For the Xmas game we booked Bukit Unggul. We had 3 flights out and after a smooth registration and the traditional Xmas hat photo on the 1st tee box we all started well in time. The course was in an excellent condition with mostly good fairways and fine greens. The first flight including Tony took off as a rocket and we expected them to be in East of Highway by 10:30 am already. But then they got stuck behind a slow flight on the 2nd 9.

Results

Flight one had all the top rankings of the day with Tony in 3rd place, followed by Helmut 2nd place and Ricardo winning today with an 80/39 score.

The lunch after the game was in East of Highway where Andrew organized some special Xmas arrangements. Andrew briefly memorized the Loose Cannons history and the dear members who are no longer with us. See his special report below. We wrapped up the year that has been a roller coaster for all of us and spoiling many of our plans. But luckily we were still able to play golf most of the time. And we even had our little away trip to JB. It was also good to see Hans attending the lunch. He is on the way back and we wish him a speedy recovery. Same for Andrew who hopes to be back on the course in 2021. As usual we had some very good food and a couple of Tigers did the rest.

A special thanks to the birthday contribution from Graham reaching the 70 milestone! Sorry that you had to receive another one of the LC sleeve of balls that you always seem to shoot into the jungle. Another special thanks to our ball sponsor Siggy, rewarded with a bottle. And to finish; a sleeve of balls for all the lunch attendees.  

Last game next week will be at Kota Seriemas. 
Merry X-mas, Martin

Annual Summary by Andrew Robinson

Dear Cannons
It’s been a funny old year with Covid all around us. But thankfully the Cannons are back out with their sticks and adhering to whatever rules are in place at the various courses. And Malaysia with barely 500 deaths so far has done rather well – UK with double the population approaching 70,000 deaths!

With our regular Xmas lunch venue, the venerable Coliseum, closed for renovations after some prevarication it was decided to have a more muted event in a private room at East of Highway after the regular Tuesday game at Bukit Unggul. 12 Cannons attended all wearing festive headgear – with Graham’s being the most eclectic!We paid tribute to those Fallen Cannons no longer with us, sadly 3 more this year. In chronological order we remember – Murray Preston, Gordon Wingate, Andre Holm, Roger Smith, Ray Funnell, David Hughes, Tom Holmes, Roger McGowan and Enzo Filoni.  Rest in peace gentlemen.

And then it was time to welcome the Virgins – being those Cannons members attending their first Xmas lunch – Helmet. Joseph, Siggi and Martin. Not being able to get them on the bar at the Coliseum we did manage to get them on chairs for a light dusting and serenading by Tony in his own inimitable fashion.And then open season with poppers and whistles – sadly many of the poppers were kaput so a new supplier will be sourced for 2021.

The food was more than adequate in quality and quantity and washed down with much cold Tiger.Martin and Ricardo made two special presentations – one a Certificate to Andrew recognising his long support to the group and reaching 500 games! And the other being a bottle of something nutritious to Siggi for kindly sponsoring balls.And so on to 2021 and  hopefully a vaccine in due time – to give us all a shot in the arm, no pun intended!

Wishing all Cannons, especially those still stuck overseas, a Merry Xmas and a Happy, Safe and prosperous New Year.

King regards,
Andrew Robinson

Photos

Thanks to Ricardo Castro and Martin Belderink for the photos.

3 flights started a little before 8:00 am on their journey through the home of the eagles. Unfortunately we ended up with only 11 players since Paul Geddes’ email server decided to block all golf related messages and thus he was not aware of his expected attendance at the Tuesday game. The course was in good shape and the dark clouds decided to drop their contents somewhere else so we had a dry round.

Lunch after the game was at our regular East of highway; always reliable and they did not let us down. 

Results

Some of our members did extremely well today and Dave’s practising at BU the last weeks paid off big time taking the money today with a 90/45 score. Our senior Swede Mr Berger followed with a very nice score 95/44. 3rd place Graham 92/39. See all scores below. 

The monthly medal so far is a battle between Dave and Graham both 81 points, followed by Ricardo and Siggy both 73 points. 

Photos

Thanks to Ricardo Castro and Martin Belderink for the photos.

We had 14 players today at Bukit Unggul for an early start at 7:15am to get off before a large Korean contingent. We welcomed back David Hughes who played at the start of his routine once a year visit to Malaysia. We teed off from two tee boxes at 7:15am sharp under the gloomy dawn light. The course was predictably poor with quiet a number of the fairways in very bad shape due to wild boar damage. Many of us remembered the last time we played here and said that would be the last time …. when will we learn.

After the game 12 of us took lunch at East of Highway Restaurant and the coffers were boosted by a RM200 Birthday donation from Stuart Taylor and a 100 game celebration donation of RM100 from Ricardo Castro.

Results

The winner today with a great score of 86 for 40 points was Kevin Wiggins beating Erol Akinci in 2nd place on 94 for 39 points. Best gross of the day was Martin Walsh with an 84 (should have been an 83 after 3-putting the last!!) Full scores below:

Photos

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Bukit Unggul a controversial course as we all know. Some hate it some like it (from what I saw today the majority). Anyway Bukit Unggul will always be a course for a heated debate. It was a good day for golf, everybody was in time, registration went smooth. Take off was something else. There is always people that are afraid missing the last bus and they were in our group unfortunately. Taking off before their turn and starting at the wrong t-box……………..why is it so difficult to just wait 5 more minutes and show some courtesy towards others in the group that are waiting for all to start as listed? Graham thanks for the apology, very much appreciated!

The course itself was in reasonable good condition, some greens a bit too sandy, a wild bore digging here and there but otherwise fine and not too wet at all.

Today’s winner Dave Evans put a marvelous 40 on the board despite producing the shortest t-shot with a driver I have ever witnessed; a 1 meter shot on hole 13. Mike came in 3^rd with a 38 and the 2 guys running for the last bus to catch shared 2^nd with 39.

Post game lunch was consumed at our regular hangout East of Highway with the usual Tigers going down and some good food. Thanks to Ray who contributed generously to celebrate his upcoming birthday.

Results

Photos

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We had 5 full flights at Bukit Unggul today and welcomed our new member Brian Buckley on his first official game (he did play at the Golf Charity Match but this was not scored).

2 notable senior moments this morning …….

1. Paul Geddes made a detour in the morning on the way to golf (as he had “plenty of time”) to go to an ATM machine only to get stuck in bad traffic on his return trip to the club ending up being late and having to pay the RM20 fine …. just as well he went to the ATM!
2. Stan Constantinides arriving early at the club in the dark made a wrong turn and drove down the buggy track to the golfer’s terrace area …. just as well he has a small car!

We started on split tees on time at just before 8:00am and it was our Highest Gross Winner from last week, Martin Belderink, who kicked off the game with an honoroury exploding ball shot on the 10th tee!

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The course was in better shape than I have seen for a while and the greens were very good although some still had a lot of sand on them. Some tee boxes need to be attended to however ….. and of course as usual the showers after the game were stone cold.

We had lunch at the club after the game with 18 people attending.

Results

The winner today was Bernard Romahn with 82 for 42 points and runner up was Kevin Wiggins with 88 for 38. Best gross today was shared by Bernard Romahn and Mike Williams, both with 82. Full results below:

The update to the Convenor’s Mini Competition as as below:

Photos

It was a wet and rainy start to our round at Bukit Unggul today with 4 flights heading out from 2 tee boxes before 8:00am. For the first 2 holes it rained steadily but then luckily eased up to make it more pleasant for the rest of the game.

The course has improved with most improvements seen on the greens. Even some areas that had been damaged by wild boar seemed to be better now. In many locations around the course we saw a number of stuffed toy tigers strategically placed in areas where a lot of monkeys had been a nuisance … however the monkeys have just moved elsewhere now.

At the turn we noticed a large group of golfers on the next nine …. a total of 6 players plus caddies … it looked like a large convention! Apparently Bukit Unggul are now allowing “Jumbo Flights” during the week with 6-balls …… not good if you get landed behind this rabble. Luckily though they did not hold us up on the back nine.

After the game we had lunch at Restoran East of Highway with 16 of us attending.

Results

The winner today was Tony Morris with 88 for 39 points on countback from Graham Cadman also on 39 points. Tony did not make lunch so his winnings were kindly donated to the pot … thank you Tony! Best gross of the day was Mike Williams with an 81. It was interesting to note that the Bukit Unggul members playing today with their superior local knowledge of the course were all placed high in the score table today. Full scores below:

Photos