Well, we all know Tiger Woods is coming to Malaysia.
And we all know that Gilagolf is a rabid fan of Tiger. Because, again, he is the only reason why golf exist in ESPN highlights. I’m not going to go into another long harangue on why Tiger is bigger than the game, but here it is, he is coming to Malaysia, to Mines for the CIMB classic at the end of this month.
Obviously, I was prepared to go.
However.
For those gilagolfers in the know, we’ve seen our share of land grabbing of recent times. The golf courses in Malaysia are no longer invincible to development, and of recent years, we’ve seen courses like Kajang Hill, KGSAAS, IOI Palm Garden, Venice Hills and some others fade away into the oblivion of property development.
Recently, my other club, KGNS also got hit with some foul play of government getting back the land. Sorry, my legal capabilities is next to a chipmunk so I have no freaking clue how it happened.
Now, of course, Rahman Putra, of which I’ve been a member for years, is faced with a critical crisis. Some sections of people have made a move to look to sell the club out to some property developer. They are looking to buy over our membership and build condominiums over our beloved, hallowed course that we’ve dug up for years.
How much are they paying? Not enough. According to our quack calculations, we’re looking at 279 acres, which is 279×43560 = 12, 153, 240 square feet. Our quack calculator states that that area itself should go for at least RM60, so that means 729M, divided by 4500 members, it’s roughly 160K per person. Now even if it goes for RM40 – 50, we should be seeing a whole lot more than what they are offering us now. And that too will be a big IF, if guys like me want to sell. I love the club actually, it’s heck of a convenient and it has a big swimming pool for my 10 future kids. Plus it’s not like I have a big need for money. I actually do, but I’m trying to sound macho. OK, if you give me an offer I cant refuse, Don Corleone, I might be bought over.
The problem here is that there will be a vote for resolution in the EGM. They require 3/5 of the people present to vote to pass. These guys who want to sell already have quite a large contingent, I hear. Why would they want to sell? I don’t know. Maybe they are too old to play golf and want to cash out? Who knows? All I know is that the current price isn’t what I’d want to sell Rahman for. Would I sell out the club in the future? Hey let’s be frank, if someone dropped 500K for you to sell a golf club membership….come on. Seriously.
So when is this EGM? Now, you guessed it. Sunday, on the final day of CIMB classic, the day when we all expect Tiger to be the last flight. Oh great. Don’t think it’s a coincidence. I am sure they knew this, in order to get fewer fence sitters like myself so they can vote to go for the sale. But what can be done? Go for Tiger or secure the future of Rahman Putra?
Such tough tough decisions we have to make in life.