Kevin Brand has traveled to over 53 different countries around the world, both working as a professional golf instructor and as a tourist. Before he came to Mongolia, he worked as a professional in India at a golf club which is almost 200 years old.
-How long have you been teaching a golf?
-I am 44 years old now, and I have been a PGA golf professional for 24 years. I have taught golf around the world, but mainly in the UK and India. This is my fourth year in UB.
-What is your position here?
-I have two positions here. One position is a golf coach. The other job is helping run Skyresort golf club. I am here for eight months a year. I come March 01 and leave Nov 01. The outside golf course is open from Apr 01 until October 01.
-How many active golfers in Mongolia?
-At that moment we probably have one hundred Mongolians who play golf regularly. In Mongolia we still need at least one or two hundred more golfers. Our golf course can take easily one hundred people a day. So if people play two times a week, you need three or two hundred golfers to be able to fill the golf course every day. That is my objective.
I want 50 golfers and I am going to give them free group golf lessons.
This year my plan is to try actively get young people to play golf. My plan is to encourage new golfers aged 12 to 26. I want 50 golfers and I am going to give them free group golf lessons. I have got some sponsorship that will help. Particularly, Mongolian ladies seem to be able to be good at golf.
-More on that free lessons, please?
-I have the same expenses if ten people play golf or a hundred people play golf. I have got to get more people playing golf. Mongolians not just the ladies and the men as well are easy to teach. But most people particularly young people know nothing about golf. That is my job to try to explain them.
What I want to do this year is to give people opportunity to try it. Once you try it not everyone likes it. Not everyone has the time. But if I can get 100 people to try it, if 25 of those people decided to play that would be fantastic.
-Why Mongolian ladies so easy to teach?
-I do not know why. All people asked me that question. I taught golf in India and England. Those countries lots of the ladies can play golf but they generate no power. Mongolian ladies seem to be really mentally very strong and can hit the ball very hard and which is fantastic. That is my only thought why they play so well I do not know. I feel they are very easy to teach.
For golf to be successful, as in the West, the normal ratio you would get three men playing of every one lady. That is so normal. At the moment here, we have been 10 or 12 to one. The ratio is not good enough. We need golf to be a family game. My wife who does play and we often play golf together. So golf is a game when man and ladies can play together and compete. Men and ladies golf holes are different lengths, ladies play shorter hole. This makes it fair. So me as a professional golfer I would start one point. A regular man would start 15 meters closer all ladies can be 100 meters shorter. We could play together but my golf hole is 100 meters longer than yours. So ladies have this advantage. I am twice your size but it would not be a problem. It is a very fair game. I am just trying to get people aware of the in Mongolia.
Also in Mongolia, for June, July, August, September, we have perfect golfing conditions. Low humidity, not very much rain and the temperature ranges from 21-23C. It is a perfect condition. Playing golf in places like Thailand and part of China where you can get 35C and 100% humidity is not fun. Here we have 35 golf carts. However in Mongolia, you do not really need to use them, because the conditions are not that difficult. In Thailand you have to use them, because you will be so tired walking around. The advantage of not using the carts can become cheaper and you get fitter.
Golf at the weekend will never be cheap in Mongolia. Outside golf costs so much money to operate. We only have good four months plus or minus one month at start and end of season. This is depending on the weather. However we have to have the same machinery that golf course in the West, which have operational 12 months a year. So we have all the expenses but not the same length of playing season. So we can never have big discounts at the weekend.
-So Mongolia is opportunity for golfers, right?
-100 percent. MCS spent huge amount of money developing it. So the opportunity is there.
However in Mongolia, since the clocks have changed, it would be cold but we could still able to play golf until 9pm. By 1st May we can play until 9:30 at night. So I actively try to control or organize this year as golf after work. So you can finish work at 6 o`clock, as the golf course is only 15 minutes from the city, you could be here at 6:30, you could play nine holes easily and 18 holes possibly. Again comparative places in Thailand and Singapore where it is closer to the equator you can`t play after work, as it is dark by 6 o`clock. So the only golf people can play in leisure time is weekends. Here we have a long day, but we do not get yet have a huge amount of golfers. I have the same expenses if ten people play golf or a hundred people play golf. I have got to get more people playing golf. Mongolians, not just the ladies, but the men are easy to teach, however most people particularly young people know nothing about golf. It is my job to try to introduce golf to as many people as possible. All of the infrastructure is now it place in UB for golf to success. We just need to market golf to the masses.
What I want to do this year is to give people opportunity to try it. Once you try it maybe you will continue to play, if I can get 100 people to try it, and 25 of those people decided to play that would be fantastic.
-How about the ages of players?
-There is no age limit for golf. Anyone from seven years old can play golf. Under seven years old could be a little problem. Because they do not really understand the safety concept. In the UK many people play golf until they are 90 years old.
It is a very social game, which can be played with your wife, children and all of your friends. Anyone from 7 years old can play golf.
-What are the benefits of playing golf?
-Golf has so many benefits. Firstly it is a great way to get fit. If you walk 18 holes it coverts into 12 km. I like to walk when playing golf. I do not like using golf cart. If I play 18 holes of golf, it takes four hours. I am walking about 10 to 12 km. So you can get fit.
It is a very social game, which can be played with your wife, children and all of your friends. Anyone from 7 years old can play golf.
Golf also has rules about how you should play golf with regard to politeness and fairness. The golf is very fair game. You are supposed to be very polite while you are playing and treat people fairly. So for children, the rules of golf can also be used in life.
The golf is good for your brain as well, as you have to think. Children can play golf in a safe and structured environment. When I was young, my parents used to take me to the golf club 8am and pick me up 8pm. I loved it. We have safe and structured environment, we have lot of junior lessons when children can come along and be left for many hours in the safe environment.
Also you have screen golf in town which is the huge parts of Mongolian golf. Five months of a year, you can not play outside. Also you can play screen golf for 10,000 tugrugs. You can go on use Sky Resort’s driving range for 7,000 tugrug. But to play golf outside at the weekend will always be more expensive. Some people will never be able to afford play weekend golf in Mongolia because of the cost. I can make it cheaper on Monday, Tuesday, and the evenings.
-Mongolians tend to think that golf is a sport for only rich people?
-It is not just in Mongolia it is a problem in Asia generally. I am not going to deny that. I could never make golf as cheap as basketball. It is not going to happen. What Mongolia does need is nine hole beginner golf course. The government should allow a company to put down a city golf course. You can have artificial greens. Probably 30% of our running cost are spending on just keeping the greens alive. You could have modern plastic greens with no maintenance. If we had that people could play golf for 30000 tugrugs easily.
You could have use modern plastic greens with no maintenance. Probably 30 % of our running cost are spending on just keeping the greens alive. The grasses on our greens are very delicate. We have to protect them. We keep the black covers on the greens all over the winter. If the weather is warmer, we take off the cover at day so the sun get in to the grass and put them back on at night.
By having the black covers on the grasses, the ground is 5 or 6 degrees warmer but also Mongolia has dry atmosphere. If we take the covers off too early the greens could die. day as the moisture would disappear within half an hour. The covers will be put away in May until the end of the summer. The grass is fine during the summer because we have 2000 water sprinkles underground. But we can not use those sprinkles until the temperature is warm enough. At the moment we have a surface irrigation system. We have big black pipes where the staff can water by hand. On 20th April, when the temperature gets warmer, we can then use underground watering system. At that moment we can not use it. Because if it freezes, it would be huge problem to us.
So not just in Mongola, Asians think that golf is rich persons sport but it does not need to be. Young people should be able to come when we are not busy. We have seven days a week with lots of daylight from May to August. I can make it cheaper certain times, and I need people to know this. I want to work with local schools and colleges and make golf accessable during quit times of the week.
Kevin Brand has traveled to over 53 different countries around the world, both working as a professional golf instructor and as a tourist. Before he came to Mongolia, he worked as a professional in India at a golf club which is almost 200 years old.
-How long have you been teaching a golf?
-I am 44 years old now, and I have been a PGA golf professional for 24 years. I have taught golf around the world, but mainly in the UK and India. This is my fourth year in UB.
-What is your position here?
-I have two positions here. One position is a golf coach. The other job is helping run Skyresort golf club. I am here for eight months a year. I come March 01 and leave Nov 01. The outside golf course is open from Apr 01 until October 01.
-How many active golfers in Mongolia?
-At that moment we probably have one hundred Mongolians who play golf regularly. In Mongolia we still need at least one or two hundred more golfers. Our golf course can take easily one hundred people a day. So if people play two times a week, you need three or two hundred golfers to be able to fill the golf course every day. That is my objective.
I want 50 golfers and I am going to give them free group golf lessons.
This year my plan is to try actively get young people to play golf. My plan is to encourage new golfers aged 12 to 26. I want 50 golfers and I am going to give them free group golf lessons. I have got some sponsorship that will help. Particularly, Mongolian ladies seem to be able to be good at golf.
-More on that free lessons, please?
-I have the same expenses if ten people play golf or a hundred people play golf. I have got to get more people playing golf. Mongolians not just the ladies and the men as well are easy to teach. But most people particularly young people know nothing about golf. That is my job to try to explain them.
What I want to do this year is to give people opportunity to try it. Once you try it not everyone likes it. Not everyone has the time. But if I can get 100 people to try it, if 25 of those people decided to play that would be fantastic.
-Why Mongolian ladies so easy to teach?
-I do not know why. All people asked me that question. I taught golf in India and England. Those countries lots of the ladies can play golf but they generate no power. Mongolian ladies seem to be really mentally very strong and can hit the ball very hard and which is fantastic. That is my only thought why they play so well I do not know. I feel they are very easy to teach.
For golf to be successful, as in the West, the normal ratio you would get three men playing of every one lady. That is so normal. At the moment here, we have been 10 or 12 to one. The ratio is not good enough. We need golf to be a family game. My wife who does play and we often play golf together. So golf is a game when man and ladies can play together and compete. Men and ladies golf holes are different lengths, ladies play shorter hole. This makes it fair. So me as a professional golfer I would start one point. A regular man would start 15 meters closer all ladies can be 100 meters shorter. We could play together but my golf hole is 100 meters longer than yours. So ladies have this advantage. I am twice your size but it would not be a problem. It is a very fair game. I am just trying to get people aware of the in Mongolia.
Also in Mongolia, for June, July, August, September, we have perfect golfing conditions. Low humidity, not very much rain and the temperature ranges from 21-23C. It is a perfect condition. Playing golf in places like Thailand and part of China where you can get 35C and 100% humidity is not fun. Here we have 35 golf carts. However in Mongolia, you do not really need to use them, because the conditions are not that difficult. In Thailand you have to use them, because you will be so tired walking around. The advantage of not using the carts can become cheaper and you get fitter.
Golf at the weekend will never be cheap in Mongolia. Outside golf costs so much money to operate. We only have good four months plus or minus one month at start and end of season. This is depending on the weather. However we have to have the same machinery that golf course in the West, which have operational 12 months a year. So we have all the expenses but not the same length of playing season. So we can never have big discounts at the weekend.
-So Mongolia is opportunity for golfers, right?
-100 percent. MCS spent huge amount of money developing it. So the opportunity is there.
However in Mongolia, since the clocks have changed, it would be cold but we could still able to play golf until 9pm. By 1st May we can play until 9:30 at night. So I actively try to control or organize this year as golf after work. So you can finish work at 6 o`clock, as the golf course is only 15 minutes from the city, you could be here at 6:30, you could play nine holes easily and 18 holes possibly. Again comparative places in Thailand and Singapore where it is closer to the equator you can`t play after work, as it is dark by 6 o`clock. So the only golf people can play in leisure time is weekends. Here we have a long day, but we do not get yet have a huge amount of golfers. I have the same expenses if ten people play golf or a hundred people play golf. I have got to get more people playing golf. Mongolians, not just the ladies, but the men are easy to teach, however most people particularly young people know nothing about golf. It is my job to try to introduce golf to as many people as possible. All of the infrastructure is now it place in UB for golf to success. We just need to market golf to the masses.
What I want to do this year is to give people opportunity to try it. Once you try it maybe you will continue to play, if I can get 100 people to try it, and 25 of those people decided to play that would be fantastic.
-How about the ages of players?
-There is no age limit for golf. Anyone from seven years old can play golf. Under seven years old could be a little problem. Because they do not really understand the safety concept. In the UK many people play golf until they are 90 years old.
It is a very social game, which can be played with your wife, children and all of your friends. Anyone from 7 years old can play golf.
-What are the benefits of playing golf?
-Golf has so many benefits. Firstly it is a great way to get fit. If you walk 18 holes it coverts into 12 km. I like to walk when playing golf. I do not like using golf cart. If I play 18 holes of golf, it takes four hours. I am walking about 10 to 12 km. So you can get fit.
It is a very social game, which can be played with your wife, children and all of your friends. Anyone from 7 years old can play golf.
Golf also has rules about how you should play golf with regard to politeness and fairness. The golf is very fair game. You are supposed to be very polite while you are playing and treat people fairly. So for children, the rules of golf can also be used in life.
The golf is good for your brain as well, as you have to think. Children can play golf in a safe and structured environment. When I was young, my parents used to take me to the golf club 8am and pick me up 8pm. I loved it. We have safe and structured environment, we have lot of junior lessons when children can come along and be left for many hours in the safe environment.
Also you have screen golf in town which is the huge parts of Mongolian golf. Five months of a year, you can not play outside. Also you can play screen golf for 10,000 tugrugs. You can go on use Sky Resort’s driving range for 7,000 tugrug. But to play golf outside at the weekend will always be more expensive. Some people will never be able to afford play weekend golf in Mongolia because of the cost. I can make it cheaper on Monday, Tuesday, and the evenings.
-Mongolians tend to think that golf is a sport for only rich people?
-It is not just in Mongolia it is a problem in Asia generally. I am not going to deny that. I could never make golf as cheap as basketball. It is not going to happen. What Mongolia does need is nine hole beginner golf course. The government should allow a company to put down a city golf course. You can have artificial greens. Probably 30% of our running cost are spending on just keeping the greens alive. You could have modern plastic greens with no maintenance. If we had that people could play golf for 30000 tugrugs easily.
You could have use modern plastic greens with no maintenance. Probably 30 % of our running cost are spending on just keeping the greens alive. The grasses on our greens are very delicate. We have to protect them. We keep the black covers on the greens all over the winter. If the weather is warmer, we take off the cover at day so the sun get in to the grass and put them back on at night.
By having the black covers on the grasses, the ground is 5 or 6 degrees warmer but also Mongolia has dry atmosphere. If we take the covers off too early the greens could die. day as the moisture would disappear within half an hour. The covers will be put away in May until the end of the summer. The grass is fine during the summer because we have 2000 water sprinkles underground. But we can not use those sprinkles until the temperature is warm enough. At the moment we have a surface irrigation system. We have big black pipes where the staff can water by hand. On 20th April, when the temperature gets warmer, we can then use underground watering system. At that moment we can not use it. Because if it freezes, it would be huge problem to us.
So not just in Mongola, Asians think that golf is rich persons sport but it does not need to be. Young people should be able to come when we are not busy. We have seven days a week with lots of daylight from May to August. I can make it cheaper certain times, and I need people to know this. I want to work with local schools and colleges and make golf accessable during quit times of the week.