Robert shoots record-breaking 83!!!

On a hot and sunny Saturday morning and on lightning fast greens, Robert, shot a record breaking 83 at Airforce course, NSRCC.

Robert had 2 birdies on the front 9, both very tough holes, Airforce 3 and Airforce 9. He shot an amazing 38, just 2 over. Unfortunately, Robert slipped to 45 on the back 9, perhaps due to the hot weather and fatigue. Saturday must be a good day in terms of betting for Robert. This kind of score will make him lots of $$$.

He is truly living up to his potential to be the most improved player for 2009. Perhaps we should give out the award by middle of the year!

Shooting 65!!!

Before you start congratulating me, let me just let you know that the par is 62!! We were quite surprised, they said it was previously Par 72, but due to some land dispute, the course was reduced to 62.

Capitol Hills at Manila has no par 5s and all par 4s are below 200yds or just above 200 yards. All par 4s were eagle birdie chances. It's like shooting under par at Mandai EGC.

Its summer time in Manila but strangely, it rains every afternoon. It was drizzling when we were playing the last 3 holes and it poured while we were having lunch.

Had a nice day out with Eddie, Bryan and Mandy.

"101" haunt from Bogor

What is this haunt? Two weeks ago, i went to Bogor with some of my goofies friends. We played three games and i shot scores of 101 for each of the rounds. Consistency.... yah? Yes, but at a wrong level. After my return, i had two rounds since and for both rounds, I shot scores of 101. I am looking forward to this sat game as i need the break the jinx.

Day 4 - ZhongXing 中信

The weather forecast said it will rain today.

This course is very near, only about 30 minutes drive away. The condition was very good, almost like Mission Hills but a little flat. You guys may remember Lijiang's Ancient City, it's quite similar. Finally we got a good green to putt on.

We arrived late, due to the wrong tee time being communicated to us. The registration office refused to let us t-off until after another group has gone.

Not much adventure on this course though. Caddy was another cute girl from Jiangxi, seems like I keep getting the cute ones :). Shot 3 birdies (first 3 of the trip) to offset a triple bogey, total score of 78, from white again.

For 3 days we had good weather. Mission Hills was the best with temperature about 23. Dav 2 and 3 were about 27. Today it was about 25. But it started to drizzle as we were teeing off on 18th.

After we finished, the rain got heavier and it soon turned into a storm. The weather had been very kind to us for all 4 games.

The driver brought us to HuMen for some shopping before we headed for ShenZhen airport. 4 Days of golf came to an end pretty soon. Looks like we will have to come back here soon to finish Mission Hill's other 11 courses!!!

Day 3 - Garbotex 嘉寶田

This course is located at HuiZhou, the furthest of the courses we played. About 1.5 hours drive from our hotel.

The course is co-located with a 5-star hotel. Our driver/tour leader is a member of this course. The registration before the game was somewhat chaotic. Too many golfers. We requested for 4 caddies, but they said they can only give 2.

The course is hilly and somewhat similar to JiuLongShan, and the green was just slightly better (which is still very bad!!!!).

My caddy was XiaoWu, a sweet young thing from Hunan. We had fun chatting with her and teasing her. After about 13 holes, I asked her whether she recorded our score. She said no. So I decided to test her. To our surprised, she got both our scores correct up to that point. Amazing!! I was 3 over for first 9 and level par for the 2nd.

Bogeyed the last hole to shoot 76 for the game, off the white tee.

Day 2 - Jiu Long Shan 九龍山

In chinese, Jiu Long Shan is 9 Dragon Mountain. This course as formerly owned by the military.

During our first game, the lady warned us that the course was damaged during winter. We tried to change but the operator said because it was Good Friday, all the other courses were full.

True enough, we played on some of the worst greens I have encountered in my whole life. Some greens it seemed like we were putting in the bunker. You can easily miss a 3-feet putt.

The course was hilly and challenging, it called for some accurate tee-shots. Even with the bad conditions, I started strong with only 3 over for the first 9, but the back 9 was disastrous with a +11. I told the caddy, I will be happy to shoot below 86, which was my day 1 score, and exactly I shot 86. :(.

Overall, the condition was very bad. For me the green is the most important part of the whole course.

Day 1 - Shenzhen Mission Hills 觀瀾

I am blogging from the most comfortable place in Guangdong, the spa at Peninsula Hotel. Every recline chair in the rest area, has a individual TV or a Computer. I chose to use the computer.

Arriving at Shenzhen Airport at 11:30 pm, we were picked up by the operator whom I contacted via the internet. Trip to the hotel took about 1 hour. By the time we had our late dinner, it was already 2am. We decided not to do anything but to rest early cos the t off at Mission Hills was at 8.15am.

We were picked up at 7am and ferried to the famous Olazabal course which was used for the last Omega World Cup.

We had 3 balls and was joined by a lady, who did not play. We soon found out the reason why. The lady is a member, and she was the one the operator worked with to sign us into the course.

The course was nice but I think it is overated. The green was slow although they listed it as 8.6. It was more like 6. It is really littered with bunkers and bunkers. At the signature hole shown above, there were 24 bunkers in total.

I did not play very well don't really know what was the reason, just cannot score. Played +7, +7 for 86. Maybe I simply found too many bunkers.

At 1220RMB per person, it is really overpriced. nearly S$300. Comparing the course to Kunming, I think Springcity win hands down, in terms of condition, playability and price.

We met up with our chinese friends for lunch after the game. We were soon joined by the Avaya Business parnters for dinner.

It's a bit too long...I will blog about game 2 and game 3 later. Today (Sunday) is a rest day. Tomorrow we will be playing our 4th and then head for the airport for the return trip.

Snafu at SICC

Having known that I've got a flight to catch today at 7pm, I still signed up for the SICC Invitational. If I can play Day 1 and Day2 (today) and missing Day 3, it is still worth it at $150 (exclude buggy)

When I saw my tee time last week, my Day 2 t-time is at 1.30pm, I felt there is no way I can catch the flight at 7pm. I asked for the earliest t-time. Sembawang contacted SICC and seems like everything was ok. Even with the t-time at 12.30pm, I can barely make it.

I saw the time sheet yesterday, it was not updated. I thought today will be ok. To my dismay, my t time was still 1.30pm. I talked to the golfing manager, they said they did not promise and there was another golfer Gerald Tan on the first flight, they thought it was me.

In the end, I have no choice but to pull out. $150 for 14 holes at SICC, that is about the usual price.

I just hope Shenzhen will be a better experience.

Wonderful time in Bogor

The six of us ( sometimes seven as proclaimed by Bobby) landed safely at Seokarno Hatta airport, Jakarta. Met the driver, Dani and made our way for our first game in Klub Golf Bogor Raya. The weather was overcast as we tee off. after 7th Hole, the weather changed drastically and play was halted for one hour as lightning and thunder began to torment the skies. When the course finally opened, we continued our play in the wet and slightly raining weather. We completed the game with our attire wet and soaked in the rain. Quickly we ran to the shower room to avoid any chance of catching cold. We then headed for a restaurant to have our sumptuous dinner of fried gurame, pangang gurame, sop buntut, ayam penyet and of course the red wines. After a wet day, we prayed for a better weather the next day so that we could complete the intended 36 holes at Gunung Geulis the next day. We checked in to our "hotel" at Gunung Geulis Cottage.

The next day after breakfast, we made our way for our next round of golf at Gunung Guelis. We finally completed our 18 holes in fine overcast weather. The course was played long, very often after a good drive, our second shot is 180 metres from the green. But that is not the only problem, we could not read the green properly. Often I read the line as downhill left but my able assistant ie the caddie will correct me as right and uphill. The situation is the same for all of us throughout the whole 18 holes. After our first 18 holes, we decided to play our second 18. However after 5 holes, the weather came to haunt us yet again.

We went to Bogor town for some shopping and dinner. Now, 1150 hour Jakarta time, we are chatting our experiences during the day.

On the third day, we made our way to Permata Sentul. The course is short but hilly with undulating greens making the course playing difficult. Being a mountain course, we struggled to read the greens again. The caddies though petite and young are inexperienced. Only a handful seasoned ones are good, but they made the day very pleasant. Being our final game for our mini tournament with overnight leader, Lee Heng leading the pack of Michael Gian, Phillip, Robert closely behind. Robert in the end, shot the day lowest with a gross 93 to finished second behind the overnight leader. As we have some time in the afternoon, choosing not to challenge the weather yet again, we turned to massage instead spending an hour for Rp 150,000 (about $20 excluding tips).

In the evening, we went for the traditional "Padang food" at a local restuarant in Ciawi, Gunung Guelis. It was an experience for some of us as there were at least 20 dishes on he table. All of us especially Phillip, usual enjoyed the traditional meal.

9th April, being Election Day, we decided to skip playing as most courses charges between Rp 800,000 - Rp1,000,000 ($110 - $150) for a game. Took our time with breakfast and then made our way for some shopping at Mangga Dua Square. made our way to "Pondok Laguna" in Peconongan only to find the authentic restuarant was closed for the day. Took a backup plan and headed to Cengareng Golf Course ) 10 mins away from the Seokarno Hatta International Airport. The meal was a treat from the winners of the mini tournament, Lee Heng & Robert Koh.

Overall, we had a fun and enriching trip especially with Bobby and Michael joining us for the first time.

Physics vs Biology!!!

Sembawang CC is having a golf carnival by Pan West this weekend. One thing that interests me was the club fitting by this ang mo pro called Gary.

I tried out the launch monitor and had my driving statistics measured. I found out what were my problems (clubhead speed aside):

1. Out-to-in swing path
2. Too much side spin caused by 1.
3. Hitting the ball on the downswing
4. Too much backspin due to 3, resulting in distance lost.

He fitted at few drivers on the spot for me to try and there were improvement. However, in order to get these improvements, I had to alter my swing too.

One comment from him that struck me was:

"You can get a few more metres with fitting the right club, but you will not get the 30-40m improvement"

In the end, he told me, "Golf is all about physics"

I said "No. It is about biology!!!!"

So I paid the $45 fitting fee and left without the club.

Mercedes Cup Results

Div A - Gross
9th Gerald Ng 78
50th Jonas Tan 86
52th Jimmy Ang 87

Div A - Nett
16th Gerald Ng -1
26th Jonas Tan 0
39th Jimmy Ang +2

Div B - Gross
20th Robert Koh 88
58th Tan Hong Pew 93
63rd Roy Koh 93
82nd Dick Lee 95
92ndCheong Chee Hoo 96
109th Albert Tay 98

Div B - Nett
20th Robert Koh -1
51st Tan Hong Pew +3
68th Roy Koh +5
73rd Dick Lee +5
84th Cheong Chee Hoo +6
119th Albert Tay +11

Div C - Gross
2nd Bobby Tng 90
25th Sam Ang 97

Div C - Nett
3rd Bobby Tng -2
31st Sam Ang +6

For more detailed results, go to this link :

Only the best gross and the best nett from each division will qualify for the final in Sentosa. So none of us made it. Better luck next time.

Babe of LPGA - Hee Young Park

Guys, time to soften up the blog a bit and get you guys drooling.

I first noticed this babe Hee Young Park when she was playing the the LPGA Honda in Thailand. She was 2nd from last after day 1 and was 2nd from top after day 4, finishing behind Lorena Ochoa. She was stunning in this all-white outfit!!!