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Tournament at Rahman Putra

We had a small tournament with around 18 flights, 71 people at Rahman Putra. Not my most beloved course, even if I have been a member there for more than 12 years.

Hole 1: Worse possible start. Not sure if it was just the jitters on the first tee or the morning stiffness, but I sent my first tee way right (slice, which is extremely unusual). Taking a drop, I duffed my 9 iron into the pond again. 5th shot to around 100 meters. 6th shot was just on the fringe, 7th shot on and putted in for a quadruple to start. (+4)

Hole 2: Didn’t get better with this horribly long par 3. Hooked left with my hybrid, which was the first time I was using this club for a long time. I should have stuck to a 5-iron. Flopped to just behind the bunker, and my chip wasn’t very good, as it just passed the bunker to the edge. 4th short putt on, but was so short. 5th missed, and putted for a triple. (+7). I am 2 holes in the tournament and I was dead last.

Hole 3: The Par 5 gave some respite, and the thing about Rahman and my game is that when I do get a lot of streaky play here. Once I lit up this course with 9 pars in a row. With a good drive and a strangely good hybrid (straight at least), my 3rd shot with a sandwedge left me only around 10 feet for a birdie. I missed it right, settled for par. Great. (+7)

Hole 4: A good drive left me around 150m to the hole, which a 9-iron took me on, not as near but reasonably close for a routine 2 putt par. (+7)

Hole 5: Par 3, and I hit my 8-iron way short on this 150m hole. However, managed to put in a very good chip (!) to around 5 feet and sank in the par. 3 in a row, escalation! (+7)

Hole 6: This hole traditionally is a struggle due to trouble left and right. There is a small window to hit a good drive to and as it is, I got into that window with a good one. I had only a pitching wedge into a downhill green, and put it on. My first putt wasn’t great and left me with around 5 – 6 fee to navigate for my 4th par in a row. Which I did. On a streaky roll now. (+7)

Hole 7: This is not an easy one, and my drive pulled left into the rough didn’t do any favours. I had around 150 – 155m in the rough to the green, and with a 6 iron, I whacked an arrow out that just managed to clear the greenside bunker, bounced luckily twice into the fringe that took the speed out and trickled dead onto the green to around 5 feet of a front flag. Awesome and a great look at birdie. I don’t know why I played the break from 5 feet, but I did, and I miss a sitter. Which sucked the wind out of me. Still, a par. (+7). So first two holes=+7. Next five holes = +0.

Hole 8: This is the longest drive hole (and the most difficult on this 9). I hit to about 220m, which was a bad hit, since I popped the ball. But later, I found out all the big hitters cranked up and all missed the fairway, leaving only me at 220m distance and I won the novelty prize – a brandnew stand bag. This must be the shortest winner ever! Anyway, from around 170, I pulled my hybrid again to the left and around a few feet to a difficult green. I was still in a great position, but my putt from off the green was about 5 – 6 inches short of entering the green. The slope is so severe that once you enter the green, it just rolls all the way down. So I was 5-6 inches away from a perfect putt. As it was, my fourth shot putt couldn’t brake and rolled 15 feet past the hole. Two putted for double bogey. (+9)

Hole 9: I hit a perfect shot with my 5-wood. Then as I was hitting my second shot,  I don’t know why I didn’t opt for my 6 iron, but maybe because I was feeling it with my 5-wood. I completely whiffed the damn ball and it splashed into the water fronting me. 4th shot was pulled to the rough, fifth shot out of the rough to the side of the green. Six shot was a skulled chip (struggled with my chips yet again) to the other side of the green and two putted for a triple 8th on a relatively easy par 5. Dang! (+12)

So there you have it, 5 great holes sandwiched between a quadruple, a double and two triple bogeys. This was typical streaky play, but at least I’ve played myself back up the board a bit and have a bit of chance going into the back nine.

Hole 10: And that bit of chance bit the dust. I pulled my drive into the hazard on the left. Dropped for 3, hit an absolute cracker with my 5-wood to about 60 meters of the green. I was supposed to hit a great pitch to get at least 4 on, but no, I chunked my 60 degree to around 20m of the green. A poor chip resulted in a 5 on and too far to do much, so two putted for double. On another easy, scorable par 5. (+14)

Hole 11: My 5 wood was crushing today for some reason. Good tee, but my hybrid yet again pulled like a bloody boomerang. 4 times used, 3 times boomeranged left. With about 10 m from the green, I chunked my chip again short. Horrible day chipping, after all the good vibes over the past few games. I putted on and managed to at least sink my bogey. My first bogey of the day. (+15)

Hole 12: This is a good par 3 with trouble on left. I hit a good six iron but it didn’t draw enough and was just caught in the right rough near the green. Routine chip would have set up a good chance for par, but instead I yipped it across the green to the other side rough. Stupid chips! I managed to at least hit a good return chip with my 60 degree to around 8 feet, and save bogey. (+16)

Hole 13: This is a scorable hole. But I ballooned my drive and it hit the edge of the bunker on the right and trickled back in. So unlucky – but this was my first time I think hitting this bunker because I usually take it out of play with driver. Bunker out to about 60m from the hole, three on with a lob wedge and didn’t hit a particularly good par putt, but was good for the 6 footer comeback bogey. (+17)

Hole 14: This dual green hole today had upper green for the pin. I hit a drive but couldn’t clear the grass bunker in the middle. The rough was too thick in there, and I just barely chopped out, with 50m left. My ball was literally next to a decomposing dead rat on the fairway (or squirrel, I don’t know which), that had flies and maggots all over it. I asked for relief, which my partners kindly gave (though I am not sure if in actual tournament it is allowed). I think it should have been a penalty drop, but because our tournament was somewhat friendly (we give putts within putter length, we allow OB drops, and one guy even had a Bushnell Range Finder out every hole), my partners were fine with me just moving the ball slightly back so I wouldn’t be standing in a heap of dead maggots. It didn’t really help anyway, since I skulled my lob wedge to the back of the green. Seeing how shitty my chipping was, I opted to putt off the green. It wasn’t a good putt at all and I two putted for a double. What a carnage hole. (+19)

Hole 15: The easiest par 3. An easy 9-iron got me within a good range for a routine two putt par. (+19)

Hole 16: The last 3 holes are horrendously difficult, especially if your legs are wilting. This one, I sliced my drive like the first hole and left me with a difficult 160-170m to to the green. I pulled my 5 iron slightly and landed to the edge of the greenside bunker. A bad out with my lob wedge. I was still 3 on, but I navigated the downhill putt poorly, and ended up too much to do for my 10 foot comeback. I think, my first 3 putt of the day. Double (+21)

Hole 17: A very good drive left me with no choice but to cross the water around 170m. My hybrid for once was hit very well and straight. Problem was I was aiming way right thinking it would boomerang again. So, for my third shot, I had to stand against the pine tree and just hit a prayer. And God answered, because it was probably the best I could have hit it. It landed softly and trickled to around 10 feet of the hole. I missed my par, settled for bogey. (+22)

Hole 18: This needed a good drive to have a prayer to cross the water with my 2nd. We were playing off nearly the maximum back tees, so even with a good drive, I was looking at maybe 170m to cross. My 5 wood was hit the best I could have hit it. I was around 100m away from a uphill green with my 3rd, and my gap wedge found the green. A not so great first putt still left me around 4 feet to put in a very good par on the final hole. Which I did. (+22)

With a gross score of 94, it was one better than my previous game, but because I blew up 3 holes, on the handicap of the day of 18, I scored a miserly 33 points on Stableford, miles away from the top dog who scored 40 points. In fact, from 71 players, I was placed a mediocre 27. Those 5 pars in a row make for good reading though. Honestly the 5-wood was jamming today (except for that hole 9 nonsense), and my putter (which I have changed to a mallet now) was very good. My chipping was nightmarish and my drives were probably mediocre as well. Ah well, at least I won the stand bag for the longest drive!

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KRPM Mini Tourney

We had a mini tournament of 16 people at Rahman Putra today. And boy, did I not do too well. The last outing wasn’t so bad, as I shot sub-90, but this time around the downpour the night before made for conditions that were not so ideal. Muddy, soft ground, hard bunkers = high scores.

Hole 1: Just like last time, pulled the tee shot to the left over the cartpath. Second shot had to punch out (not so good), and a 60 degree pitch (good one!) set me up for a 15 footer for par, which I expectedly missed (+1)

Hole 2. The very tough par 3. I actually hit a great 6 iron that didn’t draw enough. It landed on the fringe of the green on the right, hung there for a second then decide to roll into the damn bunker. In the bunker, the ball was between rake marks, I hit it poorly. Bunker was too hard and I hit it clean out to the other side, beyond the other bunker. 3rd shot, flop failed right into the other bunker. 4th shot out. Two putts for triple! (+4)

Hole 3. Par 5. Hit a dead straight drive into the woods. Manage to escape with a good 6 iron to around 120m, perfect distance. I used a gap wedge to hit to a downhill green which I hit smack in the middle but it annoyingly rolled off over. Note: don’t use shi*ty golf balls. My first attempt at a bump and run was ok – it trickled onto the green but not near enough for par. Bogey. (+5)

Hole 4. Pushed my drive way right but luckily missed the next hole’s pond. I duffed by pitching wedge a bit and had to chip on. Good chip, had around 10 feet for par, which I missed. Bogey (+6)

Hole 5. Par 3 with an 8 iron was short, so another chip. This time, not a solid one, way short, and 2 putt for bogey (+7)

Hole 6. Hooked this one to the left and managed to punch out. Now, with around 90 to the downhill green, I hit my 60 degree short. I realised much later on cow grass, I tend to dig more and I don’t get the distance I usually get compared to other fairways in the RHB courses (Mines, Trops, Glenmarie etc). I was about a few yards from the green. Usually I opt to putt but since I was testing my chip, I thought I can hit a good one. Not. Ball was duffed, didn’t even make the green. 2 Putted for double (+9)

Hole 7. Hooked again, this time another punch out. With around 100m to go, I once again opted for my 60 degree. I need to learn – when rain, don’t use the 60 degree! Chunked my third, chunked my fourth into the bunker, finally out with my fifth (barely), six on with a putt and 7 in. Triple. Once more due to my inability to adjust to wet conditions (+12)

Hole 8. Tough one. I drove pretty well actually.With a five iron second shot, I reached around a few yards of the green. Chipped again and yes, its ok but I still had around 15 feet for par on a very tough green. Two putted for bogey. (+13)

Hole 9. Really a very stupid hole for me. I played my first two shots perfect. Great 5-wood to the edge of the lake, a six iron to set me up around 110m from the hole. I semi chunked my pitching wedge into the greenside bunker. Like Hole 2, I couldn’t get enough sand due to it being so hard and ended up hitting the ball clean to the very end of the green. Three Putted for double bogey (+15)

Wow. That’s a very high score. But it was really due to my brain farts more than the condition of the course.

Hole 10. Doesn’t start great as my drive found the right fairway bunker. My shot out was poor and I had around 160 to go to a downhill green. I stuffed an 8-iron to around 20 feet of the hole (it actually hit the front of the green but kept rolling and rolling). Two putt for par. (+15)

Hole 11. Pulled my 5-wood (again!) but hit a reasonable 5-iron that passed the hazard. I had to do a chip again, and not bad, I had around 10 feet to save par which I missed (+16)

Hole 12. Uphill par 3. Once more, a good six iron set me up for an easy chip, which I did not do it easily. My ball scampered to around 15 feet over the hill and I was luckly to escape with a bogey. (+17)

Hole 13. A relatively easy hole which I pulled my drive but luckily hit a tree on the left. I crafted a gap wedge through a gap between the trees and landed about 10 feet above the hole for my reasonable birdie look. I missed it and par. (+17)

Hole 14. A good draw drive to the center of the fairway but I hit a very poor 9 iron which landed on the left, around 10 m left to the green. I executed a perfect chip for my third shot that landed and rolled to about 5 feet from the hole. Saved par! (+17)

Hole 15. Really sort sighted this one. It was playing at the whites, so I thought I can muscle in a gap wedge in there. Nope. It did cross the hazard, but it landed, jumped backwards and rolled into the water. Dropped, hit on the green and had around 15 footer downhil which I missed for bogey. Double bogey (+18)

Hole 16. The start of the 3 toughest holes in the course.I hung my drive too far right, and my second shot clipped the trees and into the water (again!). Hit my 4th on, two putted for double. (+20)

Hole 17. HOOKED! Luckily there was an opening which I punched out. So I was around 140m away to an uphill green and this should be money for me. Instead I shanked the hell out of my 9 iron to the righ. I was lucky it was still alive. I pitched pretty ok for my fourth, two putted for double (+22)

Hole 18. Perfect drvie – the first one of the day!My 7 wood crossed the lake and set me up around 100m to an uphill green. Gap wedge stuffed to around 15 feet but it was an extremely tricky putt which I had to aim 90 degrees from the hole, up the slope and down again. Three putted for my last hole again for a bogey! (+23)

Conclusion: My other mates were not having a great time also. The ground was muddy and soggy, but the sun was roasting us alive under its heat. Humidity was at its worst and even my climalite shirt was completely soaked. It was really the worst weather for golf – extreme hot weather right after a thunderstorm.

I ended up more or less at the middle of the pack. Given the conditions, it wasn’t the worse I have played. Plenty of positives, especially the chipping continues to improve as I get more confident to bring the stroke into the course.

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Farewell Perangsang Templer

perangsang

Goodbye to you my trusted friend – so goes the first line of one of my all time favourites, “Seasons in the Sun”, that can be applied to almost everything in life, including long lost friends, and your long lost swing.

Perangsang Templer, often the sickly cousin of the more famous and more haunted Templer’s Park Golf Course, is now on her last legs. Like many other golf courses that have fell under the unfortunate progress of man’s astounding greed, it will make way soon for a housing development plan under SP Setia, the greedy bugg*rs that also developed such monstrosity as the Setia Alam, and also guilty of jointly destroying close to 13% of Malaysian’s rainforest in creating their so called Eco-Parks, which the only thing Eco about it is how Economically Gargantuan it had made their coffers out to be. As we all know, housing developers are every golfer’s nemesis. Like the venerable Kajang Hills, now forever just a memory, extinct like the black rhino. Soon, like KGSAAS, also giving way to development. My two clubs, Rahman Putra and KGNS are fighting tooth and nail against these developer sharks who constantly throw money at us to sell our membership and to sell out our clubs. Well – to be totally honest, if they are going to give me something extraordinarily stupid, like 300K for my membership that I bought for 10K, then I would be extraordinarily stupid not to consider it. But I doubt it will come to that point, so until then, everything is no.

Anyways, back to the tragic Perangsang course. It seems like only yesterday (probably 2 years back) that I did a writeup on it for ParGolf Magazine, stating the great potential it had as a golf course. It has never been my favourite, thanks to the sickly narrow back nine hole 12 and 13. But we decided, in the memory of it, as it closes down end of this month November 2014, to play our final game there.

And boy, did it sucked.

There were a few reasons why I shot 99, all of which are poor excuses of a golfer hacking his way around like a mad clown high on cocaine. First, I got this sorry-a$$ putter called the Alien Golf Tutch Mallet II for free from a yard sale and it looked pretty nice so I thought to try it out. Thank you, it is by far the worst putter I have ever yielded and the creator, Pat Simmons, should jump into the lake himself, followed by the entire Alien Brand, which is aptly named, since probably only Aliens would find it easy to use. It was jut weightless. No weight. It looked heavy, but upon research, the head material is made out of a composite of 40% foam used in beanbags and 60% hardened flour. Truly. I was surprised that it looked almost edible.

Additionally, my driver and swing decided, of all times to suddenly give me a nice fade from the tee. I usually set myself up for a right to left draw, so when it faded…hello OB! And finally, I was just a jackass at my chipping as usual. The only consolation I had was I birdied the final hole par 5 of Perangsang in the final game on the course, and that’s a good memory. A good drive and a duffed 3 wood left me around 80 meters from the flag. A 60 degree wedge to about 8 feet from the pin on the fringe and by some stroke of luck using my crap putter that made me miss half a dozen of easy ones, stroked an extremely difficult putt in. Hello, dopamine!

Anyhoos, for those of you who still have time, the course is in a pretty good shape. I think there’s a final tournament there this week, and I would recommend to do a last check on it before it goes down to the graveyard of golf courses. Leaving you, I will post up some golden nuggets from the fat asses who decided to destroy this course:

Report from Star: “State-owned KPS had learnt after a study to evaluate the redevelopment potential of the 18-hole golf course that it was “strategically-located” but “not-fully optimised in its current form and utilisation”.” – Myth. KPS actually did a 15 minute study by surveying the course from their nasi lemak on the terrace and decided, with only 2 old uncles walking the course, that it was not fully optimised and it would be better to sell out and retire rich with undeserved money.

Report from Star: ““The location of the land amidst lush green surroundings and its close proximity to KL and Selangor’s main cities such as Shah Alam and Petaling Jaya make it ideal for an eco-themed, premium development.” – Myth. There is no such thing as an Eco-Themed development. The only type is found in Honduras, where they destroyed houses, built trees and made people live in cubby holes in the trees and eat jackfruits. The stupidest thing I ever head in my life is an Ec0-Themed Development. It’s an oxy moron, which isn’t a moron with lots of pimples – but rather an incongruity of life – like Tiger Woods having just one woman in his bed each night.

“Through the proposed conversion of the land use to a mixed development, the true value of the land can be unlocked, realised and optimised for the benefit of shareholders” – I really hate it when people start using this spin for their own gain. Everyone suddenly looks as if they are Donald Trump, talking about shareholders, ‘true value’ and all the BS. Having been in corporate all my life, I can honestly say, this is complete BS. What is the true value of land? ‘Optimised’ – what the he*l does this even mean? Whoever said this is probably undergoing an optimised surgical removal of his brain to create true value in his BS coming out of his mouth.

“Nonetheless, it said the management was confident that the proposal would be “well-received due to its prime locality” and contribute positively to its earnings and cash flow in the future.” – Ask the golfers, stupid.

“The development, to be located some 20km from the city centre and ringed by lush greenery from nearby tropical rainforests, will adopt an eco-theme similar to Setia Eco Park in Shah Alam, SP Setia said.” – Eco-Park is a graveyard for trees. I counted the trees still living there, and so far, in the barren landscape resembling the Mozambique Desert, I counted around 16 living trees in 13 million square meters of land.

And here is the classic talk from Mah Sing’s Leong Hoy Kum, or Hocum, for the sake of shortening this article and Henry Butcher’s Tan Chee Meng.

“Most of the golf courses in the Klang Valley were planned to be part of a comprehensive development with luxury housing and sometimes, commercial components like resort hotel and office park.” – Not really, Mr Tan. Seriously, no. This is classic BS and spin. I don’t see how RSGC or KGNS would be developed to have a bloody shopping mall in the center of the 18th hole. What a jackfruit.

“But as time goes by when the development matures and the land and house prices increase in the area, it makes better sense financially for the golf course land to be used for higher value developments such as luxury housing,”- That’s just retarded reasoning. Again, value here is truly subjective. To Mr Tan, value = money he puts (and receives) in his pocket. To a cow, value means more grass to eat. Value is the biggest spin crap I have heard in corporate world, which is one of the reasons why I hate it so much. We immediately assume our ‘value’ = everybody else’s value. Ask the black rhino. Oh wait, it is extinct due to it giving its value of his horns to you. I bet that’s amazing value for the whole damned species.

OK, enough of these clowns. Let’s have a moment of silence to mourn for the passing of Perangsang. Happy hacking, people, while we still have golf courses left in Malaysia. By the time my kid grows up, the only golf he will experience is virtual golf in the living room of his “value home” that was probably built on top of Perangsang Templer.

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The verdict for KRPM’s fate is….

Safe.

But same can’t be said about the GC’s job.

Like all good members, I decided to miss out Tiger’s last day at CIMB (which turned out to be a heck of a day for Nick Watney and his hot missus), to attend the critical EGM to vote on KRPM’s future. There were a couple of resolutions in there, which I won’t bore my readers here. Basically the first one is saying to ammend something in the constitutional rule. Rule 36.3 or something. Then the next one was to get some professional guys to value our club. The other one was to see whether we want to sell it, either 36 holes or 9 holes, for some greedy developer.

Now I obviously am not sure if I understood it correctly, someone probably will correct me, but that’s what I think I was supposed to vote for. Which I didn’t. Because like all EGMs it started VERY late, and the room was too small to accomodate everyone, and the guy next to me (bless him for his good intentions) smelled suspiciously like he had too much to drink.

The turnout? Here’s the view when I turned into the road leading to KRPM.

Upon reaching to register my name:

Yup, that’s the freaking line. Someone told me, look you need long pants and shoes! I am like, are you serious? Cuz, I’m dressed as a typical china-man, which constitutes 80% of this club anyways right?

And so I had to head to the wonderful golf shop that had so much business and buy a  nice RM60 golf pants and a 300RM shoes. Yes. RM300. It’s a nice shoe though. It’s called TRUE Linkswear and I immediately LIKED it.

I bought the one at the top. Finally, they make golf shoes that you can go out with. Anyway, I thought I could splurge a little, seeing that I missed out Tiger and his 4th placing at CIMB. I was gonna spend the money anyways!

Anyhoos, back to the EGM. After the chaotic registration and the delay from 2:30 pm to 4:15, we finally convened in the main hall, which I think can probably sit 500 – 600 people but it turned out to have like, I don’t know 1500? 2000? I don’t know. A lot of human beings. And some of them had shorts. And japanese slippers. Dang the guy who tricked me into buying the funky looking golf shoes!

I’ll be honest with you. After being there from 2:30 and hanging out like a chimp with nothing to do for an hour plus, I wasn’t too happy at all. And a lot of people were pretty pissed. I stayed long enough to listen and do my customary hollering and heckling but by 5:30 pm, we were still stuck with people talking about the dang Rule 36.3, which some considered “sacred” and cannot be changed. The only thing sacred was my stomach growling with hunger.

But looking at the people gathered there and the amount of heckling towards Arthur, our president everytime he opened his mouth, I was certain there won’t be any sale anytime in the future. Here’s the breakdown of people attending:

1. People who want to sell at the current price – 1%

2. People who wants to sell, but not at this price – 98%

3. People who don’t want to sell even if you put a shotgun to the head of their first born – 1%

I am part of that 98% group, who feels that, look, if you were to give me a really really ridiculously good offer, like maybe 150K upwards, heck, it’s a no-brainer. Everyone has a price. But not at this basement price they were talking about. It’s a no-brainer as well. Our club is worth a whole lot more than that.

However, the 3rd group was pretty convincing in their rabid devotion to the club. They will never sell, not for a billion dollars. Either way, I’m pretty happy it turned out ok, and that KRPM (for now) is safe. Who knows, maybe 2 years down the road, the offer will be something we can’t refuse?

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Ramadan Golf Promotions

UPDATE: Managed to get some vouchers for A Famosa Golf Club: RM20 per person for 18 hole green fee! 1 Flight = RM100. I’ve got extra available, so let me know at gilagolf78@gmail.com if you’re interested, just RM20. Terms and Conditions as listed below. VALID UNTIL 31 DECEMBER 2011!

Typical of Malaysian service, there are hidden costs NOT advertised on the voucher. Here’s the breakdown for gilagolfers using this voucher to play in A Famosa Weekdays and Weekends (Gilagolf makes 0 profit on this, I assure you):

1) Weekdays

RM20 for voucher + RM77 for Buggy, Insurance and 1 Caddie = RM97

Normal Promotion Rate Weekdays: RM135

Savings: RM38.00 per person, RM152 per flight.

2) WeekEnds

RM20 for voucher + RM80 ‘weekend’ surcharge + RM69* for Buggy, Insurance and 1 Caddie = RM169

(*RM98 for buggy twin sharing + insurance, RM40 for caddy per buggy, so RM138 divided by 2 people=RM69)

Normal Promotion Rate Weekends: RM220

Savings: RM51.00 per person, RM204 per flight.

You still get reasonable savings but not as great as the marketing people would have you think. Email me for those interested, I have a bunch left.

@@@NOW ON TO THE RAMADHAN PROMOTIONS!@@@

Gilagolf wishes all our muslim readers and gilagolfers “Selamat Berpuasa” and “Selamat Menyambut Bulan Ramadan”. I always think it’s a little hypocritical to say that and yet, silently enjoy all the golf promotions and cheap rates we non-muslims get during this month, while my muslim golfing buddies are sidelined…so while this post is going to be a little cruel, I still think it’s pretty amazing for you guys to go through the month without golf. Actually I know one guy who did play golf with me but didn’t drink a drop of water till 7:30 pm…he almost died, I think, but said it was, “Worth it”. True Gilagolfer.

Anyways, for the benefit of my few readers, here are some of the Ramadan (or is it spelled Ramadhan?) Golf Promotions and Packages that I know of, in some of Malaysia’s Golf courses. Feel Free to add in your own or update!

Happy Hacking!

Glenmarie

RM105 – Weekdays

Verdict: Glenmarie doesn’t score well on Gilagolf mainly due to the awful discriminative service we experienced there. But maybe there’s a new crop of people there! And at RM105, it’s a GO!

Staffield

RM85 – Morning(Weekday)

RM88 – Afternoon (Weekday)

RM130 – Morning (Weekend)

RM133 – Afternoon (Weekend)

Verdict: Go For it! It’s Staffield! Weekend rates are a little steep. These fees are not inclusive of Caddies, which in my opinion suck in Staffield. Also, don’t mention a thing about their lousy service. But for Golf only: GO weekdays!

KGSAAS

RM110 with Ramadhan Buffet (Weekdays)

Verdict: It’s pretty worth it to play weekdays (weekends shoots up to 210++). And I think there’s night golfing as well, no? Maybe Go.

Impian Golf

Weekday 730 – 830 – RM98. After 830 – RM145

Weekday Afternoon – RM115

Weekend 830-915 – RM140

Weekend Afternoon RM155

Sunday Afternoon – RM90

Verdict: Sunday afternoon has always been a good price, and weekday rates are great too…but beware of hidden costs, like crap caddies. Maybe Go.

Bangi Golf

All the same price except we get RM30 food voucher. Hmm. No big deal. The Sunday promo RM100 still remains, but might as well play somewhere else for Ramadhan. NO GO.

KRPM

Weekday Monday and Tuesday – RM70 (morning)

Wed and Thurs – RM119 (morning)

Verdict: Not that great since one of the championship nines are closed Monday and Tuesday for maintenance. NO GO.

Seri Selangor

Weekdays – RM75

Weekend (Saturday Wholeday, Sunday Morning) – RM40 per person (need full flight)

I was right, too good to be true. Weekend, SS has come up with some convoluted pricing structure that’s not worth your time to figure out. It’s about RM130++ per person.

Verdict: I might be hearing it wrong but RM40 is ridiculously cheap for Saturday morning but that was what I was told. GO! (Only weekdays)

KGPA

Monday – RM60

Tuesday to Friday – RM70

Weekends Saturday – RM110 Morning, RM60 Afternoon

Weekends Sunday- RM110 Morning, RM70 Afternoon

Verdict: Great promotion here. GO!

Perangsang Golf

Weekdays – RM49

Weekends – RM90 (Sat and Sunday)

Verdict: Weekdays is very cheap. Weekends, you can probably search for better courses out there. GO! (weekdays)

Kajang Hill Golf

RM412 for weekdays (No Promotion)

Verdict: RM103 per person is the normal weekday price. I called up the club and asked for any promotion and was slammed with an emphatic NO! from a very rude lady. Kajang Hill is always what it is, a very mediocre golf course pretending to be a good one. Nice service too for cutt-throats. Kajang Hill sucks. NO GO!

Kinrara

Monday:RM65

Other Weekdays: RM75

Weekend: RM135 (morning), RM90 (Afternoon)

Verdict: All promotions come with a RM15 food voucher, so basically you’re paying RM15 less for the golf, which is great. GO!

Nilai Springs

Weekday – RM68

Weekend – RM150 (Morning), RM110 (Afternoon)

Verdict: Nilai is pretty nice but the weekend rates aren’t that good. Weekdays is ok, so it’s a GO!

Monterez Golf

Weekday – RM57

Weekend – RM96 (Morning) , RM60 (afternoon)

Verdict: Very nice promotion for a narrow course. The Sunday afternoons are especially attractive. It’s a GO!

Awana Golf

Weekday – RM64

Weekends – RM137.50

Verdict: Great Weekday pricing. Weekends are so so. Call to book and make sure course is not being maintained though. GO! (Weekdays)

Beringin Golf

Weekday – RM35

Weekends – RM80 (Morning), RM60 (Afternoon)

Verdict: Beringin has always been attractive in terms of pricing. The only problem is that the journey there feels like going to the centre of the earth. But when all else fails, Beringin is a GO! (for cheapskates like me)

Beruntung Golf

I just thought of putting the mother of all crap course Bukit Beruntung here. Apparently Beruntung feels that doing promotion is unnecessary due to its amazing prestige as the upper echelon of the Mother of all Crap golf course. So no Promo, weekday is RM70, weekend is RM100 as usual. I have to say NO GO, because you ain’t seen crap till you see Beruntung.

Tasik Puteri Golf

Weekday – RM63 (Morning), RM83 (Afternoon)

Weekend – RM113 (Morning), RM88 (12:30 – 1:30), RM103 (After 1:30)

Verdict: Good pricing for Weekdays and a small window of an hour on weekend afternoons that it goes for RM88. I don’t know why. But, by all means, GO!

Danau Golf

Weekday – RM58

Weekends – RM120

Verdict: Danau is a university course that is average or sub-average. With promo price of RM58, it’s probably quite worth it, but RM120 for weekends? That’s stupid. Forget it. Go!(Weekdays)

Templer Park

Weekdays: RM109.20

Weekends: Expensive

Verdict: I somehow think that with the Top Premier voucher, Templer is so much cheaper, and 109 on Weekday even with Promotion is too pricey to pay. I’m cheapskate, so it depends on you. Maybe Go.

Bukit Tinggi Golf (Berjaya Hills)

Weekdays: RM68

Weekends: RM98

Verdict: Bukit Tinggi has always been somewhat of a nightmare to us when we play there, but the promotions are actually pretty attractive. Plus, the weather there is cool! GO!

That’s all I know of. Gilagolfers, if you know of any ramadhan promotions in Malaysia Golf Courses, let me know!

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Gilanalysis 23: Rahman Putra Lakes

Handicap:20

Gross: 97

Net: 77

Verdict: Getting there, could have been a lot better

What Happened

So, armed with a new swing, and two drivers now instead of one, I tried a round at my old friend KRPM Lakes….and although the result seems crappy, it was actually a good bad round if there is such a thing. Teeing up the back nine, my drive almost crossed the ravine. Drop for 3, stuck a 3 wood to the fringe, duff a chip and two putted. On the easy 11th, took out a driver and hit it so hard it went into the lake at 220m. Drop for 3, 4 on two putt. 12th, pulled my six, duffed another chip and 3 on two putted. On the easy par 4 13th, it’s easier now, with the huge tree chopped down, opening up the tee shot immensely. By habit, we all hit our ball right nevertheless. I had a good lie, in the rough, but jammed my wedge shot twice into the tree, and four on two putted.

So without actually hitting a bad drive, I managed to double bogey the first four holes! The last three holes are traditionally the toughest, and played that way, en route to a 51 on the front. Thanks to some really stupid 3-wood shots. However, I played a lot better on the back and didn’t mess up until the last hole, when I sliced my second shot hybrid to the bushes on the right and couldn’t get up and down. Otherwise, believe it or not, I was driving solid. It’s just too short to tackle Rahman Putra.

I’ll probably need to look for a replacement driver that is accurate and long. Ebay, here I come!

Why I Sucked

Chipping and pitching was off and on. Weirdly, the two pars I got was from my PW pitches. But countless duffs and tops is really annoying the heck out of my game.

Also, I changed putters again, and obviously didn’t work very well especially my front nine.

And the 3-wood, for some reason killed me, as I topped several shots especially on the closing holes on the front nine.

Not So Sucked

Driver. Or rather, Drivers. Like the tubby Phil Mickleson, I have now jammed two drivers into my bag. The Cobra with the whippy shaft cheated to me by that unprofessional MST guy, and me being the bigger idiot to listen to MST salesman–and my ancient HiBore…which honestly is so long, it’s ridiculous. It just can’t fly straight and the sweet spot is so tiny! The Cobra flies with a fade and reaches the upper stratosphere, and pops down with almost no roll, about 200m or less, but it’s straight.

What to Work On

Chipping and pitching, and stop being such a epileptic chimpanzee 50 meters into the green.

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Gilanalysis 9: Rahman Putra Lakes

Handicap:20

Gross: 99

Net: 79

Verdict: Amazing! Three 99s in a row for the same course!

What Happened

Home course my foot. Again, KRPM, again, the same score, of 99, no kidding. It’s as if it’s groundhog day, every time I play this course, no matter which route I take, I’ll end up in the same score.

Today was one of the days when nature called. Every shot I am hitting seemed to be hitting a dang branch or tree bark one way or another, no kidding. I think I must have killed a dozen innocent squirrels. First hole, pulled left, escape, hit a tree branch, fell right at the tree root. A few more tree shots later and I stumbled in for 6.

Second hole, par 3, I have played +10 over the last 4 times. This time, in water, pitched my 3rd on, and two putted.  The notable escape was on the horrendous index 1 8th, when I yanked my second shot hybrid into the tree next to the green. From the tree root, I managed a lucky flop onto the top mound of the green and trickled to two inches of the hole. The next hole, played it perfect, 3 wood, 3 wood, and a nine iron stuck 3 feet from the hole, and a harrowing downhill birdie putt that entered. Aside from one par on the back nine, I was stuck again in survival  mode especially the last couple of holes.

Why I Sucked

I don’t like to blame the weather, but it was like teeing off in Mercury. The fact that my slice shot is not getting any better didn’t help. And again and again, my failing irons are completely unsynced. With these two threatening to derail my every move, it’s no wonder I don’t see any improvement in this dang score!

Not So Sucked

I like my 3 wood now. For many years, this 3 wood (old taylormade 360xd) has been in the closet but in some of the holes, notably the birdie hole and the par 5 3rd, I’ve hit the flushest shot of my life with this. Of course, just as many moments when it failed, like the final 2 holes, when it found water…but nothing is more entrancing than hitting a 3 wood off the deck, flushed. More entrancing than blasting a driver I think. But slightly less than seeing Natalie Portman in Black Swan. Yow.

What to Work On

I’m so tired of writing the same thing and not able to do anything about it. I mean, who in their right mind will go to the range instead of heading to the course to play under a mercurial hot sun, lose a dozen balls, get cramps from traisping up and down the hills and risk getting bitten by king cobras? But here it is: Driver and Mid-Irons. Figure that out.

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Gilanalysis 3: Rahman Putra Lakes

Handicap:20

Gross: 99

Net: 79

Verdict: I seem to be getting worse the more I play…

What Happened

It’s a strange phenomenon of this game where the more you play it, it more steps back you take. Golf is as such: The euphoria of having the next 4 hours of freedom on the course; the optimism that today, this game will definitely be the BEST GAME EVER; the mental exercise of going through hole by hole in your mind the day before and how you plan to score below 90, or below 80, whichever that you know your skill can shoot; the tension on the first tee; the dismay of seeing your ball plop into water, or hooked into oblivion; the joy of dunking down your birdie putt; the anguish of losing money because you played like a piece of guano in your last 3 holes….the whole range of emotions is there. Such is golf.

Anyway, I was pumped up to shoot better than my previous score of 93, and I have figured out a lot of iron and short game, so away I went. I promptly hooked the first ball, double bogey. The second hole par 3 once again murdered me as I deposited my ball into water. In fact I was +9 over 4 holes, and the optimism was all over by then, and I was yet again in survival mode. I managed to right the boat a little with 4 straight bogeys before ending with a double, and a massive 51. Forget about breaking 90. I needed to stay double digits!

Back nine, I started promisingly. My first tee shot sliced into the water, my third shot 3 wood was hit FLUSHED to about 100 meters, where I deposited my pitch to 5 feet and putted for par. Likewise, the next hole, I almost holed the chip and putted 4-5 feet for par. The par 3 12, I topped my five iron and it zinged into the little mound fronting the green, and softly landed about 8 feet from the hole.

From there on, my luck ran out, and basically went back into my sucky golf.

Why I Sucked

Rahman was in a so-so condition. In fact, the greens were quite bad, considering Rahman’s reputation of maintaining good greens. But it was basically problem after problem with my drive. I was hitting my irons and 3 wood very well, so that saved me, but seriously, what the heck is wrong with me? It’s as if my clubs are taking turns to take leave, and I don’t know who the heck will be showing up on any given day!

Not So Sucked

Irons continue to improve, and I have decided to not use my 60 degree unless absolutely forced to, and chip and pitch with my 48 degree. It works a bit, several times I managed to almost save par, but for my retarded putting in the back 9. So I’m hopefully slowly improving….

What to Work On

For some forsaken reason, my driver has decided to go nuts on me again, after playing so well with it. I’m toeing it again and struggling massively to find the fairway..considering 9 from my previous game, to 5 this round!

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Gilanalysis 2: Rahman Putra Lakes

Handicap:18

Gross: 93

Net: 75

Verdict: Classic Case of Can Drive, Cannot Arrive Disease!

What Happened

KRPM Lakes is always a huge challenge even on a good day, so shooting what I shot was pretty satisfying, considering how south my game has gone so far. KRPM Lakes is also known as the championship course. Or more fondly as most contractors who tee up on the awful trio of hole 16,17,18 and facing acres of water to cross on their tee and second shot: “What the %^$% kind of course is this, hah??!?”

People say that if you are handicap 18 in Rahman means you are a 12 handicaper elsewhere, and usually these guys are either folks that never played KRPM before or their ability in driving is probably on par with my terrier’s ability to hump my labrador…if anyone is wondering, obviously without raving success (have you seen a terrier before and how much bigger the darn labrador is??!)

I mean, KRPM really isn’t extremely difficult, because it has so many landing spots. There’s not much OB in the lakes, and if you play often enough, you kinda know where the ball should land and how the greens will break. And no, I still play like a raccoon on marijuana on other courses, so the theory doesn’t work.

KRPM condition wasn’t good. Greens were so full of sand, and the grass was freshly mown, means dirty balls and dirty pants. We teed up on the back nine, immediately hooked into the hazard, and played the first nine at 49! Most of it was due to extremely bad chipping and yes, pitching again. Par 4 14th played ‘upper tier’, that means easier, yet I managed to duck hook again into the woods on the left.

I call 16,17,18 the Amen Corner of KRPM. Because you are always praying for the ball not find water there. It’s just an awful stretch and I am bound to find a triple bogey in one of these holes: and I did!

Front nine was much much better. The only mess up was at Hole 2, the ‘Second hardest hole in Malaysia’ or something. It’s a long par 3, with woods on the left, water on the right and a bloody hard time finding the green. The bunkers are opposite each other, sandwiching the green between, so a bad bunker shot will enter into the other bunker: like me. RATS! I hate this hole!

The only other screw up came on par 4 8, index 1. I was on the fringe with my second after a good drive and a great hybrid. Chipped to about 3 feet, downhill curling putt. Yaay, right? No, brain-farted, hit my par all the way down the hill and three putted. Hate BRAIN FARTS.

Why I Sucked

I always say to my pals that when my drive come in, I will be back to being a reasonably good hacker. Well, my drive came in but for some unfathomable reason, my stupid chipping and (of course) pitching was horrendous. My chipping was duff, top, duff, top all the way. To a point I was putting 10 meters away from the green. In KRPM, that’s like going into battle with the Persians in the movie 300, armed with a toothbrush and your renoma underwear.

Not So Sucked

My irons definitely improved from my Seri Selangor experience. I was hitting very good iron shots (except for the occasional hook creeping in). Likewise, my driver managed to find 9/14 fairways! That’s a heck of a statistic! Compare to 3 from my last game, I can say there is daylight from my current epidemic of hooks and OBs.

What to Work On

Pitching is still awful, chipping is getting to be worse as I play, so perhaps more time on the practice green as opposed to the driving range…