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Puma Shoes!

puma

After being absent for so long, I’m posting my third post for the day. Just bought some really sporty looking golf shoes from Bandar Utama Golf House (Old Wing) for RM199. My RM99 Callaway shoes I bought a few months back has turned out to be a horrible buy. It lasted me less than 10 games and the sole has already broken. I think traditional shoes are just not fit for my kind of style, i.e the swing that has a finish resembling one of the monkeys from the planet of the apes, and going into muddy areas to find for balls, and rocky landslides due to our retarded golf swings. Callaway I think made their shoes for perfect golfers who play 99% of the time in the fairway. Not for us.

So I’ve decided to buy these deceivingly sporty golf shoes that look like jogging shoes so in case guests come to my house, I can trick them into thinking that I am involved in healthy activities instead of an activity that you can play, while smoking, drinking or generally involve peeing into a bush halfway through the game.

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This is GILAGOLF MAX

If you think you are gilagolf, you ain’t seen nothing yet.

One hole in one course.

From tee to green is 3 miles. That’s 4.82 KM. That’s like 10 Par 5s strung together. Wait, the tee is 2,000 feet above the green. The good news is the green is 50 feet wide.

The bad news is that you need to hike down the peak without a trail and brave through rattlesnakes and cactus.

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Golf In Other Places

I get some emails from other gilagolfers sometimes describing to me some really out of this world sort of courses as well.

dino2 dino1There is this place at Queensland Sunshine Coast (I remember driving around there once!) called Hyatt Regency (Or Coolum Golf Resort), where you get to play under the shadow of a T-Rex.

By no means this is something new, as even closer to home, Mines Resort has giant Tigers and Giraffes as well.

On top of that, one of the Gilagolfers offered his take on Robina Woods, a course reviewed while I was on a family trip in Brisbane a couple of years back.  Thanks, Anthony!

 

I’ll try 2 photos for now and see what happens. If you can recall since you were here last one of the photos shows the practice putting green in the foreground. In the background you can see the fairways of the 18th green to your left and its elevated tee some 500+ metres away. And to the right just behind the practice green is the 1st tee.

Unfortunately I’m not much of photographer,  the 1st teeing ground is blocked by the bushes. The golfer wearing a blue jumper standing next to the golf bags is a member there and a former ‘surfing’ champ back in the 70’s. A local identity here in the Gold Coast area. And the guy wearing a white hat practicing his putt is from the UK – a cricket coach for one of the county cricket teams there. He was second only to Shane Warne when the two were in the academy in their junior years. I can’t recall the county sorry.

The other photo was taken on the 2nd hole. While we were walking towards the fairway, we saw this motor cart in the pond submerged. So I took a photo of it. Apparently according to one of the guys in the pro-shop, a young kid have driven it to the water. Ouch! Cost $8,000 to replace! Double ouch! Anyhow we have had a great time but Robina was the winner. The green was so fast at that time because the day before, Robina had their club championship. So the speed of the green and pin placement was to that standard. If only we knew.

P1000836 P1000838

 

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This is Golf Pornography

mizuno

Since transferring to Mizuno MP-54s from my Taylormade RAC I have actually made considerable improvements in my irons. As in, where I used to be so afraid of hitting my iron shots especially 6 iron downwards, I’m actually now looking forward to it. Anything especially 8 iron onwards is delicious to me – because with the MPs, I’ve actually have some sort of control on my flight. Plus, it’s so darn beautiful.

This month, the Satin Blue S5 Mizuno Wedge is going to hit our markets – or at least the US (not sure when in Malaysia), but my gawd, it makes me drool. Blue is like my all time favourite colour – satin blue is just ridiculously obvious that I am so surprised nobody has thought about this. In any case, why don’t people just come up with groovy colours for their wedges? How about superman red?

I’m the kind of guy who will wander off into a golf shop and just oogle at the Mizuno irons. Something about it really attracts me. I’ll probably start an article exploring Mizuno irons from here on. I believe once any golfer gets started with an MP iron, it’s really hard to go back playing the other irons.

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Playing in the 80s

gilastatsAug2015

For those figuring out why I am so obsessed with shooting in the 80s, is this:

a) I’ve been playing golf since 2004. That means it’s 11 years and counting stuck in this darn game and still figuring out how to play it properly.

b) I’ve undergone a tremendously stressful amount of golf swings – because I thought I was Tiger Woods – and now I have a swing resembling Iron Man fighting with the Giant Python. Basically, a very bad overswing and a long drive that can easily go awry. I basically have very little idea where my swing will end up as soon as I initiate the downswing.

c) I feel that someone who can routinely drive 200 meters above should be scoring in the high 80s. Which I am not until recently. For the record, this year, I am still playing around 91.71 average. For the past 10 games, I am playing at 90.4. For the past 5 games, 90.4 exactly. On the USGA handicap calculator, I am playing to a 14 handicap. On my last 10 games, I am playing to a 16 which is basically a true reflection of my game.

d) Shooting in the 80s is devilish hard when you have a game like mine. Basically tee to green (if I get a reasonable tee shot), I am ok. I struggle mightily at my chips and putts. Mightily.

So here’s the plan for the next few games:

Plan A: Hit the fairway. This is essential. At 38%, that means per round I am hitting only 5 fairways out of 14. This is crap bad, especially if we don’t drive it that long. I am hitting my irons reasonably well eversince I changed to my MP-54s.

Plan B: Play short. I find I always end up in crap when I over shoot my irons. Since changing my irons, my distance control has become somewhat better. I am playing

10 – 70 meters = 60 degree

70 – 100 meters = Sand Wedge

100 – 120 = Gap Wedge

120 – 130 = PW

130 – 140 = 9 iron

140 – 150 = 8 iron

150 = 7 iron

160 = 6 iron

170 = 5 iron

Anything above 175 = 7 wood or 3 wood.

It’s really interchangeable once I go past the 140 mark. Sometimes I’ll hit an 8 iron, sometimes a 7. Depends on the hole. For instance, in Glenmarie, one of the hole had such extreme elevation that from 155, I hit a 9 iron and still long it.

These are not really my listed distance. I hit it shorter, but the idea is to hit it before the green or just front of the green, since my flight (and my old golf balls) do not promote the professional backspin…instead it just rolls and rolls after hitting the green.

Since opting to play a more conservative “do not attack the flag” style I’ve seen my scores hover within the high 80s or low 90s. I don’t experience those massive blow holes much anymore.

Next stop: Kota Permai, which besides Mines, is probably one of our favourite courses to play on!

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Tiger is back in the hunt

tigerwoods

Don’t look now, but Tiger is trying to win the Wyndham Championship – the final tournament he will be in this year. If he wins, he gets to play a few more rounds in the FedEx Cup playoffs for 10 Million bucks.

If he gets anything other than a W, he’s packing his bags to go home.

I know, you would say if he gets number 2, there is still a chance, if everything else falls his place (a whole bunch of good players starting to play like hackers) – but I know Tiger for a long time (whether he knows me is still the question) – he won’t want to depend on people. He will go for the W. So expect him to play aggressive, do or die, run birdie putts by and probably miss his pars. The first few holes – 5 holes will determine his game. His putting must work. If he pars the first 5 holes, he won’t win. If he birdies them, it will mean that he’s putting well.

Unfortunately since I boycotted the robbers called Astro, who is run by crooks – I never agreed to pay the extortion fees they demanded to watch the Golf Channel. So I am only following via my Iphone App, which doesnt have live streaming of Tiger.

Come on Tiger! Make Gilagolf proud!

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Golf is a funny game

palmgardenAug

It is. A funny game, that is.

When you play like crap nuts, you sometimes still win like an immortal. When you play like an immortal, you end up losing like crap nuts.

Palm Garden had always been a good hunting ground previously. Now, the new palm garden is a different beast. Yes, the length is no big deal, but the befuddlement on this New course would be the darn greens. Most if not all greens are tabletop, meaning if you miss these greens you will end up rolling down to New Mexico and having to loft up your shot again. It’s annoying.

Another matter would be the bunkers and the green itself – playing very quick, and completely bamboozling me in this round.

Think about it – 7/14 fairways hit for me is very good stats. I average 39% meaning I hit roughly 5 fairways a round only. But I hit 10 greens in regulation this round. 10! My average is 23%, meaning I only hit around 4 greens in regulation this round. I 2.5x my average this round alone, and at one point, hit six greens in regulation IN A ROW.

Out of 10 greens in regulation, I three putted SIX. I two putted two and I one putted two. That’s six bogeys, two pars and two birdies for my 10 GIR. What the heck is going on??!

Putting had always been a middling aspect of my game, but at one time, when I 3 putted my fifth green in a row, I simply tossed away my putter about 20 feet in the air and told the caddy that she could have my putter.

The very next green, I hit a tricky 10 footer for birdie.

The other birdie occurred on the 8th, when my drive left me only around 50 meters, and I hit a half sand wedge to 1 foot of the hole.

You would think this meant I won some money as well.

No, I ended up losing all 3 frames of our sixers and forking out for lunch, that cost me RM100.

Sixers is played like this:

a) A partners B, C partners D for the first six holes. The next six holes, everyone swaps, and the last six holes everyone swaps again so that everyone will partner each other once in the 3 ‘frames’.

b) We play best ball and if that is square, then second ball counts.

c) No strokes given. In todays game, we had a 13 handicapper, a 16 (me), and 18 and a 24. Even when I partnered with the 13 handicapper, he played so badly, the 18 and 24 handicaper won without strokes given. WHAT?!

d) We played fringes – birdie, sandy par/birdie, escalation within the frame, twin pars/birdies for partners etc. One fringe=1 ball.

e) We played variations of 3-1-1, (game-dormie-buy) meaning each sixer we are playing 3 balls for game, 1 for dormie, and 1 for the buy.

f) Depending on our mood, we could play RM 10 or RM5 for a ball. So it could be a RM15-5-5 or RM30-10-10 for each sixers. Included the fringes, we could really lose quite a lot, for instance I lost 10 balls today despite playing one of the best round tee to green of my life (and one of the worst putting rounds of my life).

If I putted well, I would have won all frames, saved RM100, scored around 84 or 86, and gone home a happy man. Golf is a funny game indeed.

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Michael Breed: Shut up.

PGATOUR

OK, yes, I am watching the PGA Championship on PGAtour.com. It’s free and it’s following Tiger on every hole.

And he’s playing like an idiot. He is +3 now with just a couple of holes left and if he doesn’t turn around tomorrow, he is MISS CUT for another major.

But you know what’s more annoying that a Tiger-less Major?

Michael Breed. He’s one of the commentators and the so called Swing Expert.

He’s this guy. He always has a comment on how people swing and he breaks it down as if he’s a science expert.

Michael, it’s a load of crap.

I see how he analyses. He draws based on his own assumptions and he concludes based on his own definitions. For example, he drew a line to show Tiger’s golf shaft angle in relation to his hips. And basically he wants to show when Tiger came down on his swing, his club head is inside this line. But when he pauses the video, he removes the line, and re-draws it, but this time, noticeably higher than the previous line he drew.

What an idiot!

This is what we call in Chinese, “Lying to small kids”. And his voice is also very squeaky. And he is the perfect example of those who cannot play, teach. Except that he also cannot teach. So those who cannot play or teach, cheats.

Anyway, who is doing worse that Tiger now?

Keegan Bradley. He is so Emo. Always kicking his bag when he is pissed.

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3 In a Row – My Sub-90 Journey

glenmarie

As long as I can keep the trend going, I will. I managed to hit a sub-90 round 3 in a row – which I think probably has never happened before, giving me some hope in this year’s pursuit of sub 90 target. As of now, I am averaging around 92 thanks to some explosive scores like 102 in KRPM, 96 in Palm Garden, 99 in Seri Selangor etc. But the last 3 games – Kota Permai, KRPM and Glenmarie has given me 89,88 and 88 – respective scores given my struggles in this game.

Glenmarie game didn’t start out well. We played the back nine and I had a pitching wedge from the fairway on the first and shorted it. I skulled my chip and settled for bogey. Second hole, I had regulation and 3 putted from 10 feet. The 13th, I had an easy 9 iron into the green, pulled left, shanked my flop into the bunker and died. 16th and 18th were just very poor – easy par 5, and I got myself into loads of trouble in the woods, and on the 18th, I skulled my chip again – many times, after getting 2 to the edge of the green.

At 46 on the front, I managed to turn around at the back.

The amazing stats on the back nine was zero fairway hits. I was having a horrendous driving day which is so frustrating because the last two games, I was driving like a king. So today’s 80s round was basically a lot of recovery, and some reasonably good irons from bad positions.

Glenmarie garden was playing benign. The rough was almost negligent and all my drives in the rough managed to survive relatively easy. In fact, I could have gotten 4 additional pars – I three putted the par 5 3rd, then I had an easy chip on the 4th which I skulled, and the last 2 holes I had easy chips which I also screwed up.

If I can learn how to chip, I could be consistently scoring into the 80s!

Let’s see if 4 in a row is possible – next round is at Rahman Putra, where I have NEVER posted 2 sub-90 rounds in a row eversince I joined the club 10 years ago.

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2 good games

kotapermai201507

It’s quite rare that I actually am able to string two decent games together. I don’t recall doing it at any point of time in my hacking career that I shoot sub-90 rounds in a row. I know, some of you are probably wondering why am I so happy about this – for those following this blog, you would know me to be someone who is constantly suffering this love-hate relationship with this game. I never seem to get better, because nothing seems to come together – if my driver is pure, my irons suck. If my irons are heroic, my putting is a lump of camel crap. If everything is going well, the game is stopped due to thunderstorms.

The first game was at Kota Permai. I shot a ho-hum 47 on the front nine despite hitting 5/7 fairways and driving superbly. I kept messing up my approach shots and my irons. It was just killing me. The only par I mustered, strangely was on the index 1 long par 4, where I got regulation on with a thunderous drive and an 8 iron in. Kota Permai greens were playing at speed 10 – which were knee knockers on putts. This is evidenced by my first 4 putt in the longest time.

The back 9 got much better. I scored a 42 – and that’s with a 4 putt double bogey regulation on there. It could have been a 40 if I putted better! But overall, Kota Permai was perfect condition. I had a great end where the 17th, I strung my 5 iron to the right and ended up under the trees with barely a sight to the elevated green. I thought of bump and run but decided to just flop it. I never execute good shots consistently but this was the greatest flop shot ever created as the ball shot up, missed the branches by inches, dropped on the top of the fringe and meandered down the quick slope to 3 feet from the hole. Never had such an amazing par before.

The final hole was also great, where my second shot 3 wood left me with a tricky shot over the bunkers into the green, which I flopped again with my 60 degree to the fringe and a putt to around 1 feet to save par. I am going to continue with this Ping 60 degree until I start shanking it like I did with my Cleveland (now banished into the closet!)
krpm201507

The second game was KRPM – my eternal nemesis. A quick check showed I never broke 90 before for the longest time. It started on the back 9, where 2 doubles and 1 triple were offset by 4 pars – 2 coming from the tough ending holes 17 and 18. I hardly get par for 17th and I managed to regulation on with my 7 wood – for once.

The back 9 started poorly with 3 double bogeys in 5 holes, including on the par 3 5th where I shanked my 6 iron and almost killed the next flight on the 4th hole. From there, something clicked and I just began to pepper the flag with my approaches on 6th (SW third shot from 80m to 3 feet, 8 iron second shot from 150m to 5 feet and missed birdie). The index 1 was navigated with a drive to the middle and then a six iron in to around 20 feet and two putts.

So there you go – although not low 80s, two games in the 80s are very very motivational for me!