Bhutan "Land of the Thunder Dragon"

Junior World Championship Qualifier

2009-06-22T04:22:00.002+06:00

Bright future awaits Bhutanese golfer

Sat, May 23, 2009 to del.icio.us

BY MATT DEYOUNG
mdeyoung@grandhaventribune.com

When Scott Janus arrived in the Kingdom of Bhutan to teach the game of golf to the nation's youth, his task was met with open skepticism by many in the poor, impoverished country.

"When I got to the country, many people were grateful, but some of them were wondering why I was coaching golf in the Himalayas," Janus said. "They asked, 'How is this going to help our country? Our country's poor.'

"I told them, golf can bring a lot of opportunities to your kids. The locals said that none of these kids will ever have an opportunity, but I told them that golf can bridge amazing gaps."

It turns out, Janus was right.

Earlier this spring, one of the golfers Janus instructed in Bhutan, 16-year-old Jeevan Gurung, placed second at a World Junior Championships qualifying event in Vietnam, shooting an 18-over 162. That finish allowed him to compete against junior golfers from across the globe at the Nick Faldo Series Asia Grand Final in China, held this past March.

"When I met Jeevan, he had a lot of talent, but his skills were very raw," Janus said. "He had been playing for three years, and he had a lot of skill. As soon as you see those skills, you want to help that kid get to the next level.

"We would work on a lot of tour-level stuff. I gave him a tour-level pre-shot routine, making sure he new how to compete against international competition."

Gurung absorbed Janus' instruction like a sponge.

"These kids were so happy to have an American coach, and were so eager to learn," Janus said. "I worked with them every day, five days a week, about two hours a day. That was 90 percent of my time out there."

Gurung finds it comical that his accomplishment is newsworthy half a world away.

"It's really interesting that the people from the newspaper wants to write about golf," Gurung said in an e-mail to Janus earlier this week. "If I talk about the improvement you brought in my game, there are lots to tell as you were the first coach to teach me not to take over swing and to maintain that 'L' shape in the backswing.

"Your help in putting also had a lot of impact on my game, which made me feel comfortable in China and also in Vietnam. And I even enjoyed playing in both the places, which according to you was the No. 1 rule in golf."

Janus knew many of the kids he taught had bright futures ahead of them, but he never would have dreamed one would achieve the success Gurung has enjoyed so quickly.

"My reaction was that it's just unbelievable for a kid to come out of the Himalayas to compete at a world competition," Janus said. "He played at the World Junior Championships at Mission Hills in China, the biggest golf establishment in the world.

"I think this is only a stepping stone for him. Who knows what can happen as a result? He could possibly earn a college scholarship to play here in the States."

Which goes to prove Janus was right — the game of golf opens doors that would never be otherwise accessible.

"Jeevan was a kid who may never have been able to leave Bhutan. Now, they're flying him to Vietnam and China. Most of these kids don't ever have the opportunity to travel, but he gets these experiences because of the game of golf. That's why I told them, golf can bridge a lot of gaps, open a lot of doors."

A Whole New World

2008-07-11T21:00:00.002+06:00

A whole new world

Tue, Jun 24, 2008

Editor's Note: The

following is the first in a two-part series about Grand Haven golf professional Scott Janus' trip to teach golf in the Kingdom of Bhutan.

BY MATT DEYOUNG

mdeyoung@grandhaventribune.com

Most Americans are quite familiar with Tibet, but ask the same people what they know about the Kingdom of Bhutan and you're likely to get nothing more than a blank stare.

It's not surprising. The Kingdom of Bhutan is a relatively small country — roughly a fifth the size of the state of Michigan — located just south of Tibet in the eastern Himalayas.

Up until the last quarter century, foreign visitors were not allowed in Bhutan, and even in 2006, just 12,000 tourists were permitted to enter the country for a taste of Bhutan's Buddhist culture.

Nine out of 10 Bhutanese are farmers, and the nation's No. 1 pastime is archery.

All that being said, Bhutan would seem like an odd place for a golf professional to spend nearly six months.

But that's exactly where Scott Janus found himself this past year, hired as the golf coach for the Kingdom of Bhutan.

"My three main tasks were to teach the youth of Thimphu (Bhutan's capital city), to coach the officials of the Indian army, and to implement golf into the schools," said Janus, 30, who now runs the Janus Golf Academy at Grand Haven Golf Club.

Janus, a native of Chicago, interviewed for the position in Bhutan with Rick Lipsey of Sports Illustrated, a member of the Bhutan Youth Golf Association.

After doing some research on his destination, Janus began a voyage across 12 time zones, a trip right out of an Indiana Jones film. He flew from Chicago to Detroit to Tokyo, then from Tokyo to Bangkok, before flying into Thimphu.

"The trip took 28 hours of travel time," Janus said.

"The first thing I noticed was there was a dirt road from the airport to the capital," Janus said. "It took us about three hours. Most of the roads in the country haven't been developed. It was really interesting. Their entire culture is still intact. They still wear native clothing every day. It was very different, living on the other side of the earth. It was a totally different culture. It was exciting to see a country that just got television in 1995 and the Internet in 2002."

Janus spent a majority of his stay in Thimphu, where he lived in a modern apartment building, complete with electricity and running water. The apartment complex housed guests of the nation who were experts in various fields, from the arts to professional trades.

Another resident of the complex was Ugen Tshering. Throughout most of its history, Bhutan's government has been run by a monarchy, but during Janus' stay, the king gave up the power of his position in favor of a democratic government, and Tshering won the first public election ever held in the country.

"It's the first peaceful transition from a monarchy to a democracy in the history of democracy," Janus said. "The king gave up his power to the people. He gave up his rule in the favor of a democracy."

Visitors to Bhutan are typically kept under strict watch. Visa fees are among the highest in the world at $200 per day, and tourists can only stay for 14 days. To stay longer, you must be invited by the royal family. Since Janus' stay was by invitation, he was free to come and go as he pleased during his time in Thimphu.

While Michigan is home to hundreds of golf courses, the entire Kingdom of Bhutan features just seven golf courses, mostly of the nine-hole variety.

"There are three in the capital, one in Ha, and the remaining courses were built and are owned by the Indian army," Janus said. "Most of them are in pretty good condition. I'd say there are three championship courses."

Janus said the popularity of the game of golf is growing rapidly across Asia, especially in India and China, where the number of golf courses has risen dramatically over the past decade.

The Indian army occupies Bhutan as peace keepers and defenders of the nation. The officers in the Indian army are golf fanatics, and part of Janus' duty in Bhutan was to help sharpen the game of these officers.

"Golf is just exploding in Asia," Janus said. "China had five golf courses in 2002, and now there are over 380. In Thailand and India, it's just erupting. It's by far the fastest-growing sport in Asia. It's all because of Tiger Woods.

"Golf is intertwined into the Indian army. The Indian embassy housed a nine-hole course. They were very passionate and very grateful to have a professional coach.

"They took full advantage of it. I had a full military transport to the embassy."

But teaching golf to Indian military officials didn't have nearly the effect on Janus as teaching the game to the children of Bhutan.

———

Check out Wednesday's Tribune to read about Janus' experiences teaching golf to the youth of Bhutan.

Coaching at 14,000 Feet

2008-07-11T20:51:00.001+06:00

Teaching at 14,000 feet

Wed, Jun 25, 2008 to del.icio.us

Editor's Note: This is the second in a two-part series on Grand Haven golf professional Scott Janus' trip to teach golf in the Kingdom of Bhutan. The first part can be viewed at www.grandhaventribune.com.

BY MATT DEYOUNG

mdeyoung@grandhaventribune.com

As the golf coach for the Kingdom of Bhutan, Scott Janus had three objectives: to teach golf to the officials in the Indian army, to teach the game to the children of Bhutan and to introduce golf into the nation's school system.

The latter two aspects of Janus' nearly six-month visit to Bhutan created truly unforgettable memories for the 30-year-old Chicago native who now runs the Janus Golf School at the Grand Haven Golf Course.

"The most interesting part of my stay was taking a 25-day trip across Bhutan," Janus said. "I traveled over 1,200 kilometers to help implement golf into the schools. I got to stay five days at each school."

Janus was assigned a driver and a four-wheel-drive sport-utility vehicle, and together, they braved Bhutan's dangerously inadequate roads through the eastern Himalayas Mountains, visiting schools along the way. Some schools, however, couldn't be reached by roads.

"One of my favorite trips was to Gasa Secondary School," Janus said. "It's just a few miles south of Tibet. We had to drive eight hours down dirt roads, and we literally came to the end of the road. They called it the end point.

"From there, a porter met us with six ponies, and we trekked for six hours through trails to get to the town of Gasa."

While the town itself has a population of just 50 people, the secondary school is home to 102 children.

Click to enlarge
"Kids will walk up to 2 1/2 hours each way each day to attend this school," Janus said. "It was just so cool. The town was at about 14,000 feet. It was just amazing to see how desolate (it was), a town that has no road to it, and doesn't get many outside visitors. The kids were just so grateful to be able to learn about golf. Most of them had heard about it, but they don't have TVs or the Internet, so they didn't think they'd ever have the opportunity to play golf."

Janus started with the bare basics, teaching the rules of the game, then began working on teaching the students everything from proper grip and stance to finer points of swing mechanics. He even helped them build a few golf courses. These courses weren't modern nine-hole layouts with well-manicured tee-boxes, fairways and greens. Since Bhutan is located entirely in the mountains, Janus and his students took advantage of any flat piece of land to bury a cup, adorn it with a flag, and call it good.

Click to enlarge
"We actually built small junior courses in each spot," Janus said. "We cut holes, put flags in, and made tee boxes. Their lawn mowers are the goats.

"Technically, golf started with farmers in Scotland who would shoot toward a rabbit hole out in a field. They didn't have manicured greens or course layouts. They just went to a hole in the ground, so that's how I know this could happen. That's how golf was invented, so why not go back to how it originated in Scotland?"

Students in Bhutan are required to speak English as a secondary language, so Janus had a relatively easy time communicating with his pupils. They treated him like royalty.

"They were very grateful to have a coach from America," said Janus, noting that not everyone knew where America was.

"The kids in Gasa had never heard of America. When you don't have television or the Internet, you don't know about the rest of the world.

"Everything was 'yes, coach,' or 'yes, sir.' I could never carry a bag. As soon as it was on my shoulder, they would grab it and carry it. They knew it was a great opportunity, and they didn't take it for grated. They just constantly said 'thank you.'

"We went all the way from basic fundamentals to advanced swing mechanics. I taught them the same way I would teach a collegiate champion or a tour professional. Some of them were very good. I taught them everything from etiquette to rules to swing mechanics. Everything had to deal with golf."

A majority of the golf equipment in Bhutan is donated through the Bhutan Youth Golf Association, which was created by Sports Illustrated writer Rick Lipsey. Most of the clubs are old hand-me-downs, but during Janus' last week in Bhutan, Taylor Made donated 40 sets of youth clubs to the nation.

"That was pretty cool, unpacking 40 brand new sets of clubs for the kids. They were thrilled," Janus said.

Since his trip to Bhutan, Janus has devoted himself to building better golfers across West Michigan through his golf school. But even helping turn a weekend hacker into a scratch golfer wouldn't bring about the satisfaction of sharing the game with hundreds of wide-eyed young Bhutanese children.

Front Page of the Tribune Sports Section

2008-06-26T09:03:00.004+06:00

This weeks Tribune Sports section featured two articles describing some of the various experience while coaching golf in the Kingdom of Bhutan. Click on http://www.grandhaventribune.com/liveique/b_sports.bsp to check out the story.

Getting Golf into the Schools

2008-05-28T08:59:00.007+06:00

Spectators at our Golf Tournament in Mongar,Bhutan

This 21 day trip was sponsored by the Bhutan Youth Golf Association. The objective was to help implement golf into the Lower Secondary schools in 7 different districts throughout Bhutan. The trip covered over 1200 kl.

The King's Birthday

2008-02-22T17:38:00.005+06:00

The King's Birthday was a memorable event that included great entertainment, drinks, and music.

Photos from Bhutan

2008-01-25T18:52:00.000+06:00

The views from Punakha Valley are breathtaking . One of many trips to come:)

Thimphu to Punakha

2008-01-12T21:30:00.000+06:00

The 2 & 1/2 hour drive through some of the most beautiful scenery in the world. Our first stop was Chimi Lhakang & just behind the Lhakang lies one of the most serreal views one will ever see in a lifetime. The only occurance that would top the view was a blessing from Je Khenpo:)

Thimphu

2007-12-30T15:06:00.000+06:00

Visit to Cheri Goemba

Cheri Goemba

2007-12-30T14:41:00.000+06:00

Top Junior Golfers in Bhutan

Bhutan

2007-11-30T16:55:00.000+06:00

Upon arrival to Bhutan:

Royal Thimphu Golf Club from Wangditse Goemba.