Golf Overdose Part I
Folks, I am sorry for the long hiatus of this blog, but I hope this two-part posting can do a bit to justify why I've been slack with the postings.. I've been busy playing golf for real for a change, and here's what happened..
Those of you who has been following this blog (I hope there's more than the two of you, Mom and Dad !) will remember that because of busy weekend schedules and family obligations, I'm a nine hole golfer on most weekends. Part of my master plan is to subvert the rest of the family to playing golf, but with the arrival of our lovely third baby, my wife is out of it and Michelle my eldest daughter enjoys field hockey and tae kwon do more than golf. Which leaves Angela my #2 daughter who's taking golf lessons as I mentioned in previous postings. So what all this boils down to, I simpy do not get enough time to play as much as I'd want.
Now, last December school holidays, my wife and kids went home to Indonesia for a whole month. I just recently switched jobs hence does not enough annual leave to join them for the trip. Now here comes the tricky part. You married guys out there, you'll know what's coming. I would be lying if my brain didn't immediately start counting how many trips to malaysia and how many courses I can cram in during the month while still maintaining a straight face. I will miss my family terribly of course but the thought of being able to play golf anytime I want might cause a grin to cross my face and that might cause my wife to think I don't want to join them because I'd rather play golf etc etc.. you guys know what I mean. But my wife knows me well, she can read the strained expression on my face when she told me about the length of her home visit, and she spared me serious facial muscle injury when she said "And yeah I guess you can go golfing with your buddies on the weekends while I'm gone". I tried not to grin too widely but yeah it was a relief...
After seeing the family off at Changi and having the usual tearful farewell with the girls, the very next weekend I went with Adi, David and Johnson, 3 mates of mine for a 3day golf trip to Malaysia. The plan was to play at Tiara Melaka, Bangi Country Club near KL and then wind down with a round Tanjong Putri Golf Resort near JB. I decided called it the "4 guys, 3 Days, 3 courses, No Laundry Service" trip.
The trip got off to a bad start when we hit the back of the queue at the Tuas checkpoint around 4km away from the crossing. It was the Dec 8th Hari Raya Haji long weekend, and everybody and his dog must have thought the Woodland crossing is going to be full so they hit the Tuas checkpoint insted. 4 hours later, our tee times at Tiara Melaka shot to hell, we finally emerged from the Second Link checkpoint. It was at a time like this we're glad LGA is the one arranging our trip, we just placed a call to Wendy and she took care of moving the tee time to a later date with no fuss.
By the time we reached Tiara Melaka it was almost 3pm and unfortunately for us, we only got 7 holes in at this challenging course before the skies opened and we had to retreat to the clubhouse. No matter, we're still sore and cranky from the 4 hours' wait at the Tuas checkpoint so we just drove to downtown Melaka and enjoyed the sights there. I actually write a regular series of articles for the Golf tabloid magazine which you can pick up for free at most Singapore courses and driving ranges, and I was so pleased with the walkabout around Downtown Melaka that it became the topic of an article that should be out at their February issue.
Later on that evening, we pushed on to Bangi Golf and Country Club which is located near KL, reaching there around 10pm. If you haven't tried this course before, it's definitely worth a try. There's a very nice hotel located right next to the 27-hold course, and they offer quite an attractive stay n' play package. By this time we realize that the scheduled 7am tee off the next day would be pure murder on our tired bodies so we moved it to the afternoon while we slept in a bit. Thankfully the weather was quite kind the next day so we played a full 18 holes. David, one of the guys in the trip, is an enthusiastic newcomer to the game and since this is his first full 18 holes ever we even held a little ceremony to mark the occassion (photo on the left). One thing that troubles me is that he said he'll just pick up the game by watching ME play and believe me David, if you are reading this, with the way I play, that the last thing you wanna do.
Now, after playing 18 holes and taking a shower and enjoying a nice meal at the clubhouse, the last thing you should want to do is drive 5 hours in the rain from KL to JB, but due to the demanding schedule that we have, that's what we are forced to do. Taking turns driving my old Toyota down the North South highway, we reached JB around 11pm, meeting Wendy there who said oh guys tee off tomorrow at 7:30 am.. OMG..
Anyway, somehow we managed to get out of bed the next day and teed off as scheduled. For those of you unfamillliar with it, the Tanjong Puteri Golf Resort is a very picturesque resort tucked away on almost the western end of the Pasir Gudang Highway in Johor Bahru. It's got 3 challenging courses, the course conditions are absolutely marvellous and there is enough variety here to keep you busy. In hindsight, we might have been better served by just staying here and trying out each of the courses, but ah well, we were longing for adventure :)
Knowing the local weather patterns, where it usually rains in the afternoons, we were pretty confident that at least in the morning we'll have a better chance. So we got 2 holes in.. and then the skies poured down. By this time, we have pretty much given up and started to drive around the course in the rain just taking pictures from the buggy. But when we came up to the signature 17th hole of the Tanjong Putri straits course which was a picturesque Par 3 with an island green, everybody jumped off to have a go. I am sad to report that me, Adi and Johnson each sacrificed 3 balls to the water gods on that hole, but David managed to hit in on the green and 3-putted for a bogey. I have never seen anybody so deliriously happy to get a bogey in my life (see above). Ah, he is young, he will learn. But at the time we were just happy to share his joy. High fives and back slaps all around.
It's then time to make the crossing back to Singapore. The plus side is that it's actually geographically very close to Singapore near the Admiralty/Sembawang side, so that Singtel and Starhub's cell networks actually reach the Tanjong Puteri clubhouse, so if you live in Singapore and want to check the traffic conditions at the border crossings with your 3G phone before you head off, you can without having to pay an arm and a leg in roaming charges ! Anyway, due to the lousy December weather, we actually only managed to complete 27 holes out of 54, but maybe because of the length of the trip and the weather we were a bit worn out.. can't imagine how Tiger Woods held up playing and walking 5 rounds including the playoff on a broken foot and bum knee.Immigration gave us no problem at all because one look at the mess of golf bags and smelly clothes (remember the "No Laundry Service" part of our trip ?) was enough to convince them that Mas Selamat is quite probably not hiding underneath Adi's golf bag. So, tired but happy I staggered home with my load of dirty socks and golf shirts, happy to have gorged myself to the fullest extent possible on this first weekend as a temporary bachelor..
A few tips for guys who want to schedule long golf trips: driving is not a great idea, and if you do drive, avoid morning tee times. It's actually better to find a place like Pulai or Tanjong Puteri that allows you to stay overnight and play different courses on different days. Save the fatigue for the actual golf, not the driving like a maniac along the North South highway trying to make your tee time. Just for the record, check out the trip meter from my GPS on the left :)
So how did the rest of the month go, well give me a few more days, and I'll share it with the rest of you :) till then, keep swinging away !