At the last moment some lost cannons found their way back to the group so we ended up with 3 full flights attacking Bangi. I haven’t seen it that busy in Bangi for a long time. Lots of golfers were probably out to play one last game before another lock-down started. Despite all this we were on our way around 8:00 am; playing the blue tees since Bangi is not that long. The course is in a good condition and still improving; very good value for money. Unfortunately flight 2 and 3 were held up by a slow flight that sneaked in on the 2nd 9. It took us at least half an hour more to get around.
Results
We had some decent scores today with a number of players better or close to their handicap. Martin ran away with the money today (90/40), followed closely by Ricardo (81/39) and Tony coming in 3rd (88/38). See all scores below.
The monthly ranking after 2 games is headed by Ricardo and Martin with both 70 points, followed by Tony with 67 points.
Lunch after the game was at East of Highway. Thanks to Dave for organizing the table and the cold beers waiting for us since he was there already for about 45 minutes. The food is always good there and they didn’t disappoint us. We had a few mystery prizes to forget the lock-down misery. Sleeve of ball for Dave for keeping him waiting so long and also for nearly being killed by Brian on the first hole. Luckily Brian missed a lot of his targets today. Another sleeve for Ricardo since he plays so many times lowest gross. And the last sleeve for Robert playing most gross today.
Since the lock-down rules are unclear with regard to playing golf (especially the travel restrictions) we have to see whether we can play next Tuesday. The courses are open and have re-established the 1 person/1 buggy rule. A few groups have booked for the coming days to play golf so let’s see what that brings. It looks like we have to go for some trial and error………..I have booked 3 flights at Palm Garden 20 October 8:00 am. If it doesn’t work out I can always cancel. Let’s see………. So who wants to play; names please?
Photos
Thanks to Ricardo Castro and Martin Belderink for the photos.
The response was a bit disappointing with only 10 players this morning. We took off early and with nobody in front of us the first nine was over before we even realized it. Despite all the rain lately the course was in good shape and we started on Tasik which we didn’t play for a while. The 2nd nine (Puteri) didn’t go that smoothly since a group of beginners was in front of us and also playing from the blue………They let us play through but then we ran into another bunch of amateurs……. It made most of us a bit frolic. On hole 17 our 2 first flights ended up altogether on the T-box again and then decided to play a 6-ball; a bit playful behavior -honoring our society name- that most of us enjoyed. We still finished early. Scores were not great with nobody playing his handicap.
Results
Winner today Jan with 100/32 followed by Ricardo (lowest gross) 89/31. See all results below. Thanks Jan for putting your prize money back into the kitty. We had our September medal winner to celebrate which is Josef thanks to his great performance at Bukit Beruntung early September. Well done!
Ricardo took over the lead in the annual competition from Iain who is still stuck in the UK. Allan holds the 3rd place. Another celebration was Robert Mulliss with 100 LC games. He generously donated money for the beersWe stayed at the club. Lunch at Tasik Puteri is always nice and good value for money and decent prices for beer.
Photos
Thanks to Ricardo Castro and Martin Belderink for the photos.
The first away this year after a long time waiting since we had to cancel the March trip due to our dear Covid friend. Quite a few members signed up at first and then pulled out again. Unfortunately for some it was health related. Both Andrew Robinson due to back issues and Hans Berger due to a mild stroke were amongst those pulling out. Get well soon guys and hope to see you on the next tour and on Tuesdays. Dave was another one at risk but his kids managed to get out of Malaysia in time so dad could enjoy his well deserved Holiday. We ended up with 12 players thus 3 full flights.
Most LC’s gathered Monday evening in the beautiful prison like Berjaya Waterfront hotel inside the tax free zone. The customs checkpoint every time you leave the compound enhances the “prison feeling”. Berjaya lived up to the expectations; run down as everything that has Berjaya in the name. But then again for RM 100 a night you can’t expect too much.
All members got a nice goodies bag prepared by Ricardo; including itinerary with towel, balls, bag tag and moon cake for good fortune. For the ones who couldn’t make it, the goodies bag is waiting for you; Iain, Hans, Andrew R and Allan W. Dinner was opposite the hotel with very good seafood and –since it’s inside a tax free zone- extremely cheap beer. Everybody happy.
Horizon Hills – 29th September 2020
The regular Tuesday game started at Horizon Hills were our founding father Mike Smith joined the party. The course layout is beautiful and of high quality although the greens were definitely not photogenic. But they were still true. And it’s challenging too; nobody played his handicap that day.
Despite driving in from Melaka in the morning Mike appeared to be in good shape. The old fox took us all by surprise and ran away with the RM 50 winning OCB (32), 2nd Graham (32) and 3rd Robert (30).
Robert played his 5th game today and is now official LC member. Mystery prize of the day (a sleeve of balls) was the most elegant player; Graham.
After checking the beer prices (RM 22 for a can) we decided to go somewhere else for lunch and ended up in Rock Bottom near Puteri Harbour. We had some decent food and a few beers to forget about our golf results.
Today’s low scores had no impact on the monthly ranking thus securing Josef’s position as winner of the September medal, followed by Jan and Allan Wright.
Mike Garwood arranged a nice venue for the evening on walking distance from the hotel where we had a Western style dinner including many “away bottles of wine”. Corkage was negotiated down to a reasonable level.
Results
Photos
Starhill Golf Club – 30th September 2020
The next day we took off to Starhill; the 1st day of the away tournament. We left early to have breakfast there since the Berjaya breakfast was too low a quality to handle for most of us. Several lost parking tickets caused some delay in departure but we got there in the end.
Starhill is also a very nice golf course. The fairways are not a carpet but still very well playable. The rough is more challenging. The greens are nice and well maintained and running well. Given the price of RM 75 each very good value for money.
And the old fox almost did it again!! But he then realised that it would be a bit embarrassing for the other members so he held back a little in the second nine. Graham won OCB with 33 points (rewarded with a LC cap), beating Ricardo and Mike Smith; both also 33 points. Convener came in as 4th OCB with 32 points together with Mike G, Robert and Josef.
The mystery prize went to Glen for his most gross. Since he had a food poison issue we had the right present for him; toilet paper with golf instruction on it, killing 2 birds with one stone. Lunch was at the club this time with decent local food. They soon ran out of beer (!!) so we didn’t stay too long there and headed back to the hotel.
Luckily we booked our dinner nearby since we were hit by torrential rainfall early evening. Grab car saved us from drowning on the streets of Johor. We had another good night out with some very nice Vietnamese food and the remaining “away bottles of wine”. Some stayed a bit longer and really finished all the wines……….
Results
Photos
Palm Resort Golf & Country Club – Allamanda – 1st November 2020
Early Thursday morning everybody checked out from prison –and passing checkpoint hassle free- to play the final round at Palm resort Allamanda course. Here we got our first decent breakfast; good coffee, eggs, roti…….excellent.
In reverse order based on the Wednesday results flights were arranged. Since the gap between lowest (28) and highest (33) scores was only 5 points everybody still had the chance to win the away tournament.
Allamanda was certainly by far the best of the 3 courses we played. We tried to find some downsides (old naggers as we are) but the best we could come up with was the closed windscreen in the buggy, the noise from the nearby Senai airport (3 planes in 4 hours….) and that Graham’s GPS wasn’t working probably because of air traffic control.
This course was in fantastic shape. Despite tons of water that came down during the night it was excellent. Fairways like a carpet, good greens and pretty fast but true, well maintained and scenic. Black clouds started to build up again during late morning not looking good. But despite a few drops we kept it mostly dry until the end.
The winner of the 2nd day was Jan with 38 points, followed by myself (37). Mike and Robert both scored 34 points. Unfortunately the old fox couldn’t find the rhythm from the previous days and left a few points behind. The wine from the night before and staying a bit longer with the Vietnamese may have done the job!? Ricardo started as a rocket with birdies and pars flying around until hole 6 but then kind of lost it. The silly game of golf…….
All this resulted in me winning the “Johor Bahru March away competition” (held in September). The Dutch conspiracy was completed by Jan raking up the 2nd place, followed by Mike G (OCB) on 3rd place.
Prize giving and lunch was at the club. Good quality food and they did not run out of beer this time. We had a range prizes for everybody; another toilet roll with golf instructions for Dave being last in the ranking. Most gross went to Glen rewarded with some special golf rice. Brian picked up some extra balls and won the lucky draw (bottle of brandy). Bernhard took a bottle of wine for 2nd most pars (Mike G had most pars but got another prize). Graham picked up some more balls. Ricardo shot most birdies winning a LC cap, Josef 3rd most pars with an MST voucher, 4th place Robert with a sleeve of balls (yet to deliver, sorry ) 3rd Mike G a special LC mug, 2nd Jan a special LC away cap and he took the other lucky draw; a bottle of wine and myself 1st place with a special LC Tumbler.
Mike Smith received a token of appreciation being the founder of this society; a certificate of acknowledgment and also a Loose Cannons cap for ending as number 8 in the ranking.
A special thanks to Ricardo for ordering all the prizes, all the number crunching and also sponsoring the wine lucky draw.
After all this most of us went back to KL ending up in massive traffic jams and heavy rain. Back to reality.
Results
Photos
JB 19th Hole
Photos
Thanks to Ricardo Castro and Martin belderink for all the photos.
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