JTOG Day 32: Top Tee Golf & Olaf, Olaf, Olaf in Guatemala City!

  Guatemala and Guatemala City is a beautiful place! The shape of the mountains seem different to me as would the shape of the Adirondacks to someone visiting my home state of New York. What is definitely different is that the normal mountain peaks are interspersed with volcanoes, mostly cone-shaped, others irregularly shaped and some active with eruptions in the last decade or so. After meeting Florencia and Pepe, I was in love with the country of Guatemala and its people. I enjoyed a leisurely morning at the Crowne Plaza Guatemala right in the heart of Guatemala City. A fabulous buffet was included with the room so I partook in the culinary delights. It was here I discovered and liked mango juice. I eat mangoes routinely now and love the sweet, juicy and unique flavor. After breakfast I ventured up to the roof top to enjoy the 360-degree view of the city. While my travel to find Pepe yesterday was arduous, adventurous and directionally challenged at times, watching the planes land on the runway below, I was thinking maybe that was the way to come and visit Guatemala. Pepe came by later in the morning and Torch and I followed him to the automobile hospital called OL Motores, S.A. and met Olaf Bachmann, the Chief Surgeon, General Manager and a guy I liked immediately. A German by birthright, with the logos of BMW, Mercedes Benz, Audi, Ferrari, Chevrolet and Volvo on his business card, he was a golf nut and a motorcycle rider like me. Although the focus was now on the braking system, it grieved him to see the surgery performed on Torch back in Mexico City at Bridgestone. I agreed that it wasn't pretty or precise but it was needed in order to survive and was mechanically sound as evidenced by the 1,000 miles we traveled from Mexico City. But it wasn't her broken bone structure that was in question now it was her uncontrollable bleeding, specifically the loss of hydraulic fluid in her braking system. Thankful to travel the last 750 miles on the Emergency Brake with no significant incidents I was now relieved to have Torch in the hands of a professional expert that willing took on the challenge of getting Torch roadworthy to make it to Rio with me. The early diagnosis was that Olaf could have her fixed by Wednesday morning which lead naturally into Pepe's invitation to play his beloved and historic Mayan Golf Club tomorrow Tuesday. The plan was to check me into the Hotel Bresciani and for me to connect with a very interesting and inspirational guy by the name of Nico Asturias. I found Nico though Perry Dye, the golf course architect who designed La Reunion Golf Resort & Residences with his father Pete Dye. As it turned out Nico came by to pick me up at 3:30 pm and took me to a place I had never thought of or even able to envision before. CLICK here for Part 1 of 2 of a Video Interview with Nico Asturias—introducing Top tee Cayala. CLICK here for Part 2 of 2 Video Interview with Nico Asturias—“Golf is not only a sport but a way of life.” That place was Top Tee Cayala, an enchanting, leisurely and kid-oriented Disneyland for golfers. In my limited exposure to such places it reminded me of a bowling experience I had at Latitude 360 in Jacksonville where it was all about the experience of bowling together and having fun while eating too. But the most amazing aspect of Top Tee was the Perry Dye-designed practice range that easily transformed into a par-3 golf course for junior golfers. I ended up staying there until well after dark to nearly closing time learning more about how this facility came to be from Nico and meeting other people including a lot of junior golfers. Having experienced Top Tee Cayala, I am very impressed with the facility and dynamic organization! My initial thoughts fell into three catagories: 1. Golf & Fun. The lounge areas will transform the past perspective of going to the driving range as a solitary journey into a family & friends “do it together” and have fun activity! 2. Driving Range transforms into a golf course with lots of flexibility for skill, length of holes and shot values. When I looked out I could see cross bunkers a la the Old Course (3 & 7 greens?), Redan holes and one bunkerless green. In my opinion, more impressive than the new practice facility at Augusta National from a functionality and playability perspective (it is a golf course too). 3. Golf is growing in Guatemala as evidenced by the young people engaged with the facility, staff and golf! It was an exciting day meeting and interviewing young golfers like Jasmine, Ganbriel and Kevin who had played the golf course on Saturday with 55 other junior golfers. Then I met 15-year old competitive golfer Pilar Echeverria with her instructor Nicholas Zappin, Marco Solares was the General Manager with Martin Modai running the golf shop. There was a lot of excitement there on a Monday night and the sense I took away is that not only is golf growing in Guatemala but that Nico and the team at Top Tee Cayala has found a creative way to bring young and old people into the game with enjoyment and recreational purposes. CLICK here for a Video Interview with Marco Solares & Martin Modai at First Tee Cayala, Golf & Fun! Torch was were she needed to be once again and I was not only hopeful but knew without a doubt that all was being down to bring her back to full vitality for the remaining trip to Rio. I hadn't golf since last Tuesday at the CC of Mexico City (hey this IS a golf journey!) and was excited to be spending the day tomorrow with Pepe playing the Mayan Golf Club tomorrow. Hotel Bresciani was very comfortable and a unique pleasurable lodging experience. What more could a guy on a 'Journey to Olympic Golf' ask for? Playing tomorrow at the Mayan Golf Club and plans coming together to stay and play at La Reunion. There are some more stories in the pictures below this request to make a donation to The First Tee... please make a donation today. Much appreciated. 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. There are interesting incentives for making your donation to the First Tee… PLEASE click here to make a donation to The First Tee.

Thank You!