FEATURE
A 2,011km Golf Odyssey Across Mongolia The
Longest Hole Part 2
Former Hong Kong rugby player Adam Rolston and caddie-friend Ron Rutland continue their journey across the northern part of Gobi Desert, which is the most notorious area in Mongolia. As Rolston recalls, it is easily the hardest five days in his whole life… Photography by Andrew King and Adam Rolston
54
HK GOLFER・MAR 2018
HK GOLFER・MAR 2018
55
“We are heading from Khovd to Bayankhongor, which is 750km in between, in the mid-section of our trip. We are going through the northern Gobi Desert across the Khovd mountain, which is the most notorious area in Mongolia. It’s beautiful but extremely dangerous and daunting - 40 degree Celsius from 10am until 5pm.”
"We have to wake up at 4am to start our day and play golf until 9:30am. Otherwise, it would just be too hot afterwards. So, we have to set up a camp during the day, just lying inside the tent to beat the heat, before we can continue playing on, until about 6pm."
“There was a period, where we were going to a town calls Bulgan, which is 140km away. We were told we were not going to see anyone. But we ended up bumping into a family. They surprisingly live out in this remote area. And they have a well to feed livestock like their camels and sheep. So, we were able to restock our water half way. But the water was extremely salty and was difficult to drink. But we ended up making it through that dry period.�
“We have to take all water and supplies for a 5-day period. We have to plan it perfectly, or we would be screwed. We carried 70 litres of water, which is a lot of weight (70kg) that Ron has to pull. The golfing at this section was reasonably OK. The terrain was so flat and dry. But for Ron, he has to pull a lot more weight. And we have a dog who needs water as well. We have to limit ourselves to drink 3-4 litres of water per day.�
“It was easily the hardest five days in my life. It was mixture boredom during the day. The most intense heat I have ever felt. Without a doubt, the hardest physical work I have to do, intensively for a certain period. After five days in the desert, Ron and I cruised in a town, all we were thinking was a cold drink. And the cold coke we had was the best drink I have had ever ever…”
“Now we are in the middle section of the trip. Mentally, Ron and I have felt that the real hard part has finished. We have done the desert and finished about 1,000km – glacier, rain, sleet, snow and we came up in the dry part of Mongolia, northern Gobi Desert – and now we are in the golden part of Mongolia, the Khangai Mountain. It is almost the time we can enjoy our journey. It’s still difficult as we have to finish 30km per day. There was water around and we were able to see a lot more people, more culture, which made the golfing and carting much easier for us.” Rolston and Rutland have so far raised £15,000 for charity Laureus Sport for Good, which uses the power of sport to end violence, discrimination and disadvantage and supports over 100 projects in 35 countries. They are awaiting verification from Guinness World Records to officially make it the Longest Hole in Golf after the European Tour gave it the rubber stamp as a single golf hole. The journey will be continued…