Those who decided not to play today made a wise decision. 8 daredevils still showed up. Let me give you the short version of today. Registration this morning; they suddenly decided this morning that a caddy is compulsory for guests. So we got 2 completely useless girls on the back of our buggies to do god knows what…………..  Several buggies already broke down before we even started. The course was in very lousy shape, especially the lower parts where a boat and flippers would have been of use. In front of us there were a bunch of locals taking forever to look for their balls and take the shots. So it was a lot of waiting and it took us almost 5 hours to get around. 

Results

The scores tell the story; Mike winning with 30 points. Danau is off the list. The 19th hole at East of Highway made up for it and we cleaned the system with some beers and good food. 

Photos

Thanks to Martin Belderink and Ricardo Castro for the photos.

16 Cannons assembled Yesterday early morning for a nice game of golf. Almost everybody made it in time to pay me before 7.15 am……….. Registration went smoothly and we took off around 7.45 am from 2 tee-boxes. Weather looking good…………what could go wrong?

Again Danau proved to be the devil himself. Nobody played his handicap. A lot of players with more than 100 strokes, putting took a lot of strokes as well and numerous 4 putts. Golf wise, not a day to remember.

Results

The winner OCB was Roger with 34 points, followed by Ricardo (34) and shared 3rd Tom and Hans both 31 points.

Since Roger was not there for lunch to collect his price we spent his RM 50 wisely on some Tigers.

11 players joined for lunch to wash away the game as quickly as possible and that worked out well. Tony ordered some good dishes as usual; thanks for that.

The ‘mystery prize’ for today was won by Tony; having 4 putts on hole 18. More members managed to do a 4 putt there so Tony won in combination with also having the lowest Stableford between the other qualifying players.

We also celebrated the final, final goodbye from Hans as convener. A nice bottle of whiskey hopefully keeps him quiet for some time. Thanks again Hans for organizing the last 3 years.

Photos

Twelve Loose Cannons assembled early morning 24th of December for our traditional Christmas golf, this year at Kelab Golf Danau located next to UKM in Bangi. After Mondays heavy rain we were sort of expecting a soggy course, but it was not bad at all, even the known soggy hole 12 par five was in relative good shape.

It took us five hours due slow flights in front of us, but the course as such plays tough from the rough, not to mention to find the ball in there as well as the very tricky Parslow & Winter greens. And even from white it’s not short with its 5921 meters.

We had the post game lunch at our usual East of Highway on the way back to KL, excellent food ordered by Tony Morris for our Christmas lunch.

Results

Not unexpected the known long-hitters / good players was at the top of the scoreboard after the game.

Winner Julien Hodson Walker on 36, followed by Jason Winter 35 and Ricardo Castro with 34 points, very close at the top it was.

Photos

A Tuesday which did not go according to plan;

The clubs administration tried to charge us almost 500Rm more than quoted in the first place, after a few phone calls to a manager they eventually honored the quoted price.

The course was in a good nick except for hole 12 and 13 which were soggy all the way from tee to the green. Some greens were hardly put-able if you were in the wrong place from the beginning. I suppose that’s what the pros mean by placing the ball for a possible birdie.

About 12-ish the lightning was building up in the distance but nothing really happen until it released a thunderbolt over us, immediately the siren came on. That was the end of the game and eleven of us went for the lunch at East of Highway.

It was quite a wide spread how many holes was left among the flights so we, or perhaps it was me, decided to have a lucky draw for the winner, Ted Parslow came out us the winner.

This lightning warning system they have does not make sense as the siren came on after the flash. So I went there today to address our concern. Eventually I got hold of a manager and we discussed it and he admitted that their system may not fulfill the needs of a proper warning system. Its is  just a small little yellow box in the reception area.

Results

It’s been a while since we played Danau Golf Club so with some good reports about the course condition we played there this week. We had 3 flights and 12 players and we all teed off on the back 9 holes at 8:00am.

The course has improved a lot since we last played so it’s nice to see the effort that has gone into this by the club. We also saw may workers out maintaining the course which is always a good sign. Weather was relatively cool so making it a pleasant round for everyone.

After the game, we had lunch at East of Highway Restaurant with 9 of the players attending.

Results

The winner today was Ricardo Castro with 81 (best gross) for 39 points. Runner up was Stan Constantinides with 91 for 36 points. Full results below:

Photos

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There were only 3 flights this week for our outing at Danau Golf Club. We all set off at 8:00am sharp from the 10th tee over the difficult terrain of Danau – nothing much has changed with heavy thick rough making it difficult finding balls and playing from – best policy was to try and stay on the fairway. The greens were in good condition however albeit a little tricky with the slopes and the hole positions.

Weather was good and although the skies darkend near the end of the round we got finished before the rain came in later. It is a tough course and most players confirmed it was not one of their favourite courses.

We welcomed a new player today – Eric van Donselaar – introduced by Emlyn Jones. We hope to see him again.

Lunch after the game was at Restoran East of Highway which was excellent as usual.

Results

Kaz Takita was the winner today with 97 for 36 winning on count back from Hans Berger with 98 for 36 – well done Kaz. He didn’t make lunch so his winnings went into the pot to pay for lunch … cheers Kaz!

Best gross of the day was Stuart Taylor with 93 and most golf was Martin Belderink. Full results below:

Photos

Looking back at the last time we played Danau Golf Club … it was February 2016 … and it was duly noted at that time how tough this course was … how tough the rough was … and how this caused slow play due to players looking for multiple lost balls. It was the same story when we played Danau today. We had 5 flights, all off one 9 to start, unfortunately and it took us 5 hours to complete the round …. with no one in front of our group … so no excuses … it was slow play by our groups. Something we should consider and try to get better at …. even in tough conditions such as Danau.

The weather was good but enduring 5 hours out on the course it gets hotter and hotter and may players were very weary by the time we finished. The fairways were reasonable and the greens ok …. but again the rough was very thick and unforgiving. 

We struggled round and 11 of us made lunch at the East of Highway Restaurant where we had a very good lunch as usual and helped immensely with a beer funding contribution of RM200 from Ray Funnell who is shortly celebrating his 70th Birthday. Happy Birthday Ray …. and thanks for the much needed beers.

Results

As usual at this tough course the scores were high. The winner however broke his handicap … Mike Smith with a 95 for 37 points (cut 4). Runner up was Kevin Wiggins with 96 for 33. Mike Williams and Tony Morris shared 3rd spot and best gross went to Geoff McLaws with a 79. Full scores below:

Photos