Golfing in Luanda

Update: no carpets were carried around - that was somewhere else - see below for how wood and iron shots were taken in the early years.

Golf in Luanda has been evolving recently.

When we talked with Larry (who was an early Gulf employee in Angola - and met Paul's mom there) about the golf he was surprised with its development. He mentioned the course that the rotators* used to play up in Malongo (our operational camp in the enclave of Cabinda), and how they would bring a three rubber tees on a key chain to the "course" to play a pitch and putt made of dirt, sand, and oiled-down greens. The tees were used on all iron and wood shots, as the course itself was not receptive to direct surface contact.Things have changed just a little.....

Here is a map of Angola - Cabinda is nestled near the mouth of the Congo River, and is sandwiched between Congo and DRC.

Down in Luanda there was an original course just south of the suburb of Benfica; it is still there, but now it serves as a casual camp spot and mountain bike track - which we plan on testing out! Its landscape is full of hills and dales, and I'm sure there are some coastal views, as the road it borders is the main road down to the coast.

Here is a shot of the coast:

But now there is the new course near the Cuanza river - Mangais. This course is right out of Florida, with a little Costa Rican hillside added in. It is gorgeous, and because there isn't a HUGE population of golfers, it's also pretty pristine. My goal is to mountain bike down the coastal road to the course (with our driver following closely behind with flashers -very Tour de France), play 18, and then have our driver take us back. When I do this, I'll be sure to take pictures! In the mean time, here is a picture of the course and the resident crocodile - we only saw his tracks in the sand traps... eek!

I was lucky enough to play the course back in November when visiting - the BMW Amateur Invitational was on, and I think they were actively seeking female players. So a co-worker and I joined in. We were half the womens' pool of players, and we ended up second and third. Free umbrella! I'm going to train up for the next tourney - since it looks like from the course's FB page that there are loads of activities going on. https://www.facebook.com/mangaisgolf

Now mind you - patience is everything during these rounds - you are generally expected to hire a caddy - who is from a local village, and they vary in their understanding of the game of golf. My caddy handed me my driver on a par 3 - 155 yard hole. I'm hoping to build up and teach a caddy to be super value add, and well sought after for his benefit and mine!

Also, the holes are long, and it is HOT, and we walked. Which is great exercise, but a ton of sun exposure - I should have cued in when the Angolan member of our foursome re-applied SPF 50 four or five times during the round. Needless to say - I learned my fair-skinned lesson. In any case, a round takes some time, so the plan is an all-day thing.

Here are the lady competitors - great fun - no two people spoke more than one common language: I spoke French and English and a tiny bit of Portuguese, the woman from Angola spoke French, Portuguese, and a little Italian (which we found out on the 15th hole!), Maria speaks English, a little Italian, and some French, and our Portuguese team mate only spoke Portuguese. This also slowed up our round a bit - "you're away" or "ready golf" didn't translate very well! But we all enjoyed each others' company!

In summary, a great day, and many more fun times to come at Mangais!

*The rotators run a 28/28 schedule of work on and off. So effectively, they are off for four weeks, but when they are on, it's long days for 6.5 days per week. I can imagine being single, or having a spouse that is also on this tour, since you would then have 4 weeks to see the world 6 times a year. But for now, we're happy to be residents.