Bangdolah.Golf Destinations

WET AND SOGGY PERANGSANG

2012-01-25T17:12:00.001+08:00

Way to go..golf swing sequence of Ah Lok!!

Chinese New Year holidays was spent partly playing golf with Chinese friend at PTGC, Rawang.

I was a member of PTGC for a good 8 years before deciding to part with this beautiful but wet golf course near Bukit Tukun, Rawang. When Mr. Tan called and ask me to organize a flight on Tuesday, I readily accepted and called 2 more officemates to join us. Like I said, PTGC was wet and soggy this week, unable to enjoy golf but we played allright, a few pars here and there and I played 49 and 45, still below 100. The three other flightmates were unable to break 100.

The golf swing sequence of us here is not to be followed..yet! There are many flaws especially on the downswing and follow through, weight transfer etc. Then again, we are just casual golfers..too lazy to practice and most of our lessons came from watching golf videos at Youtube!

Looking at my own golf swing, I notice that the body is no longer as flexible as it used to be, can hardly complete the back swing and the body turn, no wonder tha ball didn't go very far nowadays! Hmm..have to do something about this to do better at Bukit Beruntung this Saturday!!!

KUNDANG LAKES CNY SPECIAL

2012-01-24T20:51:00.002+08:00

The main organizer of CIMB Chicken Tour (Golf) has to excuse the eight of us for not partcipating in the regular event at Kundang Lakes Golf Club. Simply because Mr Mansor from University Malaya has also booked 2 flights on the same morning, thus prompted the splitting of events. I was placed 3rd from the previous event (38 points system 36) but have to pass this time around. So we have another group of Kheiruddin, Hj Wan Munir, Hj Nor Zainal, Sharol, Sabri, Mansor, Nik Shehar and Bangdolah competing for free `coconut drinks' and `kerepok lekur' at Tasik Biru after the game. Free means there will be some losers paying for them. See these three guys playing from the drop zone at the Par 3 11 hole..now you know who was 3 up at that hole!

Atek and Sharol were playing after our group and wanted me to shoot the golf swing sequence. I will upload them in Youtube when I can recover the forgotten password!

KUNDANG LAKES - NON GOLFING

2012-01-16T09:12:00.000+08:00

You can enjoy a trip to Kundang Lakes or Tasik Biru without your golf bags because there is also a huge lake called the Blue Lagoon or Tasik Biru where a family outing is favourable. We can see a lot of outdoor loving family and couples crowding this place on the weekends.

Jet ski is the favourite pastime and activities here with old men, young men and girls and boys are showing their skills riding the jet ski. Others were just satisfied with the cool dip in the clear water which at certain spots are shallow enough for safe swimming.

Golf course is just 1,500 meters away and also crowded during weekends.

GOLFING IN SURABAYA

2011-12-19T01:05:00.000+08:00

SURABAYA WAS HOT AND RAINY last week when I spent the week 12-16 December 2011 in the city of 3.5 million population. Stayed at a hotel just 5 minutes from from Tunjungan Plaza called Santika Hotel at Jalan Pandegiling for IDR 543,000 a night with great breakfast and free wi-fi in the room.

After work managed to slot in 2 golf outings at Ciputra golf club on Wednesday for IDR 510,000 per pax for senior golfer and IDR 790,000 for non-senior inclusive of golf cart and a caddy each. If you have Temporary residence Status its only IDR 395,000 per pax on Wednesday.

The rate at Bukit Darmo golf club was slightly more at IDR 535,000 each and there is no senior rates there. Between the 2 courses Ciputra was a lot better in every aspect including pretty caddies.

It was great playing on weekdays as there were not many people playing as opposed to Saturday and Sunday.

There are other golf courses in Surabaya including the oldest one Yani golf but its a walking course with `bra-less' caddies. The other courses are situated outside the city in Tretes and Taman Dayu about 90 minites from the city.

NOVEMBER GOLF

2011-11-29T22:49:00.000+08:00

This month of November can be considered the worst rainy season for golfers as it rained days and nights and morning until afternoon and sometimes we started golf only at 9.30 am after the rain stopped. Nevertheless I have been playing better golf this month and always in the top five amongs competitors despite using different sets every other week. I was placed 4th at Bangi Golf Resort during the Ministry of Plantation Industries and Commodities MICCOS Golf Tournament beating 44 other competitors.

Our weekly get-together at the Kundang Lakes West Course assembled anything between 4 to 7 flights on Saturday. With pool money of RM 30 each you can expect to play FOC if get to the Champion status. During the last three (3) weeks I managed to win 2 times and got RM 90 for being Champion and that took care of the RM 55 Green fee, RM 30 pool and RM 4 for the LATAR toll.

Last week I won again and this time with side bet and a birdie bonus so it was Teh Tarik on me that day. Our group are such a fun loving kakis that nobody ever played that good and even to play par golf was a great achievement, let alone play under par. Most of us are in the 5 series and 6 series so the score of 95-100 are common, the lower scores were posted by the 3 series golfers.

This week I may not be able to defend my title as weddings invitations have to be honoured and involved outstation kenduries. Have fun my fellow golfers and I will be back soon...

GOLF IN BANDA ACEH

2011-10-25T20:23:00.000+08:00

Well, who would have thought Banda Aceh has a golf course to play! This one called the Sulawah Golf Club (SGC) has hosted a few tournaments in Aceh since the Walikota is a keen golfer. SGC has hosted not fewer than 3 local tournaments with golfers from Malaysia participating.

The golf course rather sad to say is not fit for tournament play with pathetic fairways and greens but if it is the only golf course people have no choice. There is one other course located at Sabang an island off the coast of Banda Aceh, they told me this one is pretty neat!

SGC used to be a beautiful 18 hole course before Tsunami 2004 brought along sea sand to the course and now only 9 holes are available. The old Pine trees that are still standing are the remaining trees of the old course and they have planted new trees though albeit still very young and not too distracting..

I asked a tourist agent to arrange a tee time with my buddy Hj Wahab from Shah Alam for us to paly 18 holes ( 2 putar they said!). We agreed to pay IDR 600,000 each including golf set, glove, balls, shoe and caddy. I just lost 1 ball while my buddy lost 2 balls in the woods and we scored below 100 with each of us scoring 2 pars each. The 2 caddies asked for another IDR 150,000 after the game saying that we played 2 rounds (18)instead of 1 round after everything was decided and agreed the day before..Muslim Aceh or Tsunami Aceh, Indonesian are still the same..they never change their character..always money on their mind.

The tour guide sent us to the course with a Suzuki APV at 8-00 am in the morning and we finished at about 12.00 pm. we took a ride to nearby Pantai Lhoknga, a popular seaside retreat for the Banda Aceh population which is just 17 km from the town. We also stopped by Masjid Barakatullah for a photo shoot and then returned to Hermes Palace Hotel, a really nice hotel.

Suzuki APV IDR 500,000 per day (8 hours) or IDR 100,000 per hour
Green fee 9 holes IDR 200,000 18 holes IDR 350,000
Golf set rental, shoe, glove, ball, tees etc. IDR 200,000 (Old Taylor Made)
Caddies IDR 75,000
No scorecards no receipts

MISSING THE CUT

2011-10-10T14:03:00.000+08:00

We are still monitoring the progress of brother AA and Sharif in the rehabilitation process due to muscle fatigue and diabetes. In the meantime we pray for their recovery and hope they can rejoin our golfing community soon. I heard AA has been to the driving range but Sharif has been absent for quite a while, we all missed them.

WHISTLER GOLF CLUB, BRITISH COLUMBIA,CANADA

2011-09-14T23:51:00.000+08:00

Looking at the 1st tee-box of the Whistler Golf Club and you’ll understand why Arnold Palmer chose it as the location for his first Canadian design. Snow-capped peaks surround the course in all directions, ancient cedars and majestic fir trees line the fairways, winding streams, nine lakes and white sand bunkers punctuate perfectly manicured greens and an occasional black bear sauntering across a fairway is not an uncommon site.

The Whistler Golf Club is a par 71, 18-hole, golf course that easily exceeds the expectations of the most discriminating golfer. In 2000 the Whistler Golf Club received an extensive $2.2 million renovation to ensure this 6722-yard course continues its legacy of excellence.

The golf course is just a short par 4 from the hotel I stayed in Whistler, a resort city about 115 km from Vancouver, Canada. I was there for a business function and the organizer arranged a golf tournaments for all the delegates with a participants fee of CAD 170 (RM515) and equipment rental of CAD56(RM170) including lunch. Normal green fees would depend on the tee-time, morning will be CAD129, after 3.00 pm about CAD89 and after 5.00 pm about CAD15 for 5 holes.

So I went to the pro-shop to buy some T-shirts and took some photos of the club and the course,

TASIK PUTERI AIDILFITRI CLASSICS

2011-09-04T00:58:00.001+08:00

Last Friday 2 September 2011, Mr. Ghazali called members of our golf fratenity to play at Tasik Puteri Golf Club for a post Hari Raya outing and 13 of us accepted the challenge. The flight was broken up into 4432 and saved the cost of 1 buggy. Each golfer with discount cards paid approximately RM57 each.

Strangely everybody played quite well with only 4 broke the 100 barrier and even 1 broke the 90 barrier with 87 ( wonder if he played during Ramadhan!). Our chief organizing officer (COO) Ghazali came up with 3 prizes being hotel vouchers worth RM 338 for Champion and first runner-up and a t-shirt for 2nd runner-up. I missed the prizes for being fourth other wise a tube of balls could compensate for the lost balls on par 3s, in the water.

We went for Friday prayers at nearby mosque and returned to the clubhouse for lunch and prize presentations. The results (Gross) are as follows;

1.Hassan 87
2. Aziz 94
3. Harun 95
4. Bangdolah 98
5. Zahari (Jai) 101
6. Sharol (102)
7. RajaTajul 103
8. Hassan 103
9. Aziz 104
10. Hj Zainal (Atek) 104
11. Ghazali (COO) 107
12. Khemdan 117
13. Shah 119

HAPPY GOLFING!

RETIRED GOLFERS

2011-08-17T12:55:00.000+08:00

It has been quite a while since our brothers AA and Sharif played golf with us, one is restricted by nerves problems and the oither one diabetic. While they are recuperating we wish them well and hope they can join us soon. I haven't swing a golf club for two weeks now although I watched Golf Channel at Astro..damm you for increasing the charges. Looking forward to golfing again this September...after the Open House season!

GOLF IN VIENTIANE, LAOS

2011-08-04T14:52:00.000+08:00

Can play golf in Vientiane but start early as 5.30 p.m. getting dark overthere!
Make sure you have lots of golf balls, they are expensive here!

WET GOLF AT AWANA GENTING

2011-08-01T22:49:00.001+08:00

Taking shelter at the halfway hut during a downpour! Golf at awana genting could take as long as 6 hours to finish a round of 18 holes especially if you got beautiful korean lady golfers playing ahead of you...

Looking at the 1st tee box..sharp dogleg right Par 4

2nd hole ,easier than 1st hole

GOLF in Shanghai, China

2011-08-01T15:04:00.001+08:00

Me and Choong somewhere in Shanghai downtown

The golf course is fantastic. The greens are always fast and true, the fairways are like greens on most courses. The new clubhouse that was just opened in Oct 2008 is designed more like a hotel . Since it is now owned by the local government bureau, they needed a hotel for their parties but i didn't stay long enough to get invited. They just raised the green fees too, an un-accompanied guest fee is now $200. The good thing is that you have an electronic key to the locker so no need to remember numbers.

Me and VIPs from Malaysia. They put me in this flight because my tee-off is 85% on the fairway so there would be no wastee of time looking for stray balls. If you give 18 strokes for 18 holes for VIP there is less holes to play for, nevertheless my partner and I won 2 holes.

2011-08-01T14:36:00.000+08:00

Rory McIlroy preparing to shoot his approach

Rory at the putting green

Eventual Champion Matteo Mannasero in action

GOLF MALAYSIAN OPEN

2011-08-01T14:32:00.000+08:00

Scene from Malaysian Open

KUNDANG GOLF CLASSIC III ON SATURDAY 30 JULY 2011

2011-07-30T18:39:00.004+08:00

The event was organized by Pak Ghazali of CIMB and attracted 35 golfers of various skill level. The morning tee-off was delayed by 1 hour due to heavy downpour and the course was actually unplayable but we played anyway, you know golfers, last day before Ramadhan, how could they resisted. Under such condition the returned score was not very good as nobody broke ninety and only 4 golfers managed Par golf (nett).

This is the Army flight with Capt. and Major

This is the Champion flight (far right)

This is the happy-go-lucky flight

This is the Macho flight, Sharol is Champion Medal B

Very handsome flight

This is the most friendly flight

They insisted to hold the drivers this way

Aziz the C Medal Champion

Tee-off at 10th hole

No wonder he hit the ball 213 Meter out, over-swing...

Atek..2nd Medal B

KUNDANG GOLF CLASSIC III

2011-07-26T08:16:00.001+08:00

Halim made Par from the rough, that's how good he is, after all he is single handicap golfer.

Hj Zainal or Atek hitting a 3 wood of the deck and he can hit it 220 meter, well 10% of the time meaning one good hit out of ten.

GOLF IS MORE FUN WITH CADDIES

2011-07-25T23:35:00.002+08:00

Together they wore orange T-shirts, was it a coincidence? No..because they looked nice being photographed together.

These two must have something going because they looked very fond of each other. This before and after shots told you something..that man must have grabbed her behind!!

Wow..so cute together, must be getting big tips after the game.

Caddies at KGPA on Sunday dress and these Blue and Yellow uniform are common in golf courses as they were from the same company.

Par 3 at KGPA is always challenging.

SG LONG IS LONGER FROM YELLOW TEE BOX

2011-07-22T00:26:00.001+08:00

Tele-Dynamics (Toshiba) organized a Golf Tournaments for its customers at Sg Long Golf and Country Club in Kajang, Selangor. Our organization was invited and I was called to be in the team.

The golf course is beautiful and well maintained as many Government VIPs played here including Ministers. I tried my new Golf Set, the one I bought in Singapore, the Adam's Tight Lies and I have to remove the plastic cover on several holes much to amusement of my male caddy.

Neverthelass I played great, scoring 89 with my new club and with the given Handicap of 20 that was 3 under nett. The fairways and greens were great but the sands were a bit soft to my liking. I didn't get any prizes though as the scoring was based on System 36 and I did not have any birdies so that gave me nett 72 par golf or 36 points stableford. The winners were all on 37 points.

KLGCC CLASSIC II

2011-07-20T01:02:00.001+08:00

Adam Tight Lies Package Set

Beginner's Set

Orchard Road Singapore

Travel by MRT from Kranji to Somerset S3.10 one way

7 years old Tongkat Ali

MESSAGE FROM PRESIDENT:

Dear Golfkakis.

I have made arrangement to play at our favorite St Andrew Golf Club at KLGGC on 30/07/2011 on Saturday.Tee off will start at 8.00am.As usual.there would be novelty.ie NTP,NTL & NTG ?.Since this would be our last event before the fasting month in August.I hope there would be good response from our golfkakis.

Tujuan President bukan mahu buat untung tapi the most important thing is comradere and to enjoy ourselves to play golf during the weekend.Since the fasting 1 month would restrict ourselves to meet regularly during weekend.I feel it is not advisable to organise such mini tournment during the fasting month.However,siapa yang berhajat nak main dalam bulan puasa,teruskan.Tapi jangan bawa nasi lemak bungkus dan air mineral botol.ha...ha...ha..We would continue to hold our mini tournment after the fasting month.Maybe in the 3rd week after hari raya.That depend on members opinion and convenience.Maklum aje banyak undangan 'open house'

But one thing is clear,we have 1 flight of previous winners from the previous tournament to be qualified as group B players.Those are Yub,Dollah,Harun.Atek,Sharul and Shah.

Anybody who is interested to play in this coming event may response to this bangdolah blog.Another alternative,i would sms inviting them to play.This time,i forsee there would be bigger crowd.

This coming saturday @ 23/07/2011,I would not be around as i would be playing at cameron highland.Our CIMB Recreasi Club would be making a treasure hunt to Cameron Highland.Anybody interested,could join me on saturday but makan & lodging kena sendiri pak.

Last but not least,wish members to be happy and take care of your health.

Wasallam.

Ghazalli Abu Bakar

BLOGGERS UPDATE :

Thank you President for the Grand Prize that I won last week. It got me to visit Singapore on Sunday and bought myself a new set of golf club, Adam Tight Lies as in the photo taken in my hotel room. If the competition is stiffer and I need to be stronger then I have also found supply of Tongkat Ali as in the photo, there are 40,000 trees available at 7 years old located in Penawar Kota Tinggi Johore on a 47 hectare site. ( Those trees are not mine hehe..). Please register yourself here..

Sharol at Hole No.13 Par 5

Tee Box No.1

Hole No 7 Par 5

Nice finish hole No 15 Par 3

Bangdolah (Defending Champion)

KUNDANG GOLF CLASSIC

2011-07-16T19:00:00.002+08:00

Group Photo without President

Photo with President (Black pant)

Sharol won LD 213 meter and Bangdolah overall winner

Yob was joint leader but left home early

Bung Harun with green shirt won NTP 3.8 meter

Bung Ghazaly of CIMB was kind enough to organize a mini-tournament at KLGCC on Saturday 16 July 2011. I was absent during the last tournament but the defending champion played in my flight, Hj Nor Zainal who scored 95 gross became champion, wow..95 can be come champion? Why not ? We all are weekend golfers who played to keep the body in shape and to get the excess fat and salt out of our body! Anyway I received the invitation via SMS when I was in Awana Genting for a Market Research brainstorming and that was an exhausting exercise. The hotel gave me a complimentary flight to play on Friday as we are their corporate client and sure they want our organization to use their venue and facilities in the future.

I reached Kundang's Tasik Biru for breakfast at 7.20 am and most of the guys were nearly finished with their breakfast. There were Zahari (Jai), Sharol, Hj Zainal (Atek) and one new friend whose name I forgot to ask. I tried the new LATAR highway a few days after it was opened but guess what? It does not have exit at Kundang but they have entry point there! Using that route saved me 5 km from my Selayang home from the usual Sg Buluh Kelab Rahman Putra routing.

Bung Zaly laid out the rules to all participants at the 1st tee box, there were 16 of us all eager and excited for this golf adventure, ok we will do it using System 36 Stableford using handicap of the day. I was on the second flight with my regular kakis, Jai, Atek, Sharol and we played over and above our regular handicap.

My game was not so good but quite consistent so did my flight mates. When we calculated the points none played better than 94, I scored 49 and 45 playing off the Yellow Tee. Well, short hitters like me would have long approach on Par 4s but I survived and emerged the joint leaders with Khairuddin (Yob) who returned 46 and 48 gross. My flightmate Sharol scored 95 gross and got 2nd overall placing in addition to the 213 meter longest drive effort. Senor Omar beat me by 3 feet for the NTL effort and Senor Harun beat Yob by 1 meter for the NTP (3.8 meter).

Results (Gross)

Everybody is a winner..its makan time

Sharol and Hj Zainal discussing what might have happened..

President looked very happy..

Zahari (Jai), Harun and Mansor enjoying lunch

Yes..enjoying lunch

Scorekeeper and auditor tepuk dahi..how come everybody in C medal

Abdullah 94
Khairuddin 94
Sharol 97
Harun 97
Hj Zainal 98
Omar 99
Shah 100
Zahari 100
Ghazaly 103
Zubir 103
Azmi 104
Rahman 105
Fuad 111
Azim 116
No Name NA
Mansor NA

When is the next game....Penutup sebelum Ramadhan!

NEW MEMBERS OLD COURSE

2011-05-28T20:55:00.002+08:00

My golfers group came back to Kundang Lakes with some new faces including Rozaly and his friend and we started amongst the early birds because many of us have to rush back early to attend to their kids at tuition center and some weddings invitation as well. Nevertheless the game was well, played in group of Mansor (University Malaya) and Munir and Khairuddin of Malaysian Timber Board. The other group comprised Rozaly and his friend of CIMB group, Zahari from Timber Board and Nor Zainal of Exxon Mobil.

Munir and Khairuddin played their usual stuff with long accurate drive and short approach to the greens, Kundang greens are not that good and below standard so to speak and birdie putts were often missed short and long but par is achiveable on most hole. Mansor was quite inconsistent and me with usual stuff managed par golf to my handicap of 19. I think Munir could play 12 at his best now although he was a single handicapper when he was younger and Khairuddin could improve if his short game is consistent probably to 14 hcp.

I realised my tee-off now is getting shorter eventhough there were always on the fairway and have to used my 4 wood for the second shot in order to be anywhere near the green. Around the green my short game and putting helped a lot to keep the score reasonably low to keep up with my younger flight mates

Having 4 sets at home doesn't help anymore because each course played almost to the saame difficulty. I have played 5 courses during the last two months with diferent set, Bukit Unggul with Cleveland, PTGC with Honma, Tasik Puteri with PRGR, Kundang Lakes with Ena and Port Dickson Golf CC and Awana Kijal with mixed bags. Scored 85 at Tasik Puteri, 88 at Bukit Unggul, 92 at Perangsang Templer and 91 both at Kundang Lakes and Awana Kijal Awana and 90 at PDGCC.

Just skipped two (2) competitions at Impian Golf Kajang, one is G2G Kakigolf of Saturday and the other one STAROBA Golf competition on Sunday. I just don't like afternoon golf, it finished well into 9-10 pm after dinner and prize giving.

Next two weeks will be school holidays, wedding invitations and social events and these will keep me away from golf courses. Huh..I guess have to settle watching Golf Channel 815 I guess...happy golfing.

I NEED LONGER DRIVES

2010-11-17T23:54:00.000+08:00

Ever since Sharip Dol switched to SMT driver, he really outdriven his flight mates by 10 to 20 yards. That SMT head with Diamana shaft worked for him and a few weeks ago I found somebody who wanted to sell his SMT driver and I nearly bought it if not for the loft, it was 10 degrees compared to Sharip's 12 degrees. He told me SMT is no longer winning the Remax Long Drive competition..it was Krank Golf!!! So I got lucky, somebody wanted to get rid of his Krank driver in favour of TM Burner Superfast. So now I have this Krank Driver, 460 cc with 12 degrees loft to compete with Sharip's SMT...the venue will be Kundang Lakes on Saturday 20 November 2010. I have played with it in Danau GC last Sunday but the shaft and swing weight was too heavy for me..D2. I will consider changing the shaft to 45 or 50 grams.

One of my regular flight mates named Sharol can really whipped his driver and got 240 to 250 meters off the tee..but then he is 5 feet 10 inches and weighs at 86 kg!! See him in action at the 9th hole KLGCC here..textbook swing but fairway hit only 33%...need to improve further.

WET KUNDANG LAKES

2010-10-30T21:01:00.000+08:00

After a miss of several weeks we came back to Kundang Lakes for Saturday morning game. It was raining from last evening and continued until 8.00 am and we took double teh tarik at the kundang lakes stall to wait for the rain to stop. After all was done we teed off at the 1st nine as it was drier than the 2nd nine, there were 3 flights in our group.

Surprisingly the 1st nine was a breeze for us, 1birdie 2 par and 1 bogey on the 1st hole, 2 birdies on the 2nd hole and everybody got par on the 8th hole! If not for the 3 putts double bogey on the index 1 9th hole, I would have scored 38! Other scores were 44, 45 and 47.

The 2nd nine was harder but there were two birdies by Yob and Jai, these two guys have 2 birdies each against my lonely birdie. At the 18th tee box, during tee off there was an incideent when a bird was hit by golf ball, it fell and was found dead upon landing with broken bones of-course!

It was fun and we will be back next Friday on Deepavali...

LPGA LADIES IN KUALA LUMPUR

2010-10-27T23:17:00.001+08:00

When I reached KLGCC at 11.00 am Sunday, I was directed by Security Personnel to drive all the way along a narrow road towards TTDI because all other parking spaces were fully occupied. My GOD..so many people came to watch little Korean and Japanese girls hit golf balls. The crowd was so much bigger than those who attended the Asian PGA championship earlier this year. There was a shuttle service frequenting Route 1 for the almost 2 kilometre distance to the main gate.

I bought daily ticket for RM 23 and got a pass a few promotional brochures, tee off times and a mini fan to cool off, it was a hot day! Met my buddy Abg Mokh who just sit at the grand stand, watching tee off at Hole 1 and the putting green of Hole 9, sorry I can't walk he said!

Now who should I follow? There was a large group of spectators following the trio pairing of Ai Miyazato and Jeong Jang and I followed them for a while, their score placard showed 322 for the three of them. I was not until JJ made double and drop to 4 over that I switch to Natalie Gulbis and Mika Miyazato, kind of like her because she was cute and played very consistently. The last group played quite good until they faltered at Hole 14 and never recovered. Actually Maria Hjorth could have won the title will a little bit of luck...

I stayed at the par 3 Hole 15 for whilw watching a few groups teeing off, best of the lot was the eventual champion group of Jinin Kang where all three golfers made birdies. I didn't know what club they used for 136 yards..

In front there was loud cheers as Julie Inskter and Jinin Kang were making birdies. J Kang played aggressively while J Inkster was too conservative. I managed to stopped by to chat with the last group while they were waiting at the 9th Tee, Diana Tham looked exhausted but Vopan looked beautiful. They have to wait because one of the girls in the front flight has to come back and redo her tee shot, probably an OB or lost ball!

I managed to take some photos during the Final Day although the organizer prohibited such activities. But then how can you stop Japanese and Korean spectators from taking photos and videos of their superstars ? Well as long as you don't take photo during their swing and putting and at reasonable distance from them, should be okay.

It was a great outing and looking forward to this week outing at the Mines Resort for the CIMB Asia Pacific !!

COOL GOLF AT AWANA GENTING

2010-08-16T14:51:00.000+08:00

My friend, an avid golfer and world traveler, Stanley, called up to arrange a golf friendly at Awana Genting on Saturday. So I drove up to Awana Genting and met the others, Chai and Mathilakan. My..I have not played this course for such a long time..could just remembered a few holes! The whether was nice though throughout the day but somehow they set up the tee at the tournament tee-box!! That was a bit tough because of the longer carry we have to hit on every hole. Stanley was playing off handicap 9, Chai on 16, Mathi on 22 and me on 18, so I partnered Chai and Stanley partnered Mathi...It was fun, got a few pars and lost a few balls as well.

Kindle Lighted Leather Cover, Black (Fits 6" Display, Latest Generation Kindle)

We won the match 2 up..courtesy to my good putting. After lunch we went down and I reached home in 25 minutes..must come back soon.

Golf Swing Updates

2010-07-19T15:15:00.001+08:00

To be good in golf you need to practice..we used to practice two times a week at the Pandan Perdana Driving Range just 10 minutes drive from the office. Now they are selling balls at RM 12 per 100 balls and no coupons of 1,000 balls available, made some golfers shied away..especially the Japanese and Koreans, who usually hits 200-300 balls per session, the driving range was quiet after 8.30 pm in the evening.

My golf buddies never practice nowadays and their swing went haywire week after week, good tee off was followed by shank iron shot, topped chip and duffed pitch shot were common! But everybody seemed to do well at tee-off because the ball was on the tee...but think again, here is a closer look at their finishing!!

Sunday Morning..wake-up yawning..yearning for Golf!

2010-07-19T14:30:00.000+08:00

Sunday morning was great for golf, especially for some people who got the approval their spouses. Playing with friends was always fun with or without spouses approval. Last week I was playing in a friendly school alumni tournament and brought home an electric kettle after getting 5^th place, my wife said you can play more golf…and bring home some more electrical items. She may have forgotten there were many such items in the store and not yet unboxed. Anyway I was playing good golf then but now not any more as age is catching up as some friends pointed out, week after week!

Back to KLGCC last Sunday..I was contemplating of joining the kakigolf group who rounded up 5 flights that morning..thanks to COO 5zal & Mr Shahar the KLGCC Taiko! I Said hello to them at the club and off to join my regular Selayang and Gombak golf buddies, see the photos. Amongst us 2 were OKUs, pronounced Orang Kurang Upaya and 1 still OLS or Orang Lemah Syahwat. The OKUs were genuinely qualified as they were having problems with fitness and on medication but OLS was awarded for hitting shots all over the place and putting short of the hole each and every time! Another buddy has to wrap both knees resulted from too much walking at Tiara Melaka the other day…and topped his iron shot 50% of the time!

In the photos were Halim, Sharif , Sharol, Jai, Atek, Yop, AA and Bangdolah. Here is the post mortem…AA and Shariff won 2 holes against Sharol and Halim and won RM 4 after playing 4 hours of golf, luckily there were no caddies otherwise they still have to top up RM 16 for the caddies. In Kundang Lakes…the caddies were actually Bibik working part-time, that’s why they liked cleaning the balls…

I shot my best score for the day, 85 gross (42+43) that included 9 pars 4 double bogeys and 5 bogeys. I hit 92.8% of the fairways and only had two three putts on the sub-standard green. Jai had a birdie on the Par 3 132 meter hole using a 9 iron to about 9 feet from then pin, nevertheless everybody else in the flight pared the hole!

Only funny photos on display, Happy golfing! Hope to carry this good score on Friday at Bukit Beruntung West Course…

Kundang Lakes @RM 2 per holes fight!

2010-06-27T19:13:00.002+08:00

Last Saturday I joined a group of golf forumners playing golf at Kundang Lakes and I started off at first flight because one of our flight mates has a family appointment at 7 pm. At the first tee I asked my flightmates whether they want to play sixes and one of them wanted to play individually at RM 2 per hole..that's fine because I got more that RM 36 in my pocket..I was willing to lose and enjoyed the game. So we played scratch golf because nobody said anything about their handicap. After one of my flight mates had 3 pars in 5 holes..we realized that he was a low handicap player.

The second nine we requested for 4 strokes and after some bargaining we got it and we got even the second nine but lost four holes at the first nine. We have drinks at the club house after the game and all monies due was settled. My flight mates excused themselves and left early and here I am taking responsibility of the bill..I have always thought the winner would settle the bill! Not that I mind the small bill but are golfers really that serious in winning golf bets? I heard a guy has to give his 3 wood for losing because he didn't have enough cash to pay that day! Wow I said this is really serious...I would not have the heart to take his 3 wood, amongst friends we limit loss to about RM50 only..and that's to pay for the meals after the game.

Luckily my usual kakigolf do not bet and we remained closed buddies and played for fun every week...golf is fun only when we are not too serious, by the way my bro Hj Katek, how was your game this week? Heard you got hit by loose tee shot on hole 10 !!Avatar (Two-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo) [Blu-ray]P90X Extreme Home Fitness Workout Program - 13 DVDs, Nutrition Guide, Exercise Planner
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Bukit Beruntung East course

2010-06-21T19:51:00.008+08:00

Saturday Morning 19 June 2010 started journey from Selayang to Salam 1 Restaurant at Bukit Beruntung for roti canai and teh tarik. Already waiting at the restaurant were Sharol and Bojai as they came together in one car. Hj Katek called to say he has just passed the Rawang R&R, OK looks like everybody on time!

I asked for roti canai, 2 half boil eggs and kopi O and further requested for kuah kari kambing..and that's when the shock came..the kuah kari kambing is RM 1.50, just the kuah...with kambing RM 4, forget it Bhaiya.., just give me Dalcha..Mamak Oh Mamak..

Registered for golf at the counter..no discount cards here, just pay RM 75 each and you get your receipt and buggies and off we go to the East Course! The East Course is much better maintained than the West Course..only that buggy is allowed on track only, the West Course allows buggy from tee to green!

Bangdolah, Bojai and Sharol all played decent golf but Hj Katek looked like lemah syahwat a bit..ever since he was transfered to HQ in KL, he is overloaded with work, how different it was when he was at the oil deck..the last 2 weeks he played, apa ni, driver tak jadi..flop shot pun hancuss..putting lagi la..tak yah cerita, good luck at his next game.

Sharol produced a driving show for the ages..260 meter on the fairway, he has done that quite regularly nowdays but just 40% of the time..Bojai played his best scoring 89 and me just 90.

We stopped for a photo shoot at the scenic Hole 16, a 190 meter Par 3 from the Blue T-Box. We finished at about 1.00 pm and me off to Kundang Lakes for another golf appointment with Kakigolf members, waiting for me there were Faris,Bob Daly and Syaiful COO..

Ahh..I love 36 holes golf on Saturday.

Shanghai Link Golf Club

2010-06-07T19:03:00.003+08:00

Driving from Gran Melia hotel to this golf course was quite an adventure and we ended up late for our tee time at 7.00 am. There were three flights of mostly low handicap golfers and it was a enjoyable round of golf and the winner was a local golfer who scored 80 gross..and I managed a respectable 90 that included a 8 on a short Par 4..this is a link course and trouble is when you didn't find the fairway...

The Shanghai Links Golf & Country Club is a luxurious golf club which is equipped with tennis courts, a swimming pool, lake, gym and children's playing area. This 18- hole golf course has been designed by the great Jack Nicklaus. It also has a bar, restaurant and golf store. Some golf traveler regarded it only behind Royal Troon and Spring City and I must admit it was the best golf course I have ever played.. The club sprawls within 410 acre landscape setting and has beautiful surroundings. It is an 18- hole Jack Nicklaus designed golf club. The club is endowed with world class facilities with best service and professional club management. This course covers an area of 135 hectares with facilities such as a Western- style high- grade residence district. The golf course has a top - level irrigation- draining system. In addition, there are over 1,500 transplanted trees and 6,000 trees of other varieties as well as green grass vegetating rapidly. The fast- changing and challenging sea breeze makes Shanghai Links one of best golf courses in the world. The course is 1000 meters, 18 hole, 72 par and 7121 yards. The course offers scenic views and is a 35 minute drive to downtown Shanghai and 12 kilometer from Pudong Airport. Whenever you are in town..try this course and after shower still has time to catch the 3.35 pm MH 389 to Kuala Lumpur.

Contact Information

Shanghai Links Golf & Country Club
1600 Ling Bai Road
201201 Shanghai, SHI

Tel. +862158973068

http://www.shanghailinks.com.cn/

Blogger Buzz: Blogger integrates with Amazon Associates

2010-04-20T15:37:00.000+08:00

Blogger Buzz: Blogger integrates with Amazon Associates

KAKIGOLF SWING SEQUENCE

2010-04-18T08:04:00.004+08:00

Played with Syaiful COO and Sam at the recent friendly game at KRTU and took some video footage of their swings. Both have similar swing actions, noticeably the wide takeaway, lateral body movement, impact positions and the arms extension after impact. These were good points and if executed rightly would result in long and straight drive which they did occasionally...

Here are the snapshots taken selectively from the video footage...

GOLF AT KRTU

2010-04-14T00:05:00.003+08:00

Sunday 11 April 2010 members of the golfing community i.e. Kakigolf.com organized a social golfing event at the KRTU, Subang. Some 33 golfers from both sexes and all ages came to play and actually there were only 2 lady golfers, Anne and Liza.

The course KRTU was very good and we played from the White Tee to give long hitting golfers some birdie chances!! Indeed there were many birdies..bogeys, doubles and triples as well as pars! I managed to scramble a few pars but fell prey to the dreadful island par 3..when I donated 2 balls into the pond, many of us did at that hole..

My flight mates Syaiful COO and Sam played better, nevertheless all of us were given prizes by the organizer Pak Ngah and Co...thanks pal. The main prize went to Boeing, who won the bull eye competition and took home RM 100..

I look forward to playing with these wonderful people again who played golf in its true spirit..just for fun.

Photos of Syaiful, Sam, Mo and Accidentalgolfer...

Golf swing..our way!

2010-03-09T22:00:00.004+08:00

On Sunday when KJ Choi was beaten by a 18 year old Korean to win the MMO 2010, me and my usuaal gang of golfers played at KLCC. This time Halim joined the likes of Munir, Bangdolah, Bojai, Atek, Aa, Sharol and Yob in the early morning tee-off accompanied by 2 ungraded caddies. Yob wanted to be known as AK, not Anthony Kim but A Khairudin! we will wait for him to buy the belt buckle first.

Once again I was asked to do a photo-shoot of everybody's tee-off which I did and want to show them here. This time I have captured the swing sequence at the follow through and how amazing they all look alike...

Happy golfing while I work on the other swing capture!

The Golf Swing..the professional way!

2010-03-07T18:35:00.003+08:00

On Saturday I went with Razak and his son Arief to watch the Maybank Malaysian Open 2010 at the KLGCC. I reached the club at 10.00 am and already has to park the car at the nearby Sime Darby Convention Center, more than 1 km from the KLGCC gates. The organizer provided shuttle though..a brand new Hyundai Starex to carry people from the parking location to the club and vice-versa. We have simple breakfast of roti canai and nasi lemak at the club and saw a lot of caddies and their masters also having breakfast there, we sat next to Mark Haastrup from Denmark.

I started to walk around at 11.00 am and watched several players at the practice green and then went to watch Mark's tee-shot at hole 10 at 11.35 am together with David Horsey of England and Darren Back of Australia. Man...they were fantastic golf swing from three of them and I managed to capture Mark's swing before the marshall spotted me. I was at the viewing galley about 30 meter away.

First thing I noticed the pros hit the ball really hard..I am sure they could managed 112 to 115 mph club speed easily, their posture at impact and the extension of the arms after impact and the balanced finish were the major different from my friends swing and my swing..our swing were anywhere from 86 mph to 95 mph with some of the bigger size friends like Atek, Yasni, Sharol , Munir and AK getting 110 mph! See Mark's swing here!

i went on to watch KJ Choi's and T Jaidee at the practice putting green and then proceed to the 1st Tee Box just in time to watch Chinnarat Padungsil, Matthew Griffin and Peter Lawrie launched the golf balls 250 meter down the fairway! The rest of the day I followed the last three groups of KJ Choi, Thongchai Jaidee and the leader then Rhys Davies.

It was an exhausting golf learning experience for me to see them tee-off, hit approach shot, pitch shot, bunker and putting. In the end the heat was too much for me on this Saturday and I left after 12 holes and I have probably walked 4 km already!

The Golf Swing..a never ending story!

2010-03-02T23:28:00.003+08:00

I have played golf without any proper coaching, in the early days when golf magazines and free internet instructions were rare..I just self taught myself into swinging the club. Those days were gone and I played golf to kill those leisure times available to only bachelors..

Then I started to read golf instruction from golf magazines, acquired knowledge from free internet lessons and getting tips from fellow golfers and absorbing all the tips from the self-proclaimed golf gurus at the driving range! But all those information got lost in between holes...every weekend the swing changed. How can I make a good swing if I have to remember all the tips like keep the head steady, slow takeaway, don't forget the wrist cock, check the club at parallel,maintain the L shape, complete the back swing..and now the down swing, initiate with the lower body, shift left for weight transfer and rotate the hip, do the reverse C, release at impact, follow through and finish high..aaahh, that was picture perfect and I duffed the shot!

It seemed like golf swing is very complicated because golf instructors never stop discussing about it for the last 25 to 30 years. We don't find such discussion in badminton, table tennis, tennis, baseball etc. maybe there were no wrist cock required hehehe!

Here are some photos of my friends golf swing..all without proper coaching, they enjoyed their golf game just as much, happy golfing.

Weekend golf outings

2010-02-21T19:10:00.004+08:00

Well..last weekend and Chinese New Year holidays, I played four consecutive days in Serendah and Kundang Lakes and felt fine! Actually I felt very sleepy at the office due to tiredness and the office Secretary thought I was having late nights...

Yesterday eight of us Bojai, Sheriff, AaAa, Sharol, Atek, Munir and Yeop and Bangdolah played at Serendah. The greens were still bare with sands and grass that refused to grow under the hot weather..however the course was great and each shot got extra yardage due to the hardened fairway. Me and my partner won 1 up in matchplay got complimentary Ice cream soda and sarsi..well under this weather any liquid with ice felt damn good. The score for me was good as I played the first nine 43 and second nine 45..better than last week!

Today I drove to Royal Kampung Kuantan Golf Club, covering a distance of 50 km from my house in Selayang. It was just a 45 minutes drive and reached the clubhouse at 7.45 am. This time I joined the kakigolf.com forumners in their outings..,called the Serious Golfers Tournament 2010. There were 30 golfer participated included two ladies...

I played with Syaiful COO, John Daly and Zul all known only by their nicknames in the Forum. There were 10 main prizes and perhaps 10 lucky draws. Although the club had men caddies, it was a walking course that covered more than 6 km...was I exhausted and dehydrated. So much so our golf Captain Kamal MFG called it a day after 12 holes...

I played great and consistent, lost 2 titleist balls to the same Par 5 hole and both went to the drinks..Yes consistent because I scored 50 and 49 but I didn't finished last..the journey back to Selayang was sleepy and reached home at 5 pm...aahh I need a rest!

Still I watched the cute Japanese girl Ai Miyazato won the Honda PTT Open in Pattaya...she scored 9 under par on final day and won by 1 with a chipped in birdie on the final hole..

Creating my own tournament

2010-02-16T18:28:00.003+08:00

The Chinese New Year holidays this year gave us working crews 4 days holiday from Saturday to Tuesday and I had drawn a 4 days golf schedule, what it felt like playing 4 days in professional golf if they make the cut! But I am not a professional golfer so I use buggy but no caddy though. After passing the mandatory retirement age of 55 years, our body needs regular reminder that we can still do it...not only golf!

I started at Kundang Lakes Country Club on Saturday, playing with regular Golfkakis Jai (20), Sharol (24) and Atek (22) after resting from golf for three weeks due to work schedule, managed to score 86 gross that included 9 pars! On Sunday I played with Golfkakis from MyGolf Community, the likes of Rizal AK (16), Ivan Sim (17) and Asroff (24) and I scored 91 gross. The Serendah Golf Resort is undergoing green maintenance, all 18 holes. The greens were bare with no grass and a disappointment for us! Let the green cures in three weeks and we come back to play.

On Monday I returned to Kundang Lakes to play with Azharudin, Zahari and Hj Zainol and scored a lousy 94 gross that included 2 triple bogeys! Mind you the greens in Kundang Lakes had seen significant improvements and now probably has the speed between 8.6 to 9.0! That is a three-putt speed category and the breaks are now a challenge, good work Kundang Lakes! The other members scored just decent with 93, 93 and 94.

Today (Tuesday) I completed my 72 holes endurance golf with a score of 91 that included 5 pars! I played with same group as yesterday and they didn't play good either. Today their score were slightly better with 92,93 and 94.

My score for the 4 days self tournament were 86, 94, 91 and 91. Being a golfer with handicap +18 that would be a +2 for 4 days. I think it was a decent score over four days under hot burning sun...so the body could still managed hardships...its a good health indicator.

My golf colleagues rewarded themselves with huge glass of coconut drinks + ice cream soda with lots of ice at the Tasik Biru restaurant. In reality this is what we came for....the serene surrounding at the lakes with some people playing jet ski..waht a view...and drinks!

Lastly my thanks to Mr Saha of the KLCC Golf Committee for giving us some tips and pointers on golf ethics....and for inviting us to join the coming MB Selangor Friendly Golf Competition in March!

Serendah golf Saturday

2010-01-11T16:47:00.005+08:00

It has been quite a while since I last pen something on this blog. Not that I didn't play golf but the mood was not quite there. In fact my last overseas golf outing was at the tough Southern Hills Country Club, located 20 km south of Hatyai, Thailand. I played with a Korean guy named David Kim and most of the time in the rain...guest what the next day the course was under flood water. That was on 4 November 2009..nevetheless, David lost 10 balls and scored 126 and I lost 3 balls and scored 91..this was a tough course!

Last week me..Sharol, Atek and Bo Jai played at Serendah Golf Links. Things have changed..especially the Green Fees. Last year AGS card member played on afternoon weekends paid only RM 50 with meal voucher added and now the voucher was missing! GLI card members now has to pay RM 70 on weekend and no meal vouchers too...it is getting more expensive to play golf this year.

That aside, Sharol played liked a season pro that day for a 24 hcper, his driving averaged 270 meters and the ball were on the fairway...imagine that! On 3 occassion he put his second shot on Par 4 about 12 feet from the pins..he missed 2 and got 1 birdie.

Atek and Bo Jai played around 92 and 93 but I was the worst amongst them, returning 49 and 47 respectively, now a confirmed 24 hacper for sure. I could only blame lack of golf outings and practice..but that bad scores didn't worry me, I am not taking indefinite leave from golf...next week I will play again!

Happy golfing guys!

EAGLE at Monterez

2009-09-23T20:51:00.003+08:00

First golf outing after Ramadan turned out to be extraordinary for Hj Atek, Bob, Jai and Bangdolah because nobody scored 100++! Bob played decent until the last three holes when he admitted to extremely dehydrated under the hot sun and blew up his score! He was doing allright with 6 straight pars at the second nine! He scored 83 gross and me 92.

Miracle happened at the short par 4 14th hole when Jai holed out his second shot from about 100 meter using an AW! It was a great EAGLE from him! Both Bob and I missed our birdie put for a tap in par...it took the thrill out when Atek found Jai's ball in the hole and before that he said he heard the ball hit the flagstick.

It was nice playing at Monterez during weekdays as only a few flights were on the course and we pretty much played leisurely...nobody in front and nobody at the back. I would say Atek played a very consistent golf from tee to green while Jai was struggling with his tee shot and chipping around the green. Bob played better than he anticipated while Bangdolah played his standard game.

Next outing will be Saturday at Kundang Lakes Golf Club. I am glad we played today....the rusty engine is starting to roar again!

Happy Golfing....

Nilai Spring Finale!

2009-08-28T02:44:00.003+08:00

A pre-Ramadhan outing was organized by Jai in Nilai Spring Golf and Country Club and Staffield Golf Club on 18 August 2009. We had the morning session in Nilai Spring and afternoon session at Staffield but the afternoon game ended prematurely due to rain and thunderstorms...

At Nilai Spring the ceremonial tee-off was given to Sharol of Menara KL and he sliced the shot into the right hazards...yeah the one month rest will do him good! Hj Katek scooped the ball high but landed on the fairway..so much for the standard of play of my golf buddies.

Hj Munir ended the golf season on a high note..scoring gross 74 on the Pine and Mango courses and he is on handicap 12 at the moment! The next best golfer was Azharuddin or AA who returned with a gross 84! I lost twenty bucks for the pool and five buck for his solo birdie...

O yes...Yasni looked like he enjoyed the game because the pretty Indon caddy served him well..no wonder he could not take advantage of the 4 strokes we all gave him... he was the overall loser in my group..never mind we all can eat more during lunch! Ayi played very well...this ex-single handicapper wanted to play at 16 handicap..level with me, never mind..his other handicap was stamina..he was running at three-cylinder in Staffield!

Me..Munir and Pak Yob had dinner at a Tom Yam restaurant in Semenyih while the others turned right to take the LEKAS highway back to KL! Until next outing..lets keep the body fit with lots of Tarawih!

Golf in Vientiane

2009-08-03T21:47:00.005+08:00

Hmm..the smell of Agarwood brought me to Vientiane, the Capital city Lao PDR. It is a landlocked nation bordered by Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar and Vietnam without any sea ports to export and import. The missing sea view was nevertheless replaced by the Mekong River and with all the exciting nightly waterfront activities we can forget the sea! I spent everynight having grilled Black Talapia for dinner with sticky rice and fresh vegetables. There were also river prawns and snake head fish for company!

For Muslim there were Nizam, Fatima and Ali restaurants that served the special fried rice..teh tarik and the Berianis...mutton, chicken and fish. The Jamek Mosque was still under renovation.

Old friend Mr Bounsouane and newly found friend Ms Papao made my life a little easier as they provided the basic translation in my everyday communication. Met Mr Benny Tan, GM of DRose Hotel (Malaysian owned) located next to Lao Plaza Hotel. Let him know you are my friend..he will let you stay at the hotel for USD 40 per room. The room is huge..350 sq feet!

Benny got all his friend's golf sets and loaned them to us and we played at the Vientiane KM 6 Golf Club. Arrived at the golf club about 2.30 pm and paid the green fees at the Sport Shop about Lao kip 280,000 per person including cute girl caddies! This was a 9 hole set-up so we played from White tees and then yellow tees. We finished the game in darkness..No..No.. there were floodlights at no extra charges!

Great game..shot 86 ( 5 pars and 2 birdies..not bad with a borrowed set) and enjoy the photos.
I am having difficulty loading photos here..see them at bangdolah.fotopages.com!

Impian Golf - now everybody can win prizes!

2009-07-10T00:08:00.007+08:00

Our golf stablemates registered for the Annual MPOPC Golf Championship 2009 held at the tricky Impian Golf and Country Club Kajang Selangor on Saturday 4 July 2009. Playing at the tricky Hole No.8 both flights came out smiling..no triple bogeys! we were playing using the System 36 Stableford Points system, where you can only play par golf (36 points) if you shoot 96 gross (HCP 24maximum for men) and below and no triple bogeys!

Nevertheless everybody got prizes to bring home. The best performance in our group went to Pak Yob who came out Champion in the C Medal. He played 36 points off handicap 20 for that day. Rahim won 3rd place in the A Medal and Munir was 8th in the A Medal (handicap 12 and below). Jai was placed in the B medal, so was Kamal and Hadi. Bangdolah won the NTL contest with placement of 30 cm from the line.

Our Champion Pak Yob owed his success to the recent training stint in Jakarta and the use of his new rescue club.

Thank you MPOPC for being such a sporting organizer!

Weekend Golf at Kundang

2009-05-24T15:01:00.007+08:00

KLCC is Kundang Lakes Country Club and not the other KLCC where the Petronas Twin Towers are located. KLCC has now been a regular fixture in my golf calendar as I got the opportunity to play morning golf during the weekends. For golf discount card holder the rate is RM 44 per person sharing buggy and RM 45 for turf-mate. The rates are good for weekdays as well as for weekends.

The first nine or Kundang Nine is always the easier layout where the first two holes provide opportunities for eagles, birdies and pars. Being short in length the first hole measured only 281 metres from the blue tee and the second hole is a 121 meter par three. I always make sure to score par at both holes because the next hole is a par 4 that promise you a bogey! The third hole is a dogleg left par four guarded by many bunkers, at the fairways and greenside! The green is tricky and lucky to make 2 putts!

The fourth hole is a 443 meter par 5, an easy three shot placement and should get a par here! Keep your second shot to the left of fairway to avoid the guarding bunkers! The fifth hole is a short 303 meter par 4 with tricky green but nonetheless should make par! The next hole is a 347 meter par 4 with a tricky approach to the fast green, guarded by bunkers on the right and OB on the left..the safe way is to play it short of the green and chip to the pin for a par putt! The seventh hole is a 486 meter par 5, must avoid the fairway bunkers about 190-200 meters from the blue tee box! A second shot must also avoid the bunkers on the left of the fairways and approach shot to the middle of the large green is a prudent play.

The last par 3 is a 132 meter hole guarded by many greenside bunkers..an uphill put is desired to make par or bogey. The last hole is an index 1 370 meter par 4, although it is an index 1, it turned easy if your tee shot find the fairway. My second shot is always about 180 meter to the green, usually my 5 wood or 3 iron would land the ball at the apron and a simple chip would award me with a putt for par.

The first 9 should give a 18 handicap golfer a score of 43-45 strokes!

The back 9 or Lakes Nine bring water into play for most of the holes except hole no. 10 and 18. The tee shot at hole nos 10 is always intimidating as a pull tee shot or a duck hook will probably go OB and could hit vehicles on the rural road..so please aim to the right, there are only bunkers there! Once on the fairway, plan your second shot to land at your most comfortable distance...for me it is 60 to 80 meter as I have three wedges, 56, 60 and 64 degrees to rely on! Should make a par on this hole! The next hole is a 135 meter par 3 and has to carry over water! The pond had collected a lot of golf balls! You can use anything from AW,PW to 8 iron and aim right for security and keep out the big numbers! The 12 hole is a 327 meter dogleg left par 4 that requires precision placement of tee shot. There are water hazard on the right to catch the slicer and marsh swamp on the left to catch the hookers! The raised green is tricky, take a bogey and leave for next hole! The 13 hole is a 496 meter par 5 and require 3 good shots to reach the green. I would settle for a bogey on this hole! Next is 373 meter par 4 that require precise approach to the green, anything right will find the water! Hole 15 is probably the signature hole par 3 that plays 170 meter from the blue tee! Pin placement at the back and right would be the most difficult, I would play my 4 iron to the front of the green and try my luck from there! Sometimes they have a red flag at the front and I could try a birdie chip or putt!

The next hole is a 320 meter right dogleg par 4. The difficulty lies in finding the fairway, you could slice and end up in the drinks or your tee shot overruns the fairway and ended up under the trees without sight to the green! In you find the fairway, its only a PW or 9 iron to the green. The 17 hole is a short 295 meter par 4 where you should make four!

The last hole is a index 2 par 4 plays 394 meter and I played it as all 18 handicapper should, a 3 shot strategy and 2 putt for bogey! That complete the round, if there are no bad shot and 3 putts, you should this nine in 44-47 strokes!

My best score for Kundang Nine was 38 strokes and for Lakes Nine was 40 strokes but it didn’t happened on the same round and same day, maybe someday it will....until that day comes, my scores at KLCC would be between 87 to 92 always!

Kundang Lakes Country Club

2009-04-18T19:34:00.003+08:00

Kundang Lakes Country Club...has improved a lot from the last two years, it now served new buggies on its menu...a popular attraction for golfers now! To get to Kundang Lakes is easy..you follow the old Rawang road if you are from KL and turn left towards Batu Arang, PLUS highway, Bandar Country Homes, Tasik Puteri alike..and get ready to turn left after Bandar Country Homes traffic light..it is about 600 meters (thats a long par 5..)! From the junction it takes 10 minutes to reach the club.

If you are using the Sungai Buloh road, proceed to Kelab Rahman Putra until you reach the T-junction and turn left into the village, its probably 10 km from the KRP! Registration was fast and easy and the 8 of us was set to tee off in 5 minutes, we paid RM 44 each under AGS card!

The premier league group cocnsisted of Wan Munir (12), Wak (based in Nigeria) and AA all played 16 hcp and Ijam was promoted to 20 hcp ! The other Liga Perdana group consisted of Dolah (18), Jai, Yasni and Shahrul all 20+ hcp !

The weather was fine and the course was there for the taking..premier league group returned with gross 81,83,87 and 93! The liga perdana group managed 90,95,96 and 97! Maybe who scored 90 can get promotion to premier league next time around and get ready to be slaughtered ! Even though Ijam scored 93..he got 2 birdies !

Meal time..today's special were Mee Curry and Nasi Ayam Special at RM 5.50 per serving! 2 jugs of Sirap Bandung completed the lunch menu...now its time to go home and refresh and prepare for KGSAAS on Monday!

MyGolf Inter-team Challenge 12 April 2009

2009-04-15T09:41:00.005+08:00

Sunday 12 April 2009 was supposed to be the event of the year for members of MyGolf.Com community ! They were suppose to fight it out on the Tasik Puteri Golf Course to determine this year Champion Team, be it DON or NAGARIA ! Nagaria team members came out in full force in blazing RED colours to frighten the defending champion Team DON and they succeeded as 8 players from Team DON failed to turn up ! Alas...due to poor coordination of Tasik Puteri Management, the tee-off time was delayed from 12.30 pm to about 2.00 pm by which time the sky was already preparing a downpour ! Much to the golfers disappointment the game was stopped 3 times due to rain and thunderstorm and some made it to finish 18 holes but many did not !
No winner was declared and prizes were given away in lucky draws! Nevertheless during dinner everybody seemed to have enjoyed the outings especially in meeting new fellow golfers, men and ladies alike ! With registered members exceeding 1,700 golfers this golf community would be a great platform for networking, for business and leisure!
Michelle Y H Lee provided more photos at this link,
http://www.flickr.com/photos/michelleyhlee/sets/72157616712668092/

Practice Round

2009-04-09T00:27:00.011+08:00

He got the body size and hit maybe harder than Tiger Woods and want to turn professional golfer in the future but age is catching up so he will settle down as little Kuching Woods of Taman Samudera Batu Caves. Phew... not that we don’t have talent but we could only played once a week due to the quota system imposed by the Home Minister! So we all make the most of it, sometimes played 36 holes in one day..just like the final of World Accenture Matchplay.

Wan Munir is the best of the lot with AA and Dolah a distance second and third. The rest are still trying to play at 95 consistently...and some would smile when they broke 100...golf is such a fun game!

I am still on leave and during the last 10 days, have played at Bukit Kemuning with Tan and Chan, from Klang, Kelab Rahman Putera witn Brand and Ghafar from Terengganu, Seremban 3 Paradise Valley with the usual gang, Kundang Lakes with Yob, Nordin and Abang Wan, Tasik Puteri with Selayang neighbours and Thurday another round with Rizal , Nizam and Nazeri at Tasik Puteri again...no..no..not because they have caddies from Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam but for practice round for the inter team competition on Sunday ! Razak just called if I want to join his group this Friday at Orna and Tiara Melaka...I thought we Malaysians are facing global economic recessions ? That's why they play golf...not much work in the office ! Jai also SMS for Tunku Jaafar on Saturday and Brand and Sudin asked to join 9 holes at Monterez, sorry guys..I need rest laa!

Golf in Seremban 3

2009-04-04T21:22:00.005+08:00

Saturday 4 April 2009 our organizer Jai managed to assemble six golfers to play at the Seremban 3 Golf Course. This trip was the 3rd visit to this course this year for our group and this time around Halim joined us, my..did he struggled today and lost 4 balls ! As usual when we traveled south of KL we made it a point to stop for breakfast at the Nilai R&R for Nasi Lemak Sotong! Usually we will be there around 7.15 to 7.30 morning.

The weather was just fine when we started at about 8.45 but by the time we went to 2nd nine it was very hot..that was the problem when we played in a valley course, almost no wind to push away the heat! After the game Munir laid down in the changing room..tired he said, I was exhaussted during our last trip, so was AA..maybe we should other course next week.

By the way, Sharol from Menara KL was not around this time, he was busy with the F1 event! But he let me try his Nike SQ driver...sorry Rol, arini driver tak perform!

GOLF IN PORT DICKSON

2009-03-30T14:53:00.003+08:00

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

2009-03-26T11:42:00.001+08:00

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

2009-03-22T09:25:00.006+08:00

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

2009-03-20T11:41:00.006+08:00

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

2009-03-20T09:10:00.006+08:00

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

2009-03-19T14:54:00.005+08:00

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

2009-03-19T11:20:00.003+08:00

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 !