Horizon Hills Golf & Country Club - Review

Today, 6 of us decided to check out the latest golf course in Johor, Horizon Hills. Hong Pew, Roy, Bruno, Quek, Lawrence and myself set out early in the morning 7am with great anticipation. The weather was fine but the traffic to Tuas was quite bad but after crossing the causeway, traffic was smooth.

As all of us have not been there, I only relied on directions given by a friend. Exit to Pasir Gudang highway after 2nd Link and take the first exit out. Guess we were too excited, we exited too early to Nusajaya and went on a big excursion inside a huge construction site. Finally I called the clubhouse and they told us to take the Pulai Interchange Exit 307C then Exit 308.

Eventually we found the place. It was still before 9.15 so we managed to get the early bird price, which was RM110 without caddy. With caddy, the price is RM127, but because we were late, all the caddies were taken.

We teed-off at about 9am. I find the course beautifully designed and the condition excellent. The fairways are almost unblemished, of course with some divots unpatched. The greens are fast and true, perhaps about 6 on the stimpmeter, and almost all are well protected by bunkers, many huge and deep. Just take a look at the above picture and you will know what I mean.

The par 3 is particularly challenging, esp the 17th hole, which is an island green. The other par 3 (8th hole) is also very tough. You need about 170m carry to reach the green, protected on the left by water and right by a bunker.

I also find the Par 5s very well designed. 2 or 3 of them, you need to clear water hazards for your 2nd and 3rd shot.

The course is nestled within a huge property development under the Nusajaya precint. All around the course were constructions. The course can be very hot as it is quite bare, the trees are all young saplings, hardly any shades at all.

In terms of clubhouse, I would rate it as nice but bare. No other facilities other than golfing and F&B. As for the service at the golfer terrace, you get the typical slow and lousy service like most of the other Malaysian clubhouses.

No golf is complete without a little wager. I played 89 (42,47), not very happy with the 2nd nine due to the constant bunker practices. But I still won $5 each from Hong Pew and Roy, so not bad la.

Overall I would rate the course as fantastic, in terms of golfing experience. In my opinion it is the best course in Johor right now. Perhaps it is still new.

So guys, you better try it before the condition deteriorate. I will be heading there pretty soon to conquer the course :).

New golf course in Johor - Horizon Hills

The golf course at Horizon Hills is now open for play. It is located at Nusajaya, Johor, near Skudai/Perling.

The visitor green fee is RM175 for weekdays and RM275 for weekends, inclusive of buggy and caddy. You can call +6072356940 for bookings. For more information visit - http://www.horizonhills.com.my/main.html.

I am thinking of going there next week to play. Any takers?

And now he has 2...

Padraig Harrington wins The Open Championship. Defying an injured right wrist that almost threatened to derail his plan, he successfully defended his title against Greg Norman and Ian Poulter.

Starting the day 2 strokes behind Norman, Harrington quickly took the lead after 3 holes. The game then see-sawed between these 2 with Norman fading away on the back 9. Poulter's late charge on the back 9 left him and Harrington as the only 2 golfers to break par on the final day.

But Harrington had other ideas. He shot a superb eagle-3 on the 17th hole to seal up the tournament and win by 4.

Singapore Lam Chih Bing had another horrid day as he shot 81 to finish 83rd on the list, last of those who made the cut.

Lam Chih Bing makes cut at British Open

He achieved a major milestone for Singapore by being the first ever to make the cut for The Open being held at Royal Birkdale right now. He shot 72-75 for a total of 5 over, ahead of many big names such as Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els and Vijah Singh. For a while, he was even on the first page of the leaderboard (though that was only after 4 holes).

Unfortunately, Lam shot 83 on the brutal day 3 which had winds blowing in excess of 60mph. There was this instance where Jacobson refused to address his ball which was in the bunker, where the wind keep moving the ball. This caused 4 flights to be stuck at the 10th tee. The official eventually waived the rule. 30 minutes were lost.

His position dropped to last in the field after 3 rounds. Lets hope he will do better in Day 4. But Lam has already achieve history for Singapore.

Super Strokes Putting Grip

Have you seen the thick putter grip used by KJ Choi?

Well, I invested in one last Friday and immediately fixed it onto my putter. I used it on Saturday and WOW! I had one of my best rounds in putting in my whole golfing career. I had 2 birdies and a couple of other putts were holed out from more than 10 feets.

The thick grip actually takes away the tension in the hands and also reduces wrist actions. I find it great for near putts. For long putts, you may lose a bit of your feel.

It cost $60 at the NSRCC proshop. Mine now only cost $35 now after realising some ROI :).

If you are having some problems in putting, try it!!

The Tee-off...

Welcome to the all new Goofy Golf blog!

This will be the forum where all we crazy goofy golfers exchange our ideas and views. There will be no limits on what you can talk about. You can blog about your new equipment, latest duels, winnings or your unfortunate experience being eaten up by buayas. Or you can discuss whether Cengkareng or Padang Moden have buggies or not!!

The photo above shows the 8 of us who went to Kunming/Lijiang. The whole Goofy Golf has more than 30 members.

For a start, the committee members will be the authors of this blog. All other members can participate as "commentors". We will see how it goes from here. Committee members, please email me your google accounts.

So lets tee-off now!