Admittedly I really had no idea where we were going when we set out to find the Olympic Golf Course!
So the highlight of the ‘Journey to Olympic Spirit’ was walking the newly designed, yet still a sandbox (no grass), Olympic Golf Course (OGC) located in the Barra da Tijuca. I had an invitation to meet Gil Hanse, the golf course architect there at 3 pm and join a previously scheduled tour with Michigan State University’s Landscape Architecture Professor Warren Rauhe. Sounded great, and the OGC was only 26 kilometers from the apartment I was staying in and basically a straight shot on a major road. Easier said than done and half the fun was getting there.
Even when i looked over the tall fence i wasn’t sure if that was a golf course and if I was in the right place!
Remember I had already ventured out a few days earlier via public transportation with pre-written notes in Portuguese asking to help me find the new Olympic Golf Course. That trip was unsuccessful as I was innocently and helpfully misdirected a bit inland and saw the Itanhanga Golf Club through the windows of the bus. No need to stop as I refocused and tried in vain to find the Olympic Golf Course.
This day would turn out to be just as challenging but ultimately successful! A friend I had met earlier in the week offered to come by and pick me up and take me to the golf course. Sounded simple enough but there were two barriers; one to communication as she spoke mainly Portuguese and very little English, very little and the other to location as it turned out we had the right address but the address wasn’t properly displayed, at least in terms of American GPS or road signs. How could we miss a golf course? But we did for a long time!
I finally found the nondescript gate to the new Olympic Golf Course!
There was a tall fence for what seemed like miles and our GPS placed us about a half mile down the road from 10033 Avenida das Americas in the Barra da Tijuca. Across the street from the Rio Mar Hospital. A white gate with the address on it and graffiti covered walls.
I was a few minutes late and joined the tour as it started.
CLICK here for the article on Gil Hanse’s Olympic Golf Course in Rio de Janeiro.
On the way to the OGC my friend dropped me off to meet up with Beto Chiclete at Gavea Golf & Country Club. Beto started up a First Tee-like golf facility for junior golfers out in Japeri about 90 kilometers inland and up in the mountains. Another place I tried to visit but could not figure out the logistics and them on a whim and with luck was able to play Gavea G&CC. Who is my caddie? Amazingly Beto and I had never met or even communicated with him previously. I had only heard about his remarkable and heartfelt endeavor. I hope to get out to Japeri during my August 2016 visit for Olympic Golf.
Getting Beto’s story on starting a junior golf facility was very interesting and inspirational!
I presented Beto with my golf clubs, bag, and golf shoes, basically everything I had brought golf related except the scorecards I had accumulated on the journey. I wanted to support his efforts to bring the game of golf to the young people of Japeri. I was able to interview Beto a little more with my friend playing translator. He had brought several newspaper clippings too to explain what he was trying to do. Pretty successful!
We also stopped at the Lokau Restaurant on the beach which when I looked on GPS is basically across the street from the OGC on the South Atlantic Ocean beach. My guess is Lokau means Lookout in Portuguese but no such translation per Google. Definitely a restaurant I want to return to during the Olympics. Who knows I might be sleeping on the beach across the street. I am sure their breakfast is as good as their lunch was!
Heading home on the bus to Gavea.
After the three-hour or so tour it was getting late and getting dark. I took the bus home and by the time I arrived it was dark with streetlights on. My what an adventurous day and thanks to my friend one that made the ‘Journey to Olympic Golf’ completely successful! What’s a journey without reaching the final destination? Next time, returning in August 2016, my focus will be connecting with the “Spirit of Olympic Golf” as some of the best golfers in the world, both men and women, compete for Olympic Golf Gold Medals and the right to be called “Olympic Champion” for the next four years!
Here are my picture memories of a fun day getting to the Olympic Golf Course for the first time!
