate… went up into the King’s Tower for a view of the kingdom and then checked into the African Suite where Michael Jackson would come for months at a time… then dinner with Nicole and entertainment manager Cecile Brody … then awesome entertainment with the talented Andy Swan & Urban Swan duo… a magical day in South Africa’s version of Disneyland… (Facebook Post, Andy Reistetter, 1/14/16)
Day 33: Play Glendower Golf Club, Host of the South Africa Open
Fantastic ‘Play It Like the Pro’s’ Monday After the South Africa Open golf day at Fantastic ‘Play It Like the Pro’s’ Monday After the South Africa Open golf day at Glendower Golf Club… WOW, what a golf course! More than I can handle, 6,914 meters from the tips, firm & fast conditions with uncut rough and Sunday hole locations… still managed to par half the holes and have a great time with Kyle, Boy, and Jason and our caddies Andreas, Killer, Clay & Lucky! Later joined by the great South African golfer Bobby Lincoln! Thanks 15 million rand Sandy! (-:
… WOW, what a golf course! More than I can handle, 6,914 meters from the tips, firm & fast conditions with uncut rough and Sunday hole locations… still managed to par half the holes and have a great time with Kyle, Boy, and Jason and our caddies Andreas, Killer, Clay & Lucky! Later joined by the great South African golfer Bobby Lincoln! Thanks 15 million rand Sandy! (-:
Day 32: Brandon Stone Rolls to Victory in the South Africa Open
Back to ‘work’ today… at Glendower Golf Club in the City of Ekurhuleni for the third round of the BMW South African Open Championship on the Sunshine Tour & European Tour… first played in 1903… previously won by Bobby Locke, Sid Brews, Gary Player, Harold Henning, Ernie Els, Retief Goosen, Trevor Immelman, Richard Sterne… England’s Daniel Brroks leading after 2 rounds, Branden Grace 2 strokes back… off to see the leaders tee off… who’s that young American kid leading in Maui??? LOL (-: Gonna be a good year in global golf… looking forward to the PGA Show in Orlando… anyone going? (-: (Facebook Post 6 Pics, Andy Reistetter, 1/9/16)
Enjoyed my first day here at the South Africa Open at @Glendower Golf Club hosted by the City of Ekurhuleni… impacted by weather but looking forward to the conclusion tomorrow Sunday… great golf course, tournament well staged and run, and of course met some great people outside the ropes! (Facebook Post 19 Pics, Andy Reistetter, 1/9/16)
Golf Journey to Ernie Els Country”… awesome to meet him at his Oubaai Golf Resort & Spa (means Old Bay, pronounced “Oh-Bye,” my read “Oh-Boy,” what a place!)… missed him at his Ernie Els Wines winery in Stellenbosch… good to see him again here at the South Africa Open at Glendower Golf Club in the City of Ekurhuleni (pronounced “e-koo-roo-le-ni)… does this mean I am a stalker or that the Big Easy represents the heart, soul, & inspiration of South Africa… which is that which I am seeking and finding… (Facebook Post Ernie Els Video, Andy Reistetter, 1/9/16)
WOW, exciting finish to the South Africa Open… walked the back 9 with the leaders… congratulations to Brandon Stone, what a display of perseverance & talent… 6 birdies in last 11 holes to finish a 65 in Round 3… then bogeys 6 of 8 holes mid 4th round and finishes with 4 birdies on last 6 holes to win by 2 strokes! Reminded me of seeing Jordan Spieth win the Australian Open in Sydney last year… keep an eye out for Brandon Stone… might be the start of the Stone Age! (-: (Facebook Post 12 Pics, Andy Reistetter, 1/11/16)
Fantastic ‘Play It Like the Pro’s’ Monday After the South Africa Open golf day at Glendower Golf Club… WOW, what a golf course! More than I can handle, 6,914 meters from the tips, firm & fast conditions with uncut rough and Sunday hole locations… still managed to par half the holes and have a great time with Kyle, Boy, and Jason and our caddies Andreas, Killer, Clay & Lucky! Later joined by the great South African golfer Bobby Lincoln! Thanks 15 million rand Sandy! (-: (Facebook Post 16 Pics, Andy Reistetter, 1/11/16)