Quote

"Golf is a game whose aim is to hit a very small ball into an even smaller hole, with weapons singularly ill-designed for the purpose."

Winston Churchill



Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Results - Tasik Puteri Golf & Country Club - 11th September 2012


Report


Cannons all.
 
Tasik Puteri was in very good condition overall, the only grumble being the bunkers which had been recently refilled with fresh sand that was so deep and soft as to make playing out of near impossible. Remedy; avoid the bunkers I suppose! With surprisingly few other golfers at the course we were off on time after a short dispute between the starter and the supervisor over which of the nines were in play, but once that was sorted out the round proceeded at good pace (for most) on the Puteri & Putera 9's.
 
The weather too was good with a strong breeze picking up towards the end of the round.
 
The winner  was Bernhard Romahn with 44 points and the runner-up was Barry Cousins with 43 points.
The lowest gross was 80 by John Laidley and the most golf was played by Alan Holgate with 119.
Bernhard is cut 8 strokes and Barry 1 stroke.
 
With the demise of the Equatorial we mustered at the Chin Hiong Restoran half way back to the toll where the food was so-so but the price reasonable. But this was not a patch on the Equatorial.


Photos

 The usual chaos at the start to get 20 odd Loose Cannons into buggies and away.

 Our group's starting hole was the 10th hole - a misty start.

Tony tees off and sets his usual blistering pace around the course - we never saw the group behind us the whole round.

Now just check out the bend in Alan Holgate's club as he swings through demonstrating the monstrous power he is applying to the club .... now if only that power could be transferred to the ball.

 Aftab chips onto the green on the short over-the-water par 3 14th hole.

 A serene view over the lake ...... after we waited for the ripples to die down after Alan's ball went in.

 Alan again showing his driving prowess.

 Tasik Puteri is a beautiful course and fairly well maintained.

 Alan Holgate has his "energy bar" break after abandoning his play on this hole.

 The tough 18th hole .... it's uphill all the way.

 Aftab follows the caddy's lead in combatting the strong morning sun.

 Tony in action on the dance floor.

 Our helpful and always smiling caddy ... Dini.

 Tony hits on on a short par 3 3rd hole.

 Alan Holgate in jovial form.

A panoramic view of the long par 5 4th hole.

 Tony Morris also demonstrating his power at club bending.

 Aftab hits one off the tee in a steady and consistent manner.

 You can just see Alan's ball heading off straight down the middle.

 Tony ponders his putt - the clubhouse drawing closer in the background.

 A fine band of Loose Cannonites - Tony Morris, Alan Holgate, Aftab Ahmad and Stuart Taylor.

 Finally we reach the 8th hole which was our 17th hole ... one to go then it's a much needed refreshment and lunch.

 Tony impersonating an Australian cattle rustler.

 Alan Holgate impersonating an F1 Honda Team driver.

 The final hole - Alan hits his second to the green ... or rather short of the green.

The new restaurant "Chin Hiong" was successful although not quite as good as our previous haunt the "Equatorial Restaurant"

 After numerous amber refreshments and a belly full of food, spirits were good.

Barry is in great need of a wardrobe consultant

Video





Thursday, September 6, 2012

Next Game - Tasik Puteri Golf & Country Club - 11th September 2012


Golf next Tuesday, 11th September 2012 will be atTasik Puteri Golf & Country Club
Be there by 07:30 LATEST
M&M will be taken off site at a restoran that Richard will lead us to. It's on the way back to the toll.
Names to Mike Smith soonest.

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Results - Berjaya Hills Golf & Country Club - 4th September 2012


Cannons all.

For the second week running we played in the rain.
18 LC's made their way to the mountains through the KL haze and endured the lengthy registration process that seems to be the norm these days at most local golf venues. We eventually got started at 8:15 under leaden skies; all from tee box 1 as the tenth tee is at the farthest point on the course, and this always leads to a rather long delay between the first and last flight. But more of that later.
By the time the first flight got to the second tee the rain began; a heavy drizzle, and it continued intermittently for much of the front nine. Berjaya Hills was in very nice condition with much long needed maintenance in evidence including the repair of the land slip at the 4th tee box which, while not completely repaired, at least has a new tee boxes to replace those at the foot of the slip and a new buggy track circumnavigating the slip which is a great improvement on the temporary detour across the neighbouring fairway that has been in place for the past year or more.
Berjaya Hills is always a delightful place to be, high in the hills with wonderfully clean air and spectacular vistas. The gallery of Gibbons were very noisy, a bit like American golf galleries, and a magnificent Owl swooped into a tree and watched the LC's putting exhibition with great disdain before silently gliding away in search of something more interesting.
The winner OCB was Stuart Taylor with 42 points and the runner-up was Ted Parslow.
The lowest gross was 77 by Geoff Parlow and the most golf was played by Allan McNicoll with 118. Stuart is cut 6 strokes and Ted1 stroke.
As I mentioned earlier, there is always a long delay at this track because we believe that we have to start from TB 1 as TB 10 is so far away. The first flight, a 3 ball, were back in under 4 hours with the second 3 ball 10 minutes later. There was then a delay of almost an hour before flight 3 walked off the 18th, 10 minutes of it searching for balls within 150 metrs of the green!!! The last flight came in 90 minutes after the first flight. Maybe we need to bite the bullet and put up with the 10 minute drive to the 10th. But even this will not help unnecessary slow play.
Speed the game up guys.
Poor Bob Simpson was sat at the restaurant for nearly an hour before anyone joined him. He text me with "Where is everone?" followed 45 minutes later with "Am I in the right restauant?". We had left the changing rooms together! And he was in flight 2!!!! 2 members of flight 1 didn't stay for lunch and Erol, their 3rd member had to wait for John who was in a later flight and I had to wait for George who was in the last flight. Erol & I had a beer at the 18th to pass the time while waiting for flight 3 to appear.
Anyway, some lessons learned. At venues like this where we adjourn to an off site venue for lunch I will pre arrange the flights. This will help.
Lunch at Restoran 126 in the village was excellent and accompanied by much amber nectar and very reasonably priced.
Despite the delays, a good day out.


Photos

Geoff Parslow, Ted Parslow, John Laidley and Glen Wombwell warming up on the 1st tee. Well not exactly warming up ... but Glen is warming his hands!

 Erol Akinci and his "Rusty Pecker" at the 1st tee.

 We thought much of the fairway damage on the course had been caused by wild boar action ... but here is proof that Alan McNicoll was also to blame!

Panorama photo of the 4th hole.

 "Stop and smell the flowers" as famously quoted by golfer Walter Hagen. These beautiful flowers had dropped from the trees which surrounded the fairways on the 5th hole.

 Here we see some wild boar damage caused just off the green on the 9th hole.

 The unmistakeable profile of Mr. Richard Moss.

 The Berjaya Hills course has some wonderful views over the surrounding hills and has the advantage of being relatively cool due to the altitude.

 Alan McNicoll blasts one away with this new driver on the 10th hole.

 Richard Moss looking in awe at his drive on the 10th.

Panorama photo of the 10th hole green.

 Richard Moss in the valley of sin on the 12th.

 Geoff McLaws looking happy .... couldn't say that by the 18th!

 The bizarre Colmar Tropicale buildings nestle in the hills in the distance.

 Another fine swing from Alan McNicoll propels him further forward into triple figures.

The fairly straightforward 16th to lull you into a false sense of security and confidence before the last two holes.

A scarifier machine had been in action on the 17th tee box.

Looking back down the tough 17th hole it's easy to see where you went wrong.

Video


Audio

Something extra this week to complete your multi-media desires - some recorded sounds of the gibbons in the jungle surrounding the golf course. It sounded like they were all screeching with laughter .... and this was probably exactly the case given the displays of our golf proficiency.

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Next Game - Berjaya Hills Golf & Country Club - 4th September 2012


Golf next Tuesday, 4th September 2012 will be at 
Berjaya Hills Golf & Country Club
 (formerly Bukit Tinggi)
Be there by 07:30 LATEST
M&M will be taken in Bukit Tinggi village at Restoran 126.
Names to Mike Smith soonest

Results - Nilai Springs Golf & Country Club - 28th August 2012



Cannons all.
22 LC's assembled at a very wet Nilai Springs on Tuesday morning to decide the Champion for August.
Over the years we have had few weather disruptions on a Tuesday morning and only one washout; that was many years ago at nearby Staffield, and so sitting in the clubhouse with the rain falling like stair rods from lead grey sky a certain amount of pessimism was gathering. But by 8 o'clock it started to ease up and by 8:20 we were making our way to the tee. Intermittent rain continued through the first 9 but later gave way to pleasant overcast conditions.
Historically Nilai Springs Golf & Country Club is one of the best maintained tracks we play but I'm sorry to report that this was not the case yesterday. In fact the course was in the poorest condition I have seen it for several years. Not bad you understand.....just poor by Nilai Springs standards. However, I'm sure they will get it back into shape fairly quickly. The dry weather in July and early August had dried out the new herring bone drainage that was recently installed and so several of the fairways had strips of brown grass and they needed a hair cut. The greens were slow, mainly because of the early morning rain which prevented them being cut, and the Pines greens had been recently hollow tined, probably just before Ramadan with poor follow up treatment and so they were very uneven and patchy. Not at all what we have become used to at Nilai Springs.
With few other golfers on the course early on we were round in good time with 20 players gathering for lunch in the clubhouse which was up to the expected standard. The only complaint being the extraordinarily long time it took to prepare my fish & chips. I know that Dory is a farmed fish from Vietnam but I had no idea that they actually had to go there to collect it!! 
  
The winner of the August Trophy was Vincent Vijayan with 43 points off the stick plus 3 bonus points for a total of 46. The runner-up was Siegmund  with 41 points.The lowest gross was shared by the 2 Geoff's; Parslow & McLaws with 81 and the most golf was played by newcomer Allan McNicoll with 122. Vincent is cut 7 strokes and Siegi 1 stroke.


Photos


 Rick Brown may be difficult to recognise when looking at his new fresh-faced look .... but you only need to check out his shorts to confirm that it's Rick. Mike Smith as always ... counting the money.

 A rainy, wet start to the day

 Bob Simpson hits over the water ... yes he did get it over.

 Tony Morris takes cover under his umbrella as the rain persists.

 Tony belts one out in his usual quick fashion. As I noted he is usually picking up his tee before his backswing is even complete!

You can't see the wood for the trees .. in this case I can't use my wood for the trees! 

Luckily the greens were exceedingly slow otherwise this putt of mine would have rolled past the hole and down the slope towards the water. 

 Richard Moss didn't make it today .... but he was in our thoughts.

 The buggy tracks were somewhat waterlogged in places

 Bob Simpson's secret weapon .... The SkyCaddie .... didn't appear to help him much!

Nearing the end of the round .... thank goodness



A beautiful panorama on the last hole with Tony Morris waiting till the green clears

Video




Next Game - Nilai Springs Golf & Country Club - 28th August 2012


Golf next Tuesday, 28th August 2012 will be at  Nilai Springs Golf & Country Club
Be there by 07:30 LATEST
This is the Trophy Game for August and will be capped at 24 players.Names to Mike Smith soonest