Who gave you the idea to bring golf to Konavle?
Firstly I planned to build a mini golf course with a partner in a location near the Dubrovnik Airport. We came up with a plan and a design but unfortunately we were unable to find available land and didn’t really receive any help from the borough council. I am very suspicious that golf will ever become reality in Dubrovnik especially on top of the Srd Mountain. I worked in the golf industry in Canada and understand all the problems of constructing a golf range. The Srd Mountain, in my opinion, doesn’t have the suitable conditions for a golf course. Above all else golf courses are very demanding on the water system and the soil, or lack of it, on Srd doesn’t lend itself to retaining water. Where I worked in Canada most of the soil was clay so water retention is so much easier. And don’t forget because of the location of the future golf course it is impossible to see the sea. Who would come all the way to Dubrovnik to play golf and not be able to see the sea? If you look around the world places like Pebble Beach in America is a links course and has sea views, so who would fly a long way to a coastal destination to play golf without a view. Secondly if you want to have a truly world popular golf course you need to get someone famous to design it and all that takes lots of money. Connected to the golf course would also be a hotel and villa complex and once again these rooms wouldn’t have a sea view, it’ll be hard to find future investors.

Do you believe we need to rethink the plans for golf?    
Listen, golf is a world sport and there is no doubt that building golf in some format would enhance our tourist offer. My idea was to construct a much smaller version, mini golf that would attract families more than the golfing elite. In this idea you don’t need any watering because it’s played on carpets. It’s a very economically sound plan, you don’t need to employ many people and a relatively large number of guests can play at the same time. Unfortunately finding “clean” land proved impossible.

 What was your next step then?
I decided that when I couldn’t open a mini golf course to use my own land in Konavle to build my own driving range. In fact the driving range falls into this nature park that I built here in Konavle. I collected together some netting and wood and made everything myself. Funnily enough it is the first golf driving range in the county. I was thinking to take my golfing umbrella and golf bag and walk down the Stradun handing out leaflets saying by the time the golf on Srd is ready you can come and practice on my range. As you can see this location is paradise, I love coming here in the morning and hitting 20 or 30 balls. To be honest I didn’t make this to make money but more as a hobby.

 How much do you charge to use the range?
To use my “course” you have to be a member which costs 75 Kunas and then I charge 20 Kunas for a bucket of 50 balls. I have a mixture of members but they are all foreign. And the membership money that they pay goes towards cleaning the land. Basically one of my goals is to protect the area from forest fire. So I leave the larger trees but clear out the grass and shrubs under them. The area has never had a fire and I want that tradition to continue. One day I’ll have cleared all the way up to the top of the mountain. It costs roughly 10 Kunas to clear one square metre so the membership goes towards that. So as you can see I’m not in business to make money. I also have many people that come and camp on my land and they often volunteer to help me clear the undergrowth. These people often keep in contact with me through the internet and sometimes bring me presents such as different plants or trees that I can sow here.

What are your plans for the future?
Clearing this mountain is my lifetime goal; I’ll probably be doing it until the day I die. I want to make this whole park a peoples place. I like to hold concerts here for young people, I guess I want to make a place where people can simply hang out and make friends. I really love keeping in contact with all the various people I meet from all over the world. This environment is a peaceful and relaxing place to spend time. I used to work like crazy, caught up in a capitalist dream, so this is juts what I need. I retired early when I was in my forties and moved back to Croatia from Canada to fulfil my dream. It’s a mystical place to be in. There are so many other things that I would love to do. I am actively involved in trying to re-establish a narrow gauge railway in the region. There are many societies all over the world that would love to get involved in this as well. Regenerating the railway would not only bring back one of our great traditions but also present a new offer for tourists to the area.