GOLF IN PORT DICKSON

On Saturday 28 March 2009, we assembled a group of regular golfers to play in Port Dickson, Negri Sembilan. This was the second time we organized such golf adventures in 2009 but the players were not the same. I left home in Selayang at about 6.45 am in the morning and reached Port Dickson Golf and Country Club at about 8.30 am and traveled about 110 km. I have earlier stopped for Nasi Lemak and Roti Canai at the mamak shop near the round-about just before the entrance to the PDGCC. Later I met the rest of the gang, Shahrul, Norzainal, Salleh, Wan Munir, Khairuddin, Zahari, Zaharuddin and me Bangdolah. After registration, we paid RM 70 each, we went to the 10th Tee Box for a group photograph.


This was my second time I played at PTGCC and enjoyed playing the course. However due to the hard and firm fairways and greens, scoring was much more difficult for a 18 handicapper like me. Wan Munir got 3 birdies and obviously the best amongst us and I shot 90 that included 5 par, 10 bogeys, 1 double bogey and 2 triples ! It could have been better !


Port Dickson Golf & Country Club
5 1/2 Miles, Jalan Pantai, 71050 Si Rusa, Port Dickson, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia.
Tel: 606-6473123, 6473586, 6461421, 6461423, 6477004 Fax: 606-6474949, 6475668



After lunch and prayers, we went to Royal Palm Spring Golf and Country Club about 8 km from PDGCC. When we arrived there were plenty of other people at the club house and Wan Munir proceeded to register for all of us and we paid RM 52 each. However, some member were already too tired and did not play well but some guy like Zahari (Jai..) and NorZainal (Atek..) have plenty of energy and power left and they played well. We finished at about 7-00 pm and after shower went for Mghrib prayer at the Club surau..(very large..) and took off for dinner at a shop near the Guoman Hotel and resort. We left PD at about 9 pm and I reached Selayang at 10.30 pm, toll damage was RM 7.70 to Seremban and PD highway RM3.20 one way..

Palm Springs Resort Port Dickson
Batu 13, Km 21 Jalan Pantai,
Mukim Pasir Panjang,
71250 Port Dickson Negeri Sembilan.

Tel: 06-661 0260 (DL) or 06-661 0260 (GL)
Fax at 06-661 0566

Hero Indian Open, New Delhi

Well, I didn't play golf at the New Delhi Golf Club but I was there at the time they held the Hero Honda Indian Open in October 2008. On the opening round on Thurday I went to see the competition as there was several Malaysian golfers taking part. The entrance was free and I got the flight list from the beautiful ladies at the entrance. So I went to the hole where Malaysian golfers Airil Rizman and Iain Steel were playing. Chatted with Airil after he made his par put and went on to follow them a few more holes. Then I saw Chapcai Nirat and Jyoti Randawa and followed them for a few more holes. There were not many spectators, Indians are die hard cricket fans, you can watch crickets all day on their TV channels.

The course was narrow with forest areas in between holes and some animals like black deer was seen grazing at the end of the fairways.

GOLF IN MONTEVIDEO, URUGUAY

Punta De Golf del Cerro was created with excellent design, beautiful views of the bay, the sea and Cerro fortress. In the decade of the 30's the famous designer Dr Alliester McKenzie was given the responsibility of re-designing the club and finally in the 1950's, when the Swift company, the former owner of the property closed, the club was renamed with its present name.

When I was there in December 2008, the weather was hot but windy as the club was located near the sea. We drove from the hotel, Four Points by Sheraton to the course using a rented brand new Honda Civic and took us about 30 minutes to reach the golf club. After a small breakfast of tuna sandwich and hot coffee, we paid USD 30 for the Green Fee and USD 10 for the men caddies. One of the caddies was a scratch handicap golfer, he spoke good English,,and we made friend with him...my friend said now we have a good caddie for night golfing in Montevideo !

We also played at the other golf course in the Montevideo city, the Club De Golf del Uruguay and the Green Fees was a little higher at USD 50 per 18 holes. Here again we enjoyed the scenic views of the ocean and city of Montevideo. There are other golf courses in Punta del Este about 130 km away from the city. There are 2 courses there, Cantegrill Country Club and Club del lago Golf located near the Atlantic Ocean with broad, soft and white beaches.

Golf in Kuching, Sarawak

Kuching town, Sarawak - I didn't see any cats (Kuching..) during my 5 days in town. Took MAS flight to Kuching and stayed at Holiday Inn by the river, nice n comfort room with good breakfast. We were off to Damai Golf and Country Club the same afternoon, perhaps 50 minutes from the hotel. Four of us Kamal, Roslan. Sanuri and me played 18 holes. The view were breathtaking...the last few holes,14-18 have the ocean on our left and tropical trees on our right, the charms of Santubong! We played Damai Golf 2 times and Kelab Golf Sarawak (KGS) 2 times. At KGS, Mazlan (local Kuching guy..!) joined us and he hit huge drives...he was my schoolmate from STAR, Ipoh. Thank you Lan...you were great as our host! The courses at KGS were very well designed, the index holes (golfers will understand) were superbly designed and these holes played to their degree of difficulties! Congratulation KGS for well-kept courses. We sure would like to come back and challenge the course again...

Beside golf, food was also good in Kuching and cheaper than KL by 20% perhaps! After the Damai game we stopped at Buntal for seafood delight..no complain. We also took a boat ride across the river to eat there during the evening. We took the RM 120 seafood package that included sweet n sour crab, butter prawn, Pakis Sarawak, sotong halia and ikan steam ...go for it!

The Waterfront is a good place to meet friend and have Teh Tarik or Teh Dangdut (must try!) nice place but beware of `Kaki Pukau' and `Conman' , they were out there! Once they touch you..you would be under spell already (most of the time) and probably unable to say NO to whatever they ask you...good luck, my friend lost his HP there!

You also chould go to `Little India', a place like KL Petaling Street to buy sourvenirs like Pasu or Tembikar and the famous Tikar Sarawak. Before you leave Kuching make sure You buy some `Terubok Masin' , go for the largest fish you can get and fresh ones too..the big ones start at RM 10 per fish. Also a must is Kueh Kek Lapis, just take a trip across the river...those two things will sure make the wives happy...and let us play golf again !

As you can see from the photos the riverside really is beautiful...nearby hotels are RiverView, Hilton, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn and Riverside (Hotel & Apartment).

Until next posting...

Golf in Surabaya, Indonesia

I was in Surabaya Indonesia for a few days on a working trip. Traveled by MH 871, took about 2 hrs 40 minutes to reach Djuanda Airport. Some friends went by Air Asia flight AK 912 and they arrived 2 hours later. Nevertheless, we all checked in at the Novotel Hotel Surabaya Hotel & Suites at Jl. Ngagel, Surabaya.

Business matters took all of the first 2 days in Surabaya with visit to Malang and Gresik and lots of business meetings. The 3rd day was unwinding at the golf course and there were 3 courses there, Ciputra Golf Club, Bukit Darmo Golf Club and Finna Golf Club and we played at Bukit Darmo Golf club !

We booked transport from the transport counter at the hotel and got Toyota Innova to send us to the Golf Course and cost us Rp 190,000 per trip. There were 10 of us and there was a pool prize money of Rp 900,000 to be won. This blogger won 1st place and Rp 400,000 ! The score wasn't that good, only 4 people managed below 100 from the championship tee..

Caddies were good..the course was good...we played another 18 holes in the afternoon !
By the way the Green Fees on weekday was Rp 500,000 net inclusive of golf cart and caddie.

Golf in Yangon, Myanmar

I was in Yangon, Myanmar. It was very fortunate to have a local friend who could arrange golf in Yangon at a private club called Punh Hlaing Golf and Country Club. It took about 45 minutes drive from Yangon town. The Green Fees was about USD 60 on the weekend, for weekdays the rate was cheaper probably USD 50. It was a walking course, so it turned out a very good exercise for us and we probably walked 6-7 KM to complete the 18 holes that day.

The other golf course that we played was the Yangon Golf Club, a club established in 1899. They have men caddies with a forward marshal to indicate the location of your ball. So we very seldom lost any ball except for OB, water hazards and the forest. The Green Fee for Visitor was USD 15 per round and caddies fee was USD 3 to USD 5 depending on their skill category. This course usually hosted the Asian PGA, Myanmar Open.

My problem in Myanmar was the language. It was like `chicken and duck', we have no idea on what they were talking about. Luckily, we were just playing golf and the caddies were helpful, you know we all were not so good as golfers and we sprayed the ball everywhere...and still they could find the ball.

I stayed at the Traders Hotel in the town centre. A special rate given to us was USD 45 per night. It was a very good hotel and managed by the Shangri-la Hotel group. During our stay the hotel was the venue for my country's Merdeka celebrations, so we joined the party, there was a good crowd of about 500++ people who came to the dinner including local VIPs. So we met people from the Embassies, Petronas, other hotels and Toyotas... all Malaysian. Just next to our hotel is another hotel, on the 5th Floor (or 3rd floor?) they have place for foot massage, cost us RM 18 per 1 hour session.

Food in Yangon was very good, just like home. There were plenty of Muslim food, Beriani Ayam and Teh Tarik only cost RM3.20! Cooked dinner at a Yunan Muslim shop 6 dishes only RM17! We missed the good old days, these were prices 10 years ago in Malaysia. Many hotels have chef and cooks from Malaysia, so you can order TomYam and ikan asam pedas quite easily.

Traders Hotel welcomed guest from Malaysia, they would provide you with a copy of Quran, sejadah and local praying time. What more could you ask for? Nearby there were 2 Sunni mosques for your Friday prayers just 3-5 minutes walking time.

The was the Bogyoke market where they sell jades and stones and stuff like your batu cincin. Some shop owners even speak Malay, so no problem to bargain, they pampered you with teh tarik in small glass because they served tea only in small glass in Myanmar. So many of them have worked in Kuala Lumpur, so they could speak Malay very well.

Golf in Pattaya, Thailand

Hello golf fans...time to share. I have played courses in Malaysia, including Sarawak and Sabah. I have recorded some photos for future memory.

I will start with a trip to Pattaya, Thailand. My buddy Razak and I took AirAsia from KLIA for a return trip of RM 280. On arrival in Bangkok, we took a taxi to Pattaya for about RM 120 per taxi and the trip took about 2 hours. We prebooked a hotel and checked in at Areca Lodge for RM 120 per night, we booked through Sawadee.com. There were 26 golf courses within 40 km radius of Pattaya! During my 5 days 4 nights there, we played at Laem Chabang Golf & Country Club, the course was designed by Jack Nicklaus, at Khao Kheow Golf Club designed by Pete Dye, at Pattaya Country Club and Burapha Golf Club. Although we came two balls only, opposite the hotel, there was a Pub called Kromberg, served as a meeting place for golfers. Everyday during weekdays, they put a notice informing golfers of the next golf outing, you can register your name to play golf at that particular course, then others who were interested put their names as well. There will be a leader of the pack who will tell you on the logistics arrangement, usually they hire a van and share the transport charges. Easy...but the locals did not play on weekends, so have to arrange on your own. The transport to and from golf courses ranged between RM 12 to RM 20 per person depending on location. Green fees ranged from RM 60 to RM 170 and cart fee about RM 60 twin sharing. Add some tips for caddies RM 15-RM 20 would be acceptable.
The Pattaya town is busy at night with guys with Harley Davidsons or other makes filling the street near the beach. What I did after golf game was having foot massages and sometimes body massage, for THB 200 per 1 hour session.
Meals for Muslims a bit tough, not many Muslim restaurants available at town centre. But I survived with plenty of fruits, breads and eggs. Eating at the hotel was the best....Tom Yam Prawns !