Last week Major Jaswal called me and asked me to help him with the construction of the new course at the Indian army base in Haa. Having really no idea what this entailed, but eager to break away from my simple yet predictable life in Thimphu, I jumped at the chance.
The driver of my ambassador, Neshar, was a chatty jovial fellow from the "hill country" of India. Quite obviously from the Brahman caste. During the 3 hour drive we stopped 3 times. First, for tea. A second, to take pictures in front of the ambassador together. A third, to get get some "magical" water flowing out of a mountain near the highest (and coldest) mountain pass. The "magical" water is sprinkled on the wheels of the car (presumably for good luck, a scary thought), but also to refresh weary travels. Since I had just taken tea (about 20 km earlier), and am not particularly fond of unboiled water, I skipped the elixir. After the magic water, a simple game of volume control ensued in which Neshar would turn up the volume of his horrendous Hindi music to obscene volumes to which I would counter by turning it down. After 3 rounds, Neshar won, as I withdrew to the open the window and the breathtaking views below.
When I got to Haa I was greeted warmly by Major Jaswal, who took me for a short tour of the course. Although suffering from an extremely poor design, sand greens (sand and motor oil), and excessive elevation changes, the course had sufficient land and character to be an excellent 9 hole course, if designed properly. Over the next 4 days I did everything I could to convince the big wigs to keep the course fair, difficult, and most of all, safe. You see, the Indians and Bhutanese have this strange disorder that leads them to make golf holes short, goofy, and worst of all criss-crossing. This, in turn, forces the caddies to wear helmets because more than half the holes become death traps. In any case, I was eventually successful in pushing for a relatively strong and charming (at least to me) 9 hole layout with only 1 unavoidable criss cross. The design will be a par 34 or 35 with 2 par fives and 3-4 par 3's.
Next came the start of the work itself. I was amazed to find that I had 24 unskilled workers in addition to a backhoe and a team of skilled engineers, all at my disposal. Unfortunately not single one had any significant golf experience, which made my limited expertise even more influential. Had I decided to put a windmill directly in front of the 1st tee it would take less than a day to divert a stream to power the windmill. Absolutely ridiculous, but very fun. The design features an 8th green in the shape of Bhutan and a 3rd green the shape of India. Exactly the sort of novelty these guys love, yet tastefully done, of course.
Together we embarked on a mammoth redesign project that would easily cost $1,000,000 in the US, yet could be completed for a fraction of the cost here. Just for scope, "casual laborers" can be employed for 4,000 Nu per month, or roughly $85. Try $2,500 back home. And of course, anyone working for the army, such as an engineer, is free, since there really isn't much work for an army officer during peacetime.
Apart from the pure excitement of being able to design and construct a golf course, something few golf professionals ever get to do, the project presented the unique opportunity to barter my expertise for the promise of a 5-day-a-week youth golf program open to all the kids in Haa. To understand how great of a concession this is you need to understand the army mentality on this side of the world, which tends to see army land as strictly army land, not open to outsiders. I'll be back to Haa next week to continue what will hopefully be a long and fruitful relationship between the Indian army and the BYGA!
