Cannons
all.
8 LC's
made it to Batam and enjoyed 2 days of golf on 2 very good courses in sublime
weather.
Batam has
changed out of all recognition since I was last there in1979. Back then there
were no metalled roads and most of the buildings were wooden. The island
was covered in forest with
a
population of only 6000 in 1970 and probably no more than 10,000 by 1979. Today
most of the forest has gone, clear logged with mostly secondary forest and
shrub left. There are wide dual carriageway roads and a bustling
commercial / industrial based community supported by a population
of just over 1M with an annual population growth of 8% over the last
decade. Amazing!
Mind you,
there are plenty of signs of a country trying to run before it can walk.
Flying
Fire Fly for the first time was a good experience; the flight being on
time in both directions and their terminal at Subang is both comfortable
and efficient. Such a wonderful change from the LCCT at Sepang. Entry was
via a 7 day USD10 visa.
The Hotel
Harmoni was also a good choice being a reasonable 4 star and right in the heart
of Nagoya. Everything was literally just around the corner.
On day
one we played Tering Bay in cool cloudy weather with
a nice breeze blowing throughout.
Tering
Bay is a testing Greg Norman track and although the course was in good shape;
especially the greens, the bunkers with their steep deep sand faces were very
challenging especially if you were embedded in the face. The clubhouse is
in need of some TLC but adequate and good friendly service. The club found
us a mini bus for the return to the hotel and we hired him for the rest of
the tour.
For the
record Kevin Wiggins returned the best score of 83 for
42 points with Ted Parslow R/U with a superb 78 for 40 points.
Day 2 was
the September Medal Game played at Palm Springs.
This was a lovely picturesque 36 hole layout having 5-shared greens. We
played the toughest of the 4; Palm & Island, measuring 5445 metres
with a slope of 126. With a mixture of forest and beach backdrops it
was a pleasure to play, again in delightful weather. The clubhouse
too was excellent, Balanese style with all amenities and
overlooking the beach.
The
winner was Kevin again with 82 for 44 points and
the R/U was myself with 39 points. The lowest gross was 76 by Geoff
Parslow (34 back 9) finding his form, and the most golf was played by
Richard Moss with 106.
Kevin is
cut 8 strokes and myself 1 stroke.
A very
good tour and worth another visit when we can try some of the other 5 courses
on the island. Lots of fun.
I will be forwarding some photos to Stuart for
inclusion in the Blog.
The photos and captions below by courtesy of Raymond Keys
If you wish to see the photos in original format (large size) please click on the photo itself
Watch
this space for next Tuesday's venue.
Great photos Raymond ....... Good Job!
ReplyDeleteThanks Stuart. The new 'multi burst' facility takes the guessing out of when is the correct time to press the shutter!
ReplyDelete