Day 1 – Tiara Melaka

We had four full flights with 16 players for the first day of the Malacca Away trip with two players (Erol Akinci and Graham Cadman) coming down for a day trip to make up the numbers. After an easy drive down from KL most players arrived at Tiara Melaka Golf & Country Club before 9:00am. We had time for some morning tea at the clubhouse cafe and after an easy registration we all got off on the Meadow and Woodland 9’s at 9:30am. The course was very quiet so we were not held up at all. After a humid start the weather was surpassingly cool given the hot weather of the last week and a pleasant breeze made it even more pleasant. We had a very brief shower of rain but that passed within 5 minutes so did not hold up the proceedings.

The course was in good condition overall although there were some bare patches on the tee boxes and the bunkers were in need of attention. The greens were fast and fairly predictable but with a few nasty slopes.

After the game we had some cold beers and a some lunch at the clubhouse cafe at a very reasonable cost – many thanks to Hans Berger who financed the beers as he was celebrating 250 games with Loose Cannons …. quite an achievement.

Geoff McLaws had his 100th game with Cannons today so we look forward to some sponsored refreshments tomorrow at Orna!

Results

The winner today was Andrew Robinson, and after some post game and post results announcement score adjustments, he still won on count back from Geoff McLaws with a 93 for 41 points. Runner up was Geoff McLaws with 77 for 41 points and the best gross score of the day. 3rd place was shared between Roger Surieux and Bernard Romahn both with 38 points. Most golf was both Iain Wise and Richard Moss both with gross of 110. Full results below :

After lunch we then headed into Malacca and checked into the Ramada Plaza Hotel which was certainly a step up from the Bayview Hotel where we stayed last year.

On the first evening we all had dinner at Bistro 1673 which to be fair had rather ordinary food and it also seemed to be a problem getting some cold beers at one point. However we managed to spend about 4 hours there before staggering back to the hotel.

Photos

Day 2  – Orna

The first day of the 2-day competition was held at Orna Golf Club. We played the East and West Courses under rather hot and humid conditions with little or no breeze. The course was dried out and bare in many places with very hard and sloping fairways making shots difficult. We saw one sprinkler on the course which was not working properly and simply creating a large pool of water in the middle of the fairway – a shame that simple maintenance cannot be done. The greens were ok overall however but had many undulations which proved a test for most players.

After the game we had some drinks and a snack at the club cafe before heading back to the hotel.

The results from Day 1 are shown below:

Results

We all had dinner on the second night at a new Spanish restaurant called Salud. The starter of cheese and ham (when it eventually arrived) was good but the main course was really a disgrace. I had ordered the pork rib loin which closely resembled something you would give to your dog … only one poor scrawny and skinny rib on a bed of powdered pureed mashed potato and a limp piece of salad. The wait for this was far too long and the service poor …. the staff could not even manage to bring us some olive oil for the dry bread. Anyway a few bottles of wine and some beer took some of the pain away.

Photos

Day 3 – Ayer Keroh

The final day of the tour was at the tough Ayer Keroh Golf Club – always a test of golf and stamina after 2 days of golf and 2 evenings out in Malacca. Conditions again were very hot and humid with very little breeze making it a hard slog for most on this rather long course. The course is however very beautiful with some magnificent large trees and lakes complete with crocodiles!

Results

Results from Day 2 were as follows:

The winner of the 2 day competition was Iain Wise with a total of 190 for 72 points and he was presented with the Malacca Away trophy by Mike Smith. Well done Iain – guess those lessons are now showing some reward. Runner up was Martin Walsh with a total score of 176 for 70 points and 3rd place was Paul Geddes with 172 for 68.

The overall score for the two day tournament are tabulated below along with the scores from the game at Tiara Melaka.

Photos