After playing round Port Klang golf course today I am at a loss as to how this course can refer to itself as a “Golf Resort”. It is by far the worst course we have played on during my time with Loose Cannons and between myself and my partners we could not find one redeeming feature about this course. There is obviously no money being spent at all on routine maintenance …. the tees were so bad it would have been better to tee up in the rough, the fairways were full of ruts and had patches of severe rough growing out of the “fairway” …… and the greens were abysmal – mossy, spongy, SLOW, eroded, uncut, uneven … the fairways I played on at KGPA last week were in far better condition than the greens here at Port Klang. The turf mates were in a shocking state of repair and with the large ruts across the course it was a real adventure (torture) to navigate each hole. 3 of the turf mates broke down during our round.

The weather and bad haze added more gloom and doom to our day out and by the end of the first 9 it was pouring – only positive thing if we can at least try to find one …. is the fact that Allan McNicoll smiled as he got to try out his new tropical rain jacket. The smile was short lived as we had to rough it back to the clubhouse on the last few holes in the heavy rain.

It cleared slightly so after a 5 minute break at the club (shack!) a few of us soldiered on for more punishment on the other 9 holes. The front 9 (we played the back 9 first) were in marginally better condition but not enough to warrant on the “passable golf course scale”.

As a group I feel we need to delete this course from our playing roster as it really does not come close to a playing standard we should be enjoying (even at our standard of golf). Also it’s a fair distance to this course for most and the seafood restaurant we normally retire to after the game seems to have declined in its quality and standards. many thanks to Ian Dickson who chipped in RM200 as a farewell gesture as he’s heading off to UK for a few months …. perhaps the rain of today would get him in the mood for Old Blighty weather!

Out of 16 starters only 8 players managed to finish a complete round …. some smart players retired after 4 or 5 holes. The winner of today, returning after a 2 week China trip, was Glen Wombwell with 101 for 37 points and second place was shared by Martin Walsh, Mike Williams, Ian Dickson and Allan McNicoll all at 32 points. It was certainly good to see a high handicap player winning particularly under such arduous conditions as we experienced today …. well done Glen!

A disappointing turn out this week for the September Trophy Game saw 12 LC’s tee it up on a pleasant, cool morning but the sound of distant thunder was ominous and sure enough light rain soon began to fall, developing into heavier steady rain towards the end of the front 9. Fortunately it was short lived and the back 9 was played in near perfect golfing weather and with few other golfers on the course we were all home in good time. Trying to drive a Turf Mate one handed, the other holding the umbrella, proved to be near impossible. You really have to hold on with both hands to these things!

The fairways were good and the greens too, if a bit slow. The only criticism being the bunkers that had only received a cursory raking and were very uneven; not helped by the complete absence of rakes. Jack Niclaus would approve, he being a supporter of the notion that bunkers should be serious hazards to be avoided at all costs rather than a place where most professionals would prefer to be, if not on the green.

On the negative side Port Klang Golf Resort has poor drainage and can only be enjoyed during the dryer months of the year and so this will be our last visit this year; the course already being quite soft. The locker room too is very tacky and with no hot water in the showers, not because its not available but because the management have given instructions to the staff not to turn on the water heater unless someone actually asks for it!!!

Last weeks report on the sorry state of Bukit Unggul was forwarded to their manager May Wong who sent me an apologetic note thanking me for our observations and promising to continue working towards improving the course and the service. Thank you May.

Stuart’s turf mate decides to mount Raymond Keys’ turfmate

Stuart shows the correct technique on how to play a bunker shot – in this case from a rather stony bunker!

An animated gif as a bonus …..

By the end of the first 9 the rain started … but luckily cleared quickly

The damage – RM645.90 for 11 pax