After nearly 1000 km of golfing across Mongolia's steppe, I've encountered an unconquerable challenge - a sea of knee-high vegetation determined to halt my golfing progress. The unusually high amount of precipitation that brought about these conditions was unforeseeable but the current reality is that with every swing, I have had to embark on a search for the golf ball akin to searching for the Holy Grail. My recent reconnaissance mission to the west revealed a unified resistance of shoulder to shoulder weeds stretching as far as I could see. Small guerrilla forces have stymied superpower militaries many times in history and though the Golf Mongolia expedition possesses an unending supply of determination and will, lessons of the past need to be heeded. Thus, this mission to become the first person ever to golf across Mongolia will be restructured.
I have thrown out the idea of rerouting the course to the south because golfing east to west across the country is a fundamental element of the expedition and I am determined to see this through. This leaves one choice, to complete the remaining 1000 km of the expedition next spring, before the vegetation has had a chance to rise up in defense. This enormously difficult decision offers many advantages to completing the original goals of the expedition.
Golf Mongolia is about raising awareness. Awareness of the possibilities for unique forms of adventure expression, awareness of the land, people, and history of Mongolia, and foremost, awareness of the challenges, joys, and hardships that the people of this country face every day. While feeling incredibly satisfied with the expedition progress, I still believe that I could do a better job of accomplishing the other goals that are dedicated to sharing Mongolian life with the world. In order to accomplish these goals I am giving myself at least two more months of time in this country to study and learn the language, speak with the Mongolian people, and photograph and document the land and culture in order to share it with those who are interested.
I am determined not only to complete this mission that I have created for myself, but to complete it properly, living up to the fullest expectation of my sponsors. On the subject of sponsorship, all funds that are currently in the Golf Mongolia account will remain there until the expedition resumes next spring.
Don't go away! Exciting and new things will be happening to this website in the next several months. Though the scorecard may not change, new reports, photographs, and links will be continually added to the site. With technology access more available for me, I intend to make this website better than ever. In fact, please feel free to email me with any suggestions you may have. I express an enormous amount of gratitude to my sponsors. With your help, I have already achieved what no other human being has attempted before and I offer my assurance that the Golf Mongolia expedition will be reaching even greater heights in the months to come.
read the 17 May, 2004 update >>