Brazil, Golf, Olympics, and a Cold Email
The story of how a cold email led to an adventure through a Favela and onto the construction site of The Olympic Golf Course with world-famous architect, Gil Hanse
Rio 2016
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil was announced as the host city to the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in October of 2009. Lots of “firsts” came with this decision: First Olympic Games to be held in South America. First Games to be held in a Portuguese speaking country. First Summer Games to be held during Winter in the host nation’s climate. And first Summer Games in over 100 years to feature Golf as an Olympic sport.
If you know me, you know I love golf and athletics. In fact, I wanted to be a professional golfer for many years growing up before focusing on other athletic pursuits. The Olympics and golf announcement excited me for a few days when the announcement was made before fading away with time. A few years later, however, a fire was lit inside me.
Choices - where to finish undergrad?
In 2013, I had to decide whether to finish my last two class credits during summer school at Cal Poly or study abroad in Florianopolis, Brazil. Since I had not set up any work opportunity for myself, I thought that acquiring life experience through a travel and study abroad experience was right for me. And so it was. I left for Brazil to finish out my undergraduate career.
Living in Florianopolis, Brazil
Living in Brazil was an amazing experience. I loved the culture, the land, the food, the language, and the people. I lived in a family’s home through a homestay program for the duration of my coursework, and they let me stay there after my classes had ended so I could travel around Brazil. At some point, I recalled the Olympics and thought,
“I haven’t seen a single golf course since I’ve been here. Where could they possibly host the greatest players on an Olympic stage?”
So I started digging. I found out that the few golf courses in the Rio de Janeiro area were not at the level of Championship golf courses. A new golf course, designed specifically for the Olympic Games, was in development! The golf course designer and developer was Gil Hanse of Hanse Golf Design. HGD is one of the top golf course architect teams in the world. They’ve restored or renovated courses like TPC Boston, Colonial Country Club, LA Country Club, The Olympic Club, Baltusrol, Winged Foot, The Country Club, Southern Hills, Merion, and many more.
The Cold Email
I threw out a prayer of an email on July 18th, not expecting a response.
Hello,
My name is Jason Peters and I am a student from Cal Poly University in San Luis Obispo, CA. I am currently studying in Florianopolis, Brazil, taking classes in environmental sustainability and Portuguese language at UFSC. I have a keen interest in golf, specifically in the upcoming Olympic Games for the first time since 1900. If possible, I would like to come to see the construction of the new course that you will design in Reserva da Marapendi, Rio De Janeiro. This is a unique opportunity, and I would love to witness the experience since the project goes along with my university studies and interests. I have previously worked at Mission Hills Golf Club in Shenzhen, China, Fan Ling Golf Club in Hong Kong, and several golf courses in Central California, so I have international working experience within the golf industry. I will be in Brazil until late August, so please let me know if there is an opportunity for me to learn from you.
Best Regards,
Jason
Not bad. I had some decent cold email skills at that time.
On July 22, I received a reply:
Jason,
thanks for your email, we would be happy to have you come down and take a look at the site at any time. I will be in Rio from July 30 to August 7 and will have associates on site every other day that I am away. We are still in the rough shaping stage, so there will be no opportunity to work on the course as we are not that far along in the process for finish work, drainage, etc. Let me know what date might work for you and we will be happy to give you a tour and turn you loose to walk around.
all the best,
Gil
I finished my studies in Florianopolis, booked a few nights in a hostel at the top of Favela Vidigal, against my host family’s wishes, and caught my flight to Rio de Janeiro.
Favela Vidigal
I boarded a Favela Vidigal-bound bus, thinking I appropriately communicated my destination to the bus driver. When we passed a stop that looked similar to the photos of Favela Vidigal, I got nervous. Towards the end of the bus line the driver asked,
“Onde voce vai?” Where are you going?
I replied, “Vidigal.”
Exasperated, he said, “Ja passeou!” We passed it.
I ended up catching it on the way back, fortunately.
I stepped off the bus in awe. To one side, a rocky cliff-face with solid, long-period swell crashed below. To the other side towered the top of the favela, the Dois Irmaos peak, and my destination. Motorbikes shuttle people up and down the favela for a fair fare. I communicated my destination to one guy and before I knew it I was riding in the backseat of a motorcycle, speeding through the twists and turns of the favela roads, catching glimpses of vibrant life in Favela Vidigal. Guards with big guns, people walking with flip flops and loud colorful clothing, kids smiling in uniform, Supermercados, and little corner stores with ice cream. I was wondering when will I get dropped off? The further we went up, the more nervous I got. We ended up at the very top of the mountain; literally the end of the road. The motorbike driver motioned to a narrow staircase for me to walk down. At this point I was expecting armed men to come out and rob me. It was the most vulnerable I felt the entire trip at that point. I will say, though, it would have been the most beautiful location in the world to be robbed at! Luckily that didn’t happen, and I walked down to the hostel, checked in, and found my bunkbed.
There was a small burner and pan in the hostel, so I walked down to the supermercado and grabbed some vegetables: onions, squash, garlic, potatoes, zuchinni, and some eggs. I stir-fried these ingredients with a couple fried eggs on top.
After dinner that night, I started plotting my directions for the next day’s adventure to the Olympic Golf Course to meet Gil Hanse.
Mission: El Campo de Golfe
I confirmed my appointment with Mr. Hanse and received this email after a few back-and-forths.
It works for me, I will leave your name at the gate. The gate is hard to see but it is cut into the corrugated metal fence that is covered with grafitti, just before a bus stop turn out lane on Avenida das Americas.
Budgeting enough time to be 2 hours early to our appointment, I woke up early and walked, observing the dawn rumblings in the Favela. I walked all the way to the main road, expecting to catch a bus West to the Barra de Tijuca area. Unfortunately, the main road turns into a one way street in the mornings, with all traffic flowing toward the city center of Rio de Janeiro, in the opposite direction from where I needed to be.
This threw my travel plans into a tailspin. I had to backtrack all the way into the city, and then navigate to a golf course that nobody knew about.
For the next three hours, I tested Portuguese language skills to their limit, waited for busses that never came, tried talking with police officers and grandma’s, went the wrong way again and had to walk back, walked through a homeless encampment, trespassed into a vacation property, and finally found a taxi driver who took me up and down the streets as we tried to find the correct corrugated fence with graffiti.
The taxi driver surely appreciated the fare I was racking up, but had some sympathy for me. “Onde voce vai amigo?” Where the hell are you actually going, kid?
I had him drop me off and I decided to walk up and down the side of the Rio de Janeiro highway. Finally, I found it. The guard expected me, and as I checked in I caught a glimpse of Gil using a bulldozer to shape dirt on what I now know is the 17th green - a short par-3.
Gil handed me a set of architectural plans for the golf course, and let me walk the barren land. There were posts in the dirt indicating where fairways, greens, and bunkering would be. In three years, Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson would be battling for Olympic Gold at this very site.
We went in his bulletproof van and had lunch at an executive canteen. He bought me lunch and we talked. I won’t go into too much detail of our interactions - that will be for another post.
I shadowed Gil to the printer to print large blueprints, and finally we said goodbye, or t’chau.
Wrapup
The way back was much easier. Traffic flowed in the right direction, and I got off at the right stop back to my favela. That night, I visited a pizza shop and ate. The sounds of Brazilian funk music blared throughout the Favela, as I watched the flickering lights of the below beaches Ipanema and Copacabana.
This experience was challenging, eventful, and good practice in networking. There is no harm in sending a cold email to follow your dreams. Just make it thoughtful, and prepare to follow through with your request under any challenging circumstance if the person says “yes.”
I will always remember this, and one day I hope to play the golf course I once visited as construction broke ground.