El Salvador - ¡Cuatro!

April 14, May 14

Hello everyone!

It doesn’t translate as it’s a homophone (it’s four, not fore), but the picture below may make the point…

Armed and, which is dangerous

El Encanto country club

If you follow this blog, you’ll know that I started to play golf a few years ago when in Malawi. Well, I try to play. Still learning. Forever learning…

We used to play every Friday after work at Lilongwe Golf Club

Zebras watching on at Game Haven in southern Malawi

Golf courses like the ones above are a distant memory - it would be another blog entirely if a dazzle of zebras rock up in the wild in El Salvador. Golf does exist here. For some…

The course at Club Salvadoreño

Golf is an expensive pastime. You're about to see how expensive in El Salvador...

I made enquiries before arriving in Central America, finding that the small country which would become my home has three golf courses. With golf being seen as a British colonial export, it’s not surprising to me to find more courses in southern Africa than in Central America. What was flabbergasting, however, was the cost…

The three red circles show the locations of (left-to-right) El Encanto, Club Campestre and Lake Ilopango

Palm trees line a hole at Club Salvadoreño

Yes, there’s a caveat that most things were cheaper in Malawi. Yes, there’s a caveat that golf is often seen as a ‘rich person’s game’. But there are a few thousand reasons why it’s not a common hobby. Each club with a course charges a joining fee, then a monthly amount. Many places around the world do that. The WhatsApp excerpt below may explain…

This thread shows the cost of joining...and my reaction

If anyone has a spare $15k lying around, let me know!

So yes, that’s a $15,000 joining fee. It is for life, admittedly, so it could be worthwhile if I stay for…over 100 years. Oh, then there’s the minimum spend of $100 a month. Every month. How they expect any expat - those who are possibly more likely to join - to agree to that is beyond me.

It probably helps to explain why no one else was playing

Though it looks close on a map, this club can be up to a 2 hour drive away depending on traffic

One of the clubs did suggest another option when I explained my situation. Their offer was a joining fee of a mere $4000, which would last for three years. Big maths will help you realise that this equates to $111 a month, which wouldn’t be terrible if you used it…most days. Oh, but then you have to pay $275 a month. Every month. Even months when you are away.

To make that worthwhile, you would probably need to play twice a week...which isn't possible with traffic

It's not just golf places - this club, CDI, doesn't have golf but is a cool $22,000 to join

So joining a club with a golf course is out of the question. So why is there a blog with pictures of Hannah and I frolicking about on Salvadoran golf courses? Part luck, part niceness of friends, and part of me being slightly unprofessional.

A teaching colleague with whom I work closely has a family membership to one of the clubs, called Club Salvadoreño. They have two locations, one of which is on Lake Ilopango, a crater lake on the very eastern edge of San Salvador. It is a stunning setting.

This picture is from a visit in February - it was much clearer then

Ilopango is the second biggest lake in the country

My colleague and I needed to visit to do a risk assessment for an upcoming school trip. Well as we were going to be there…

Hannah's parents were also in town

A flame tree offering shade on a fairway

Being a guest, you simply pay for your round. And the obligatory caddy. And the tip for the caddy. Also a golf cart. Not to mention the renting of clubs for Hannah’s dad because they wouldn’t let him share. All things considered, the price wasn’t bad for the opportunity to once again scream ‘FORE’ as I sprayed balls anywhere and everywhere.

Apparently getting a golf cart is much more common in America
 than in the UK. Malawi didn't have golf carts...

The caddy said that the course is busier on weekends

Bit of an exaggeration, I actually hit the ball well (for me). We played the front nine, which took us away from the shoreline and into the humidity. A lovely course which they must have watered a lot considering we haven’t really had rain since October.

Surprisingly verdant

In that heat, playing nine holes was more than enough

Having rediscovered the bug, I then decided to ask a different person who I knew worked at one of the other clubs, called El Encanto. This is much closer to our house and the place where I watched international Davis Cup tennis last September. We can brush over the fact that a) this person is the father of a kid I teach at the school and b) that I asked him during a parent-teacher conference. He seemed keen, I followed up, and a month later we were teeing off here…

This is set on the long slope down from the city to the ocean

Water was a prominent feature

Hit the ball 150 yards or lose it in all those trees - no pressure...

I don’t think you need a golf cart at Club Salvadoreño. You need one here. The hills themselves would be steep enough. Add in the fact that you are in a heat bowl with intense humidity (even at 7am when we started) and you’ll appreciate being able to drive rather than slog.

Ground: undulating

The eighth hole was a stunning par 3 - I made it on the green!

This was a lovely course, seemingly in almost a rainforest at one point before opening up to some grand panoramas from which you would be able to see the ocean on a clearer day. This was in spite of almost being hit by a stray ball from another group (we heard the very loud clunk as it hit a large rock quite close to us). Again, I played surprisingly well, and only lost…well, quite a few balls, but everyone else did as well!

I used that slope on the right to bounce onto the fairway

Heat and humidity seem to get trapped in this area

We won’t play golf that often in El Salvador as we haven’t cracked Millionaire’s Row just yet, so any opportunity that arises will be taken. We owe a lot of thanks to Mayra and Rick respectively for giving us the chance to shout ‘¡BOLAA!’ at various points.

Playing at Club Salvadoreño

El Encanto

Love you all,

Matt