He left his comfortable life in Madrid as a golf teacher to pedal to an unknown, and very distant, destination. He passed through nine countries in almost five months and travelled more than 12,000 kilometres on his bicycle – an enriching experience but not without its dose of adversity. He reached the immense expanses of China and decided to begin a new life there. In 2011, he set up the company DBGolf in Beijing, and today most of the still few Chinese golfers who visit Spain come through him.

This life odyssey of David Barrionuevo – our featured globetrotting golfer – began nearly six years ago.

“I arrived from Madrid with my bicycle, with Milana, which is its name, in honour of the (Spanish) film Los Santos Inocentes,” he recalls. “I passed through nine countries and 12,514 kilometres, on what was an unforgettable journey that changed me for ever.”

He arrived in China in 2008, a few weeks before the Olympic Games. He says that “each and every day” that he lived in the world’s most populous nation “brought me a pleasant surprise, a life full of encouragement, of incentives, of headaches and, above all else, of rewards”.

 

Even though he found himself in the land of the unknown, with a language he was unfamiliar with, David remained undaunted by the difficulties. “I began with nothing, looking to make a living, teaching Spanish, as a golf referee, before I found my niche at a golf school. I was able to count on my experience as a golf teacher for more than 10 years in Madrid.” His first classes in Beijing were at an Australian school, “without speaking English, and not knowing a word of Chinese”.

He recalls, “I turned up, spoke to them and sought out my own students from all the businesses, restaurants, associations and other places where there were Spanish speakers. Also, in 2009, I began a new adventure, working for a European golf travel agency.”

The two companies decided to “have other pretentions”, as David describes it, “and I, now ensconced within the golf industry in China, and seeing its strength and speaking English and Chinese, decided to set up DBGolf, in June 2011.

 

 

“It’s a company that loves golf in every aspect, organises trips to Spain for Chinese golfers and trips to China for European golfers, and organises promotional tournaments in China for companies that want to enter the Asian markets or associate their image with the world of golf. We organise clinics, events and a golf school.”

DBGolf has its headquarters in Beijing, in a charming office located at a golf course, “and from there we are seeking expansion to other places, looking for Asian, Indian and Australian golfers. The business never stops growing, demanding more and more time.”

Last November DBGolf organised a familiarisation trip to Madrid for the Chinese Golf Magazine, and the members of the delegation were able to enjoy rounds at some of the region’s top courses (Lomas Bosque, La Herreria, Real Sociedad Hípica, Santander, Moraleja and Aranjuez), as well as visiting the Monasterio de El Escorial, Toledo, Madrid de los Austrias suburb and museums. It was a bold initiative by DBGolf, prepared with great care and effort, together with the MIP company in Madrid, “and without any state help”, notes David.

 

It was a promotional initiative for golf in Spain in general, and Madrid in particular, that resulted in millions of golfers who play the sport in China learning about this destination, as – on their return – a special report was published in one of China’s most prestigious magazines. “The idea was to promote golf in Madrid and set up a nexus of union between China and Spain through quality tourism”.

David admits that he has the good fortune to combine his professional career with one of his passions, golf. His other passion – of course – is his bicycle, MIlana.

“I arrived with it in Beijing after five months of travel and 12,514 kilometres, to watch the Olympic Games; then came Japan, Vietnam, countless routes through northern China…”

In 2011, he travelled from Beijing to the remote capital of Quinghai, Xining. The trip took seven weeks and covered nearly 3,000 kilometres of adventure, through the most remote areas of Tibet. “Above 4,000 metres,” he says, “your point of view changes in regard to everything. The Tibetans’ hospitality is a pleasure in this world.”

In February, David travelled across the Taklamakan desert, from Xining to Ürümqui, the capital of Xinjiang.

“These long journeys have helped me learn to travel. In my home in Beijing I welcome long-distance travellers who journey around the world on bicycles. Each traveller speaks a language, each one has a story to tell, each one leaves their mark on me, all of them make me a better person… I want to help and they give me the opportunity to do so.”

 

Green Opium

David confesses to an addiction, though not one that harms his health. “In China I’m an addict of green opium. That’s what the Chinese call a sport that is constantly growing: in Beijing alone there are 70 golf courses, a number that is increasing due to the Chinese’ great passion for golf. When, in 2009, golf was named as an Olympic sport, they began playing it in the schools, and this means that shortly we will have generations of golfers. China does not currently have players in the higher echelons of the world rankings but it’s only a question of time. It’s an individual sport that calls for sacrifice, mental strength, self-improvement… features of the sports in which Chinese triumph.”

 

However, golf has not always been looked upon so favourably in China. “It lived through a dark period, when the sport was punished and harassed during the tough years of the Cultural Revolution, as an aristocratic sport,” notes David. This bad image has now disappeared and a fledgling industry is developing around the world of golf at an incredible speed.

The restless and lively mind of this Madrid businessman never stops hatching plans. “Golf tournaments, clinics, events, preparing my next cycling trip, in September to Pamir (central Asia), Chinese lessons and enjoying playing golf don’t leave me much free time.

“As (Spanish intellectual) Gregorio Marañon said: to rest is to start dying!”

 

 

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