What better way to head south than to go north?
Ultimately my northern destination was St. Louis to play golf with my hickories at Glen Echo CC, where golf was last played in the 1904 Summer Olympics.
What better place to stop than in Atlanta, host to the 1996 Summer Olympics?
Remember my goal is to extract the Olympic Spirit from Olympic cities along the way to Rio de Janeiro (can you guess which ones?) and combine it with what I know of the history and traditions of the game of golf and be the first to define what the ‘Olympic Spirit of Golf’ is when golf returns for the first time in 112 years for the 2016 Summer Olympics.
JTOG (Journey to Olympic Golf) is really the art of networking and my first stop was the icing on the cake. While volunteering at the World Golf Hall of Fame I met a guy (who shall remain anonymous) who was interested in my quest and connected me to an Olympian living in Atlanta. We spoke on the phone and when he heard my story (no budget) he not only agreed to be interviewed but invited me to stay at his place for two nights!
CLICK here for article: Dennis Berkholtz, Olympic Team Handball & Coach
Dennis Berkholtz is a great guy as you can tell in the video interviews and provided insight into the Olympic world and what it is like to be an Olympian competitor and coach. Ever heard of Team Handball? It is popular in Europe and other parts of the world and looks like a lot of fun.
USATH Announces Dennis Berkholtz as New Chair of Beach Handball
“Once an Olympian, always an Olympian,” were words spoken by Dennis that have stuck with me to this day. The maximum from any country will be four female and four male Golf Olympians if they are all in the Top 16 in the OWGR. Sixty women and sixty men total in 2016. Not many people get to be Olympic Golfers every four years..
We enjoyed touring Centennial Park which commemorates the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.
It just occurred to me how much being the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games may have impacted now Augusta National Golf Club and Masters Tournament Chairman William Porter “Billy” Payne. With the addition of the Asia-Pacific and Latin America amateur champions to The Masters, golf’s spring major championship is looking even more like the spirited Olympic Games.
Tomorrow Dennis and I will seek the spirit of golf and visit two legacy golf courses and have the privilege and honor to play one! The ‘Journey to Olympic Golf’ is off to a good start. Torch is solid and I found a bed on my first night!
I am looking for 100 new friends in the next 100 days to make a $100 donation (or any amount that you are able to make) to The First Tee. Each day I will be reliving the original “Journey to Olympic Golf” and hope to find a new friend in golf. Is that you? Please join me in giving back to the game we all love.
CLICK here to make a donation to The First Tee.
Please select ‘Andy Reistetter’s Journey to Olympic Golf’ on the drop-down menu for the question ‘What inspired you to make a gift today? This is for tracking purposes only, Andy does not receive any part of your donation or anything financially from The First Tee organization.
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Thank You!
Dennis Berkholtz pointing to the 1996 Handball Olympic Team at the Olympic Torch Park.
Statue of Pierre de Frédy, Baron de Coubertin, the father of the modern Olympic Games and doves in Centennial Park.
With the William Porter “Billy” Payne Statue in Centennial Park.
