Yo!
I’m absolutely exhausted. This week there was one thing that felt like that consumed my whole time, volunteering at the Turkish Airlines Open (golf) from Wednesday – Sunday.
Having already had plenty of golf experience, there’s definitely a newfound respect for pro golfers. Especially those on the European Tour who bounce from country to country year round. Jet lag pros!
The knee is still being a pain in the arse too.
Sports Travel Weekly Shit With Jub – October 30th – November 5th.
Monday was the last full day in Istanbul which was a dead day really. I went for a bit of an adventure with an Italian lad from the hostel which was cool. Anyway, it was a long night as I stayed awake for to 6.30am Tuesday flight to Antalya. First impressions of Antalya are all very positive (I passed out on the bus to the airport and woke up two hours later still on the bus…guessing I went city – airport – city – airport?).
Volunteering At The Turkish Airlines Open
Wednesday was an optional day for all golf volunteers. I attempted to register but after underestimating the time it’d take to get there I was late, but everyone was lovely who was still there
Thursday morning, I was awake at 5 am (had to buy an alarm clock), to make sure I made it to the course before 8.30am for registration/training. Thank god for the limited field (78 players), meaning the starting times were a reasonable 10 am.
Initially the plan was to catch the 6.10am bus leaving from the big bus station (which I had to walk to as the trams don’t start well after 6.30). I thought I’d be running the final 9km to the course but thankfully public transport was found after 2km or so.
What helped me wake up each morning was the epic breakfast put on for the volunteers each morning, that was incredibly vegan-friendly. I was eating, walnuts, spuds, tomatoes, mushrooms, olives, and spinach each morning. Brilliant!
My job to start was ball spotting for the tee shots on the short dogleg right Par 5 12th. Not going to lie, I was bloody nervous that I’d fuck up. Not being able to find someone’s ball or pissing a player off somehow.
Thankfully I lost no balls and didn’t (knowingly) piss any players off. I spent the first two days on the 12th and the weekend on the 4th. The 4th hole was more active with players finding the trees on the right and the rough on the righthand side an easy bail out option. The 4th hole also had port-a-loo’s close by which some people made a bee-line for at times, crossing the fairway willy-nilly (I had to try and prevent this).
A couple people snuck through while I was busy with the balls, moving the ropes and stuff, but I managed to push the limits of several bladders people by ensuring they followed the paths.
Overall I had a great experience and if I’m anywhere near Turkey this time next year, will come back again (if they have me back). Everyone is super duper friendly and they look after the volunteers enough that I felt appreciated. And on a selfish note, I got to see some great golf being played.
I’ll be writing up a full report on the week in the next few days.
Aren’t You Supposed To Be Running, Jub?
I thought I’d be running 9km for all four golf days at one point. This wasn’t necessary for the en so there was no running this week. My knee is still a bit sore and swollen, so will be doing my best this week to give it a full day of rest on Monday (today) and hopefully run a lot the rest of the week.
What I’m Reading
Zilch. My phone is still out of action. Definitely, could have used a book for the long travel days. Nearly got the phone fixed, but am desperately wanting to keep the photos if possible.
Something Interesting
The article below about the marathon man is pretty fun. Age is just a number, right?
What’s Happing Next Week?
I’m writing this from my super duper (not fancy at all) hostel bed in Antalya. I’m going to try and rest all Monday, with my biggest journey the 20-minute walk to the supermarket via, hopefully, the laundrette and if need be, the unofficial Apple stores (can’t get the phone fixed in Turkey because of silly politics). The rest of the week is all about running, I think an hour a day Tuesday – Saturday. Don’t think I’ll be leaving Antalya at all and I’m okay with that.
Thanks for reading! Have the best week ever.
