At the age of 35 Andre Tolme quit his job as a civil engineer and decided that it was time to see something of the world. It was during a brief stop-over in Mongolia that he became struck by two things - he loved the country, but most of all he missed playing golf. A plan began to hatch in his mind."
Open to the Western world since 1990, the 'Land of Blue Sky' is one of the few places on earth where travellers can tread on undiscovered ground and explore with a true sense of adventure. Homeland of the greatest conqueror of all time, Genghis Khan, vast tracts can be discovered on horse or camel, or in the comfort of a four-wheel drive. Written by Mongolian expert, Jane Blunden, this updated guide highlights its culture and customs, including the deel, the colourful national dress, herding rules and customs, Mongolian throat singing and Naadam, the annual celebration of wrestling, archery and horse-riding. For visitors keen to sample the unique pleasures of staying with nomads, she also explains how and where to experience the traditional lifestyle of a Mongolian ger. The guide offers tips on riding and biking tours, winter dog sledding and summer yoga camps and provides in-depth information on national parks and conservation. Wildlife tours and visits based around Buddhist temples are still Mongolia's strengths, along with the age old traditional herding culture and Nomadic lifestyle, to be seen throughout this vast country. This amazing lifestyle of nomads with their flocks of camels, sheep and cashmere goats herded on horseback, from the times of Genghis Khan, is disappearing fast as families become more settled. The capital Ulaanbaatar is undergoing major changes and offers visitors a taste of city life in contrast to the wide open spaces. The guide reviews new hotels and restaurants which are popping up as business is booming. Mongolia provides all the information you'll need to arrange an unforgettable stay with Mongolian nomads, enjoying the centuries-old lifestyle of a traditional ger.
For many golfers, the innocent thrill of striking a drive clearly, avoiding a deep bunker, or holing out an unlikely putt is all they need to make a round (or a whole year) of golf memorable. But there’s an obsessed subculture of modern players in search of something more. They’ve rediscovered the magic of the game in Adventures in Extreme Golf, and their adventures are about to inspire golfers everywhere. Follow golfers like Andre Tolme and Torsten Schilling who go to Mongolia to play in a par 11,880 course, to 12,000 feet at Snowmass in Aspen, to the “naked open” in New Zealand, and to the freezing temperatures of Antarctica. Duncan Lennard describes a world at the very edge of sport, where the courses may be only ten holes long, but the average length of each hole is 638 yards. Learn that your resilience, and not just a pretty swing, determines your success. Adventures in Extreme Golf will take you all over the world and show you that a par four is nothing compared to these holes. See courses you’ve only seen in your dreams (or rather, your nightmares) and follow Duncan Lennard as he takes you on a trip to see why these courses and holes are considered “extreme.”
This is a tale of the most ambitious round of golf ever conceived — an adventure that spans continents and cultures. The adventure takes you from New Hampshire to Mongolia.
When learning Thomsen was writing Golf: Find Center, Enter the Circle, many had emphasized the diversity of golf due to its natural setting, and golf's natural setting was open to amateurs, professionals, and all ages also. Thomsen was quick to agree. "Golf can serve the needs of many. It's my job to open up to more and increase the standards within the art form--golf." Thomsen said. Some have asked, "Who do you think will read it, Jack?" "Few," came the reply. "Golfers mainly, and only the most obsessive of those. There's no popular market for this book. Materialism is too much in demand, and serving the spirit has become lost in the equation." That brief exchange reveals an unvarnished truth: golf is essentially caught in a materialistic grasp as an overview of the game, and yet as an art form, independent players function in it. the artist Vincent van Gogh had sold few of his paintings. Someone else had done that. Is the treasure the money or the art? Golf: Find Center, Enter the Circle's genesis from a personal journal's beginning had been imbued with a Joycean stream of consciousness that, in its intuitiveness, is likely to engage none but the determined reader. by way of contrast, however, the book's title forthrightly distills Thomsen's thesis. Golf, he asserts, can be a spiritual practice when done as an expression of the golfer's essential self and if engaged in it for the sheer love of golf's diversity, its wholeness, bringing on its transcendental nature. Accept Thomsen's invitation. Turn your attention inward, tap into the answers that are there, feel the resultant centering, the balance, and project that centering--enter the circle. "A liberated person possesses perfect senses and with perfect senses only can serve the sense proprietor," says the Bhagavad Gita.
Michael Kohn, editor of the Mongol Messenger, is one steppe ahead of the journalistic posse in this epic Western set in the Far East. Kohn's book is an irresistible account of a nation where falcon poachers, cattle rustlers, exiled Buddhist leaders, death-defying child jockeys and political assassins vie for page one. The turf war between lamas, shamans, Mormon elders and ministers provides the spiritual backdrop in this nation recently liberated from Soviet orthodoxy. From the reincarnated Bogd Khaan and his press spokesman to vodka-fueled racing entrepreneurs and political leaders unclear on the concept of freedom of the press, Kohn explores one of Asia's most fascinating, mysterious and misunderstood lands.
In this most recent addition to Assouline’s highly covetable and lauded Ultimate Collection, George Peper, former editor in chief of Golf magazine and 2016 PGA Lifetime Achievement Award winner for Journalism, takes readers on an incomparable golf journey as he travels the world detailing the 100 most significant, historically noteworthy, and architecturally paramount courses. Describing intricate holes that have confounded the game’s best, revisiting tournaments that have made and broken champions, and elucidating the unique and truly special characteristics of each course makes Peper the perfect golf partner as he walks readers through the clubhouses, fairways, and bunkers. From greens as old and hallowed as St Andrews to courses celebrating their first anniversary such as Nova Scotia’s Cabot Cliffs, from the island mountain course of China’s Shanqin Bay to the Hamptons’ Maidstone Club, Golf: The Impossible Collection is an unequivocal sensory treat for the golf fanatic, or the perfect feast to feed the wanderlust simmering in all of us.
Golfers often admit that the moment they grip a club in their hands, they lose all sense of rationality. For one thing, some golfers simply don't know when to stop playing--and you might see some of them trying to sink a putt on a busy city sidewalk. These golfers haven't gone totally insane; they've merely joined thousands like themselves who play the latest, coolest, variation on a famous old game. They're playing extreme golf. At last, aficionados of extreme golf have their very own how-to book: The Official Extreme Golf Manual. Here are ideas for playing a quick lunch-break round on the street outside the office . . . or on a ski slope during summer when it's too warm to ski . . . or on an ice pond when the regular golf course has closed for winter! Author Andrew Gellatly--with tongue only slightly in cheek--describes a variation called speed golf, gives advice on proper attire while playing extreme golf, and even offers information on participating in extreme golf competitions. Finally, he warns his readers about certain hazards often encountered by players of this unusual game, and devotes a full chapter titled First Aid for Extreme Golfers. Lovers of golf will love this book--even if they finally decide to stick with more orthodox versions of the game. Illustrations on most pages.