breathing after our round. The hospital in Malaga was understaffed, and if not for Zahalka’s insistent but respectful intervention, it’s almost certain the popped lung wouldn’t have been correctly diag- nosed. The man and his wife had to stay extra days for the pressure in his lung to stabilise, so they didn’t join the final leg home, but he was alive and cheerful at the last breakfast. Over the Atlantic, an hour shy of Miami and completing our circumnavigation of the Earth, the captain came out to lead a champagne toast with the crew. I can’t remember exactly what was said, but the words were well-chosen and prompted folks to get out of their seats and stroll the aisle wishing farewells. Many promises were made to stay in touch. “Next time, we’re bringing our kids,” said the fi- nancial advisor from Long Island to a couple who pledged to do the same. Was it worth it? Eighteen days of travel above my station re- vealed the final maths as obvious – if you’re con- cerned at all about cost, this trip is not for you. What has stayed with me was an observation from Jill Peacock. She had said it only to me on the yacht back in Sydney Harbour, when the sun- set was kissing all our faces, and no one was con- cerned about what came next. “In this life you want to travel either very high or very low,” said Jill. “It’s the middle that’s no good.”
determines how people, goods and ideas move across it over time – to paraphrase Professor Keel- ing. Before our final round at Valderrama, Keel- ing noted we were now at the cradle of civilisation. The 1997 Ryder Cup host site is 30 kilometres from the Rock of Gibraltar and the north coast of Afri- ca, where the colder Atlantic plunges underneath the saltier, warmer Mediterranean. For ancient Greek and Phoenician sailors, this was the end of the world. To this day, it’s a critical chokepoint of global shipping that the British won’t let the Span- ish have back. Keeling calls cruise lecturing “a pretty good re- tirement gig” and is accustomed to being the most sought dining companion on trips. Over a lovely paella and tempranillo, I admitted to him, bash- fully, that I had chosen to play Finca Cortesin over visiting the Pablo Picasso museum. Keeling kindly reassured a desire to play the great courses of the world didn’t make one a Philistine. However, in the end it was Dr Ryan Zahalka who became the hero of the trip. Zahalka, just 32, has ministered a diverse array of medical field support in his career, such as Space X astronauts and marathon runners in Antarctica, but this was his first golf mission. The good doctor came up big at La Reserva Club Sotogrande. A self-made man from Washington (“I didn’t know what a stock was when I started in the mail- room at Goldman Sachs”) was having trouble
THE GOOD LIFE (from top, counter- clockwise) Gold trays lined with banana leaf make a classic Thai sharing platter. Ample legroom inside the jet. Cheerful caddies at Red Mountain
G.C. Rooftop swimming at Marina Bay Sands Casino.
GOLF DIGEST SOUTH AFRICA 129
MAY 2026
Made with FlippingBook interactive PDF creator