Montgomerie Links, Vietnam
partner in a business that revolved around his
passion. It was a company that would run itself,
more or less, at least from Mark’s point of view.
But as it often goes with a startup, “life” was
just around the corner.
Long before he ever heard of it, Golf Asian
started out, prior to internet searches, as a
guide book to golf in Thailand. (Mark still keeps
a few copies as it was a great book with courses
in it that still do not show up on Google or
anywhere else for that matter.) As time went by,
the original publisher received more and more
inquiries about putting tours together and thus
Golf Asian evolved into a golf tour operation.
The publisher, tired of the long hours and
comparatively small margins the tours brought
in, decided to put it up for sale. When Mark
was approached by a local golf professional
with the idea of giving lessons to the tourists
coming in on the trips, it looked like a good
opportunity and a natural fit. So he bought the
company. Then came one of those twists in life
that you can sense might be coming but never
are quite ready for. His partner decided that
giving golf lessons as planned, wasn’t his thing.
What??
As a chemical engineer by trade, wholly
unfamiliar with the tourism business, and new
sole owner of a golf tour company; instead
of divesting, he rolled up his sleeves. In those
glamorous first days, he booked flights, hotels,
and tee times. He drove the van, fixed the flats,
waited in parking lots, fielded unimaginably
absurd inquires, booked r estaurants, drove
clients to bars, to markets, to drug stores, to
tailors. But they all left happy and word spread.
hiring staff and launching a wholly unnecessary
second career. A labor of love, it was, and is.
You know from the easy but enthusiastic telling
of vivid stories and anecdotes with humorous,
thought-provoking, and often touching foci so
familiar to anybody who has traveled or lived in
these parts.
Random head scratching fact from Mark – The
Thailand Tourism Department owns a golf
course they don’t tell anyone about.
Having started by doing everything himself
and still very much “hands on” Mark and Golf
Asian is the only cross regional operator that
has its own employees doing everything.
His successful formula means never using
subcontracted drivers, agents, or guides to
interface with his clients. He owns the vehicles,
his drivers are employees, accountable and
trained. It is a comforting assurance especially
considering the list of common faux pas’
untrained drivers around here commonly, if
innocently commit.
He only will send clients to destinations where
he has an operation and has resisted the
temptation to expand too quickly. His staff is
physically at or near each location and well
trained to handle anything that comes up.
Interested about what golf tourists are booking
these days, it was interesting to learn that, 90%
travel with their own equipment, the most
common trip is about ten days with seven days
of golf often comprised of small groups of
people who know each other and travel for golf
yearly. Many golf tourists to SE Asia are repeat
customers even after sampling other regions of
the world.
With retirement plans on hold, he soon was
Volume 3 • Issue 39
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