Serendah golf Saturday

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

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!

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

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!

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

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

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!