Episode 2 - 稿笑行动, Comedy Night By Dr Tan Hong Pew

Ball in Hazard - Navy hole 9 Par 5. All square, fighting last hole and Wong has a stroke from the rest.

Wong - die, die must win this hole.

HP - 3rd shot...duff!..and ball rolled in hazard. Sighed...took a drop and ball-on after 5.

Wong - 3rd shot....p...ooof!...tock..tock..tock...ball landed in hazard on embankment along crossing.

HP - Hazard, yellow stick, take a drop.

Wong - No, no, no, I can play!

HP - mye lah, take drop, anyway you cannot touch the leaves.

Wong - can play, can play, so long don't ground club or touch the leaves.

HP, Sam, Roy - puzzled, ok play lah.

Wong - standing precariously on the edge, ball above chest, setup...and whooof....air shot.

Wong - trying hard to balance, setup...whoof..and...big splash!...as he fell backwards into pond.

Laughters were heard from flight behind, on Navy hole 1 and Army hole 9. A Straits Times headline crossed my mind..."Man drowned in Pond at Golf Course".

HP, Sam, Roy - worried and rushed to help.

Wong - sheepishly crawled out of the pond, all soaking wet. Conceded hole as he was too shy to continue and with the whole world looking at him...L,L...walked to changing room.

Episode 2 of Wong's golf escapade. Can't wait for episode 3.

The reason why you have a raincoat in your bag - By Dr Tan Hong Pew

Wong teed into water at Navy hole 4 on a bright sunny day on 13 Sep 2008.

HP: In water, take a drop.
Wong: No, no, no...I can play from there.
HP, Sam, Roy: Puzzled....ok, play lah!
Wong: Take out shirt, and setup.
Wong: Back swing...drum ro...ll....then....big splash!
Wong: Ball still in water.
Wong: Cry father, cry mother, then ..L,L...take a drop and lose the hole.

HP,Sam, Roy....rolling on the ground, laughing till all our teeth dropped....

Asia's First Major Winner - YE Yang

We all thought it would be KJ Choi to win the first, but it is YE Yang instead!!

Woke up at 6am this morning hoping to catch the last few holes of the PGA Championship and saw YE Yang leading Tiger by 1 with 3 holes to play.

I was thinking, surely Tiger will catch him and force a play-off.

On the Par-3 17th, Tiger was in the rough whereas Yang was safely on. Tiger chipped short but Yang made an even bigger boo-boo by putting short. I thought that would be the turn-around by Tiger but he missed his putt. Yang also missed his too, but maintaining a 1-shot lead with 2 holes.

At that point, I had to leave home to send my daughter to school. I rushed back hoping to watch the play-off. But there was none. The message is clear, I knew then that Tiger had lost.

I was totally elated. An Asian Major Winner. A virtual unknown beat Tiger. 14-0 for a major frontrunner after 54 holes and he lost his first. A Korean not named KJ beating Tiger. Wow!

This can only be good for golf. This can only be good for Korea. I think this is the push for Asian golf to break into the big time.

BTW, if you think this is the first time Yang has beaten Tiger, you are wrong. He beat Tiger in HSBC Champions in Shanghai 2 years back.

Well done, YE Yang! Thank you for showing us that Asians can be up there with the best! Thank you for being our inspiration!

So what else is new?

Tiger Woods is carrying a 2-shot lead into the final round of the PGA Championship at Hazeltine. He has won 47/50 tournaments leading after 54 holes and is 14-0 in majors. So who is going to bet against him winning?

I will. But only a $2 bet!!

Again, I want to stress, I am not anti-Tiger. I just do not like the anti-climax. Why stay up late to watch the TV when you already know the outcome? It is like watching a suspense movie backwards.

I am going to root for 3-times major winner, Padraig Harrington. He is two shots behind, together with YE Yang of Korean. Yang does not have the pedigree to challenge Tiger. Or could it be Henrik Stenson?

A 2-shots lead is nothing. It can evaporate after just one hole. Remember how Padraig caught Garcia in his maiden major win at The Open Championship?

But then again, his opponent wasn't the World No 1.

May not be too late to still learn from the man who had much, lost some but still has plenty:

We begin this New Year with dampened enthusiasm and dented optimism.Our happiness is diluted and our peace is threatened by the financial illness that has infected our families, organizations and nations. Everyone is desperate to find a remedy that will cure their financial illness and help them recover their financial health.

Every new year, I adopt a couple of old maxims as my beacons to guide my future. This self-prescribed therapy has ensured that with each passing year, I grow wiser and not older. This year, I invite you to tap into the financial wisdom of our elders along with me, and become financially wiser.

Hard work : All hard work brings profit; but mere talk leads only to poverty.

Laziness :Sleeping lobster is carried away by the water current.

Earnings : Never depend on a single source of income.

Spending : If you buy things you don't need, you'll soon sell things you need.

Savings : Don't save what is left after spending; spend what is left after saving.

Accounting : It's no use carrying an umbrella, if your shoes are leaking.

Auditing : Beware of little expenses; a small leak can sink a large ship.

Risk-taking : Never test the depth of the river with both feet!

Investment : Don't put all your eggs in one basket.

I'm certain that those who have already been practicing these principles remain financially healthy. I'm equally confident that those who resolve to start practicing these principles will quickly regain their financial health.Let us become wiser and lead a happy, healthy, prosperous and peaceful life.

Warren Buffet

Opportunities are never lost. The other fellow takes that you miss.

Goofy Golf wishes Singapore...a Happy 44th Birthday!!!

Oxley Capital, Six-on Desaru Open Qualifying at SICC

A quiet Saturday morning without golf, very rare indeed. Decided to pullout of the Sembawang Monthly Medal, also the Tiger Beer Golf, while the guys are having their morning game at NSRCC.

8 of us particated in the Oxley Capital Group Golf held at the Island Course yesterday. Robert, CYM, Chee Hoo and Daniel formed a flight, while Francis, Kim Sing, Peter and me formed the other.

We were not sure what this tournament is all about, Oxley Capital or Srixon Desaru Open Qualifying or ASM (Asian Senior Masters). But nonetheless, it is still golf at a premier club.

It was compulsory to use Srixon balls and since I am used to Pro V1, I bought a tube of Srixon Z-Star, the softest ball in the Srixon range, costing $20 (@#$%) . I was damn disappointed with its performance. Its behavior was more like a hard ball, not even close to Pro V1 in terms of softness. No wonder they are called six-on!! The good point about the Z-Star is the durability of its cover, maybe that is why it has that "hard" feel. Or could it be a problem of brand loyalty for me?

The tee-off was quite hilarious. I can sensed that my flight mates were very tense. The first tee and the 10th tee were side-by-side. There were many people watching and while I was teeing off, I could hear someone from the terrace shouting "On the 10th tee, from Sembawang Country Club.....". I wonder who the a**hole was???

The course was not too difficult, just unfamiliar. The challenge was the hilly terrain and some intimidating tight tee shots. The greens were soft and not too "keropok"!

The weather was perfect with strong winds at some holes. We couldn't asked for a better weather for golf. Of course, we partly got to thank the Indonesians for exporting some of their haze to us.

And the winner of the event? Gross of 72 and nett 67. Well, none of us stood a chance. These guys are good!

Dinner was sumptious with a solid spread of glorious food. Quite a few of us enjoyed the black pepper beef. Thinking about it now makes me wanna "lau nuar" (salivating). We enjoyed the dinner tremendously with some nice red wines.

Of course, no golf game is complete without some friendly wagers. Thanks to Daniel and Robert, they paid for my tube of Six-On with another $5 pocket money :).

The evil fires the first shot...Playing the wrong ball.

Yesterday, CYM, Robert and Johnathan were Saddaming me. I was dormie-3 up after Hole 6 when CYM and Robert were both on the Navy 7th fairway. CYM layed up before the green and Robert attacked the green and got his ball just off the green.

When CYM was about to hit his 3rd shot from about 80m, he shouted at Robert, "Why did you hit the wrong ball?"

I was totally amazed and immediately defended Robert.

I replied "You were the one who hit first, how can you blame Robert?".

The chinese has a saying "Er ren xian kao zhuang". This is a classic case. Poor Robert.

But more importantly for me, in a matchplay that would mean loss of hole and I won the Saddam 4 and 2.

Do read the rules below as listed in USGA.

15-3. Wrong Ball

a. Match Play

If a player makes a stroke at a wrong ball, he loses the hole.
If the wrong ball belongs to another player, its owner must place a ball on the spot from which the wrong ball was first played. If the player and opponent exchange balls during the play of a hole, the first to make a stroke at a wrong ball loses the hole; when this cannot be determined, the hole must be played out with the balls exchanged.

b. Stroke Play

If a competitor makes a stroke or strokes at a wrong ball, he incurs a penalty of two strokes.

The competitor must correct his mistake by playing the correct ball or by proceeding under the Rules. If he fails to correct his mistake before making a stroke on the next teeing ground or, in the case of the last hole of the round, fails to declare his intention to correct his mistake before leaving the putting green, he is disqualified.

Strokes made by a competitor with a wrong ball do not count in his score. If the wrong ball belongs to another competitor, its owner must place a ball on the spot from which the wrong ball was first played.

A new accessory in your Golf Bag...

Seems like quite a few of us have been invoking the "Dangerous Insect" rule to get away with free drops.

Today, while me and CYM where on the course, we came up with this brilliant solution. We should equipped our golf bags with Baygon insecticide spray.

So when you see red ants, you should know what to do!!!!

The fastest way to improve your golf....

You might think I am going to teach you some golf swing secrets, no I am not. I am not a golf pro who can help you improve your swing.

I was asked recently how to achieve improvement in golf. For me, it is very simple, and I always practise that.

Work on the weakest part of the game.

I give you an example. You have to take 4 subjects in PSLE. Maths, Science, English and Chinese. You keep scoring As and Bs in Maths, Science and English. But D in Chinese.

Which subject are you going to work on? Its obvious isn't it. All the mothers in the world will know which subject to send the kids for tuition. Why we golfers don't know?

If your weakest is putting, work on it. Is your first putt is weak (cannot get near enough to the hole, ie. poor speed reading)? Or is your 2nd putt poor? ie. Sinking that 3-4 footers.

Work on your weakest link and you will see the greatest improvement.

So stop hitting the drivers on the range if your weakness is chipping or putting.

Sounds like a clip from Golf Channel?