With Henry Kattan and his father at the Coffee Cup in the Multiplaza Mall in Tegucigalpa.
Day 40 in Tegucigalpa, Honduras was one of those great days in life where you are literally going from dawn to dusk, was lucky enought to play some golf and just celebrate life and all the friendships along the way. My experience reminded me of the Sunday family picnic outings to Chenango Valley State Park in my childhood. Full of adventure and new experiences!
My day did not start at dawn, well close to it as I was up early to shower and then wash some clothes in the bathtub before a scrumptious breakfast in the penthouse Club Intercontinental. I really do like mango juice and found the litchi (lychee) fresh fruit to be as refreshing and sweet as advertised.
With my Honduras Golf Association sticker and flag pin!
Henry Kattan, my host in Honduras came to meet me at the Real Intercontinental Hotel at 9 am. We walked over to the Multiplaza Mall across the street to the Coffee Cup. His father, a retired baker of 50 years, was there to meet us and have a cup of coffee. I enjoyed another new food to me—catrochos—a toasted open French bread with refried beans and quesilla (little cheese). Very tasty. Henry’s friend and fellow golfer Kurt stopped by to say hello. He said something very interesting to me—” I like it (golf) because it is so difficult to play.” Awe, the challenge of the game! I felt the same way about the Journey, sometimes very difficult to navigate, especially at borders, but overall a great delight!
City view from the golf course, nothing more beautiful in life!
Henry is the president of the Honduras Golf Association and has almost single-handedly revived the HGA from a dormancy of nearly 25 years. I saw a report from an R&A visit in 2006 so I figured he has been going at it for nearly 10 years in between which was 2009 Honduran coup d’état. Interestingly enough, the First Lady of then President Mauricio Villeda, Iris Xiomara Castro de Zelaya ,was now running for president. ‘Hillary of Honduras’ would be my affectionate nickname for her. Back to golf. In a country of 7 to 8 million people there were less than 1,000 golfers and less than 50 junior golfers with only a handful of golf courses available to play the game we love.
The first tee at the Country Club of Tegucigalpa, a downhill par-3.
As my good fortune would continue on the Journey, Henry was also the Marketing Director for the Honduras Olympic Committee. After a visit and playing the 9-hole Country Club of Tegucigalpa we planned to venture over the Olympic Village where I would be able to meet some officials and Olympic athletes. While Tegucigalpa has not hosted the Olympics, here on JTOG Day 40 I would be combining golf and the Olympics yet again on my quest to define the ‘Olympic Spirit of Golf,’ something no one on Earth has experienced in 112 years.
I liked Tegucigalpa. It’s high location and hilly terrain reminded me of San Francisco without the bay and the ocean. Honduras, like Guatemala and the upcoming Central America countries of Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama have the best of both water worlds with the Caribbean Sea to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. I enjoyed touring the city as we headed over the the Country Club of Tegucigalpa (CCT) and after that to the Olympic Village.
With Henry (L) and Rodolfo (R) at CCT.
I could tell I was at a historic place as we entered the gate of CCT. The club was perched on a significant hill with city and mountain views all around. It reminded me in a way of my beloved Ely Park Municipal Golf Course in my hometown of Binghamton, New York. The views were exceptional. The course was only nine holes with a length of 5,417 meters and a par of 68. Four par-3s, no par-5s and a whole lot of par-4s replaying the nine from different tees. Juan Carlos Alvarez holds the course record of 58. No worries with that being broken today although Henry is a formidable 3-handicap. The course, especially the greens has definitely seen better days, having never fully recovered from Hurricane Mitch in 1998. Mitch was so devastating to Honduras that the name Mitch was retired from the Atlantic hurricane naming list.
CLICK here for a Video Interview with Rodolfo Castaneda, Little Caesar in Honduras.
CLICK here for a Video Interview with Honduras Junior Golfers Diego and Eduardo.
Junior golfers Diego (L) and Eduardo enjoying a mid round snack.
We were joined by Henry’s childhood friend Rodolfo. He owned Little Caesar Pizza in Honduras and brought a pizza for us to share for lunch. It was sort of a reunion for Henry and Rodolfo as they had not played golf at CCT in 3 or 4 years so it was a good time for all of us as they shared childhood stories and growing up together in junior golf in Tegucigalpa.
The visit to the Honduras Olympic Village was exceptional. Speaking (of course being translated by Henry) with President Salvador Jimenex Caceres and Secretary Oscar Rene Berganza Deras was very interesting. I received a sense of what it means to countries like Honduras to have golf officially declared an Olympic Sport. Along with that designation comes official government support to further develop the game of golf at home with the hopes of one golfer getting hot, rising in the the OWGR, competing on the new Olympic Golf Course in Rio and bringing home a medal.
With London Olympians Joel Pavon (L) and Ronald Bennett (R).
In the gym I met Joel Pavon and Ronald Bennett who competed in the London Olympic Games for Honduras. Joel is a weightlifter (320 kilos combined) and Ronald a sprinter in the 110 meters with obstacles. They both spoke to how representing Honduras in London was such a great honor. Ronald carried the Honduras flag in the Parade of Nations during the Opening Ceremonies.
We stopped by the housing for the Olympians and in the lobby was a banner from the 1968 Mexico Olympics. I like how everything ties together and you can see the process and the progression through that process. Who knows, maybe one day, like Mexico City did, Tegucigalpa will host the Olympic Games?
CLICK here for a Video Interview with Dania Ferrera, Conceirge, Real Intercontinental Tegucigalpa.
The Real Intercontinental Tegucigalpa was a wonderful place to stay!
I headed up to the penthouse Club Intercontinental for a late dinner. There I met a reporter from NPR and another from CNN Espanol. They thought my journey was a bit strange especially being in Tegucigalpa on the eve of a presidential election. During the last election they said there was a coup but I think they were referring to 2009. They thought I was even crazier with my idea to drive through the FARC-infested Darian Gap as a golfing humanitarian gesture. Somewhat concerned I wondered aloud if something was to happen to me would they write a story about meeting me so at least my sons could get an idea of how happy I was my last days alive. They resisted saying golf wasn’t that big for their news outlets. Finally I got them to agree to at least promise me that they would make a pitch to their editor with no guarantee that the story of my demise would run.
While there were no Christmas presents under the tree for me, the Journey to Olympic Golf certainly seemed like a present from above to me!
Oh well, dinner was good, the company interesting and tomorrow another day, hopefully just like the one I experienced today—absolutely brilliant in the ‘Olympic Spirit of Golf!’
My last journal entry for the day was “WOW, what a day.”
It could have easily read “WOW, what a tomorrow.”
I was booked on a 7 am flight to Roatan, the island paradise of Honduras.
Life was good as I set the alarm for 5 am and closed my eyes to sleep.
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Little Caesar Rodolfo!
Putting with Henry Kattan on the first green.
A view of the city from the fairway of the golf course!
