Results – Amverton Cove – 27th January 2015

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The January Trophy Game was held at Amverton Cove with 4 flights (15 players) teeing off from two  tee boxes at 8:00am. Weather was very good and the course was in great shape with the recent rain improving the usual dry state that this course exhibits. The greens were excellent.
I was in the first flight and we made excellent time around the course finishing by 11:15am with none in front and after two holes no sight of anyone behind.
After the game we had lunch at the seafood restaurant at the bridge from Carey Island. Drinks were kindly sponsored by Stuart Taylor who had a birthday a few days previously.
Results
Some good scores were posted today which is fairly normal for this course. The clear winner with an excellent 43 points (gross of 95) was Peter Davies with Allan McNicoll runner up with 40 points (gross of 90). Best gross of the day was Sean Niven with 76.

Photos

Results – Seri Selangor – 20th January 2015

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We had 16 (4 full flights) for today’s outing to Seri Selangor on a beautiful morning with clear blue skies. Quite a few had some issues getting to the club on time due to the traffic congestion and some spurious GPS directions to the club entrance. Only one person missed the tee off …. Henning managed to catch our flight by end of Hole 1 so he only missed the first hole.

The course was mainly dry but there appears to be a fair bit of remedial work ongoing particularly on the bunkers and around the greens. The greens were also not in the best of shape – many of them sandy and bare which is not up to the usual standard here.

We all finished by 1pm then adjourned to Pantai Seafood for an excellent lunch. Many thanks to Tony who was celebrating his 65th birthday and sponsored the drinks. 

Results

Scores were definitely on the low side which is the norm for this tough and tight little course. Runner up was Roger Surieux with 35 points (gross of 100) and the clear winner with 40 points (gross of 84) was Bernard Romahn. Full results as below:

Bernard was presented with the RM50 winnings and also received a special gift of a poster as a memory of the Batam Away Trip and to complement his other two posters. A copy of the poster is shown below for all to enjoy ….




Photos

Results – Nilai Springs – 13th January 2015

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16 players gathered at Nilai Springs under a cloudless sky and played a course in remarkably dry and good condition in perfect weather with a fresh breeze blowing throughout the round. It’s not often that you come off a Malaysian golf course with a dry shirt! We were a little late teeing off and consequently a little late arriving at East (west) of the Highway for a splendid lunch washed down with plenty of the golden nectar. Thanks Iain for ordering and thanks Geoff for contributing your winnings to the pot.
The winner with a superb gross 74 & 42 points was Geoff McLaws who’s round included 4 bogies!!! Well played Geoff.
The ‘corrected’* scores were:-

Player Gross Points Position
Roger  106 29  
Jeff P 89 40 2
Mike S 99 32  
Mike W 89 34  
Iain 96 35 3
Ray 100 33*  
John  84 34*  
Paul 95 27  
Barry DNF    
Bernard 92 32*  
Geoff 74 42 1
Peter 107 31  
Henning 88 33  
Martin 91 33  
Erol 99 31  
Hans 95 35
Many thanks to Mike Smith for convening this game and preparing this report.

Results – Tasik Puteri – 6th January 2015

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We had 5 full flights today and arriving at Tasik Puteri there were a number of other golfing groups registering making it a little busier than normal. As we registered and had some snacks/refreshments it was amusing once again to watch the continuing saga of Barry Cousins ordering eggs …. he ordered “two eggs any style” from the menu and was served ONE fried egg ….. as I left for the registration desk I could hear him complaining to the serving staff …. he eventually got his two eggs …. see photo below.
We played the Putera and Tasik 9’s today …. the Puteri course closed for maintenance. It was hard going today as the course looked like it had been unattended to for some time with long grass in the rough (and fairway) and rather bumpy and sandy greens. There were also some very wet and boggy areas due to the constant heavy rain lately. Play was very slow due to a lengthy wait (35 mins) to tee off then being held up by numerous groups in front.
We finished close to 2pm making it a 5hr+ round! Our last hole was done in heavy lashing rain so arrived back at the clubhouse severely soaked through, wet and cold.
Lunch post game was taken at the usual M&M Chinese Restaurant back down the road towards Rawang.

Results

The winner today was Mike Williams with a modest 36 points (gross of 88) with Martin Walsh a runner up with 33 points (gross of 90). Best gross of the day was Martin Walsh and Russell Maw both with 88. The results reflected the tough playing conditions today. Mike Williams didn’t make lunch today so as is customary his winnings went into the pot towards lunch … thank you Mike! Full results below:

Photos

Barry Cousin’s 2-egg breakfast 

Stuart Taylor was presented with a lurid yellow golf cap as a prize for the Most Improved Golfer 2014.

Golf Bag For Sale

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Our friend Andre will be leaving Malaysia soon and is telling his brand new WIGS golf bag …. details and photos below:
This is a brand new WIGS bag (only used 4 times) with Andre’s nickname “HORNBILL” and the Danish flat embroidered on the bag. The flag and nickname cannot be seen when the bag is placed on a buggy.

Price : RM275 (cost new was RM580 one month ago)

Please contact Andre if interested.


Results – Staffield – 30th December 2014

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Given all the rain over the last few days and many cases of bad flooding it was a surprise his morning to get a clear few hours in a pleasant and cool air to complete our last Loose Cannons game for the year. Staffield was in good condition considering al the rain we have suffered and although the greens were slow on the first 9 by the second 9 they were running a lot faster.
We had 14 players on the day with unfortunately 2 no shows at the last minute so it was 2 x 3-balls and 2 x 4 balls. We were all back in the clubhouse by about 1pm as it was fairly leisurely getting around due to other slower 4 balls in front.
7 of the players made it to an excellent lunch at East of the Highway Restaurant with Richard Moss joining us. Iain Wise celebrating his 100th game kindly fronted up the drinks money – thank you Iain.
Results
The winner with an excellent 42 points (gross of 88 was Jeff Pearce who was duly awarded the December Trophy. Runner up was Iain Wise with 39 points (92 gross).
We had two players who did not turn in scores so it must be reminded that each flight should ensure that their scores be submitted. Ideally one member of the flight should be responsible for compiling all the scores on one card for ease of submission.
It must also be mentioned to all players that if there any dispute or contention of scores or question of any rules infringement at any point during the game that this should be resolved by the players in that flight at that time and on the hole in question. If this cannot be resolved by the players then the issue should be raised to the Convenor after the game. There is is no point in trying to deal with an incorrect score or rules infringement at a later stage. Thank you for your cooperation in this matter.

Photos

Results – Bangi Golf Club – 23rd December 2014

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19 players attended on a wet morning. Registrations was easily completed and we played the Kajang and Bangi Nines. About half the players came adorned with red hats. During the second nine the rain became heavy resulting in several cannons heading for the club house. Those that continued on recorded very respectable scores. The winner was Geoff Parslow with a par round of 72 for a massive 45 points. Runner up was Ray Funnel with a 92 for 42 points.

Due to the rain delays and Christmas commitments only 6 attended the excellent lunch at the East of Highway restaurant. In Geoff’s absence from the lunch it was good of him in true Christmas spirit  to donate his winnings back to the kitty.

Many thanks to Iain Wise for doing the arrangements on the day at the club.

Results

Alan Holgate DNF
Richard Moss DNF
Hans Berger 99 for 31 pts
Ted Parslow 90 for 28 pts
Robert Muliss 112 for 26 pts
Bernhard Rohmahn 93 for 31 pts
Peter Barker 81 for 36 pts
Iain Wise 93 for 39 pts
Allan Wright 98 for 33 pts
Geoff McLaws 78 for 37 pts
Klaus Kretzshmar No card returned
Graham Cadman No card returned
Jeff Pearce No Card returned
Barry Cousins No card returned
Martin Walsh 90 for 33pts
Roger Surieux 99 for 36 pts
Geoff Parslow 72 for 45 pts
Brian Stubbs 94 for 39 pts
Ray Funnel 92 for 42 pts



Results – Impian Saujana – 16th December 2014

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Weather conditions today at Impian Saujana were perfect with beautiful blue skies and sunshine as18 of us headed out on split tee boxes at 8:00am. We had one new player join us this week; Peter May introduced by Jeff Pearce and the return of a veteran player; Allan Wright making it a total of flights (2 x 3 balls and 3 x 4 balls).
Course condition was very good except the greens which had unfortunately been recently hollow tined and sanded and had not been rolled. They were very bumpy, sandy and unpredictable making putting a bit of a lottery.

Henning Therkelsen managed a trick shot today managing to hit his ball into his partners’ buggy, lodging in the front tray …. see photograph below. 

We were finished by 12:30 to 1pm and then 13 of the 18 players had lunch at the very good Ken Well Seafood Restaurant. Unfortunately Hans Berger got lost again and aborted. … next time follow someone as this restaurant is a little tricky to find.

Results

Some very good scores today on this course with 6 players playing better than handicap. We had 3 players on 40 then Robert Mulliss, runner up with an excellent 41 points. However the winner with a magnificent 45 points and gross of 87 was Mike Smith. Well done Mike! He started his round with two blobs so just imagine if he had scored there also! The vasectomy kit will be out and applied to his handicap shortly …. 😉

Photos

Henning Therkelsen managed to hit his ball into his partner’s buggy. It was lodged in the front tray of the buggy making it rather impossible to play ….. an unplayable lie was declared for 1 penalty stroke …. bad luck Henning!

Yes again Andrew Cseszko wins the “best attired” golfer award.

Loose Cannons Xmas Lunch – Coliseum Cafe – 12th December 2014

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The annual Loose Cannons Xmas lunch was held once again at the classic venue of the Coliseum Cafe on Jalan Tuankul Abdul Rahman on Friday 12th December 2014 … probably because none else would have us!
We had 19 shows for today’s frivolity and as per standard practice we all met up in the front bar before lunch for some pre-lunch drinks. Glen unfortunately could not make it as he was up-to-his-ass in contractors at home without the supervising builder who had disappeared to Cambodia. It was nice to see that the bar and the restaurant through the back were proudly displaying some photographs from our previous escapades here last Xmas …. no doubt after today there will be a few more!
At 1pm prompt we adjourned to the back room behind a rather meagre modesty screen to shroud us from the general public …. this was to no avail as the noise we made no doubt disturbed all diners in this area. As we sat down we commenced the usual child-like displays of firing off poppers, spraying string on each other and generally making rather a lot of mess and noise.
We commenced proceedings with a toast to absent friends and raised our glasses and thoughts for the late Murray Preston and Gordon Wingate who have sadly left for higher fairways. A number of dress code violations were pointed out to some 5 members and they had to down their glass of beer or wine.
The food arrived quickly .. starting with prawn cocktails then followed by a rather tasty pumpkin soup. The wine of course was flowing freely now and we started the traditional procedure of individuals standing and reciting poetry, singing songs or telling jokes. Hans Berger was quick off the mark with his rat-at-tat song which he had already done in the bar prior to lunch.
The main course was the traditional steak pies with vegetables and salad and we also had some very nice roast chicken with gravy. Desert was ice cream and apple pie …. although Hans Berger managed to conjure up an additional chocolate cake from the kitchen somehow.
As the wine continued to flow there were many contributions to the entertainment including Irish songs from Martin Walsh and of course the classic “On Ilkley Moor” from Richard Moss. Iain Wise did another golf impression but didn’t quite match the performance he delivered in Batam. Barry Cousins read an amusing letter and his reply to HSBC regarding insurance cover and also showed the group an ancient hickory shafted golf stick to the group. Tony Morris told his usual annual joke which always goes down well and Robert Mulliss led many a rugby song with the support of the group. Mike Smith told a number of good jokes and also recited some great poems (albeit struggling occasionally to remember the lines) – well done Mike. Paul Geddes was also in good form but for some of his recitals needed a Scottish-English translator. Brian Stubbs was in good vocal form with many jokes no doubt aided by the many white wines he slammed down with Robert Mulliss.
Another excellent Xmas lunch and no doubt we will have a few on-on stories later perhaps.
Many thanks to Andrew Robinson who organised and booked the lunch.
Photos

Video

Results – Bukit Unggul – 9th December 2014

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As you get older your memory starts to fail (among other things) and to be honest I had forgotten why we hadn’t played Bukit Unggul for so long. I was very quickly reminded of its many failings as the morning progressed. 
Registration
The registration process was abysmal which had been sadly messed up by Ray Funnell trying to help with pre-registering our 16 names the day before …. Ray’s list of 16 names was registered under his name with no reference to my original booking in my name which I had done WITH caddies so there there were no caddies booked …. we eventually manage to scrabble some 4 caddies. 
The desk boy then proceeded to eventually hand write all the starter chits before laboriously entering the same information into his computer ….. but he could not give me a proper printed and itemised receipt to show what I had paid! Having handed over RM1500 for a verbal charge of RM1495 I walked away with no authentication or confirmation of what I had paid for. I eventually did get the proper receipt much later as I teed off and when added up came to RM1207 …. some RM288 less than I had paid for!!! This required me post-game to go back to registration and get this money back from a rather guilty looking desk boy.
Tee Off
The starter was approached to ascertain where our 4 flights should start …. he could not speak or communicate and was not interested in helping out in anything to do with us teeing off. He told us eventually to all tee off on Tee Box 1. As Tee Box 10 only had a 2 ball starting one of our flights moved over there. 
Course Condition
Now on to the course. I remember Bukit Unggul as being bad …… it has certainly not improved in any way whatsoever. The course is in a sad state of disrepair throughout with poorly maintained fairways which have been ravaged by the wild boar, have many patches of uncut grass, holes, and where there is grass it is but a very thin layer over a very muddy soggy layer. There were open drain covers in very poor condition all over the course and multiple areas that had been marked by string or white paint as GUR. The fairways were all covered in cut grass mounds which had not been cleared.
Tee boxes were poor with large areas of bare ground and again there were ares of the tee boxes that had been dug up.
Bunkers were a disgrace with very little sand, many of them water logged or muddy and extremely stony with ragged unkempt edges all around.
The greens were in a fairly sad state and again had been dug up by the wild boar and many areas had simply been marked off with white paint as GUR (on the green!) with mounds of sand on the greens and little or no evidence of any remedial work being carried out to sort this mess. Hole No 2 had about 30% of the green unplayable due to white painted areas!! Many greens were also very bumpy and unpredictable.
I saw no evidence throughout the course of any standard course maintenance …. no sign of anyone working or maintaining the course …..  but of course there were the usual array of Indian ladies sitting around chatting, trying to sell balls with no evidence of work being done. 
I did see the Course Manager making a round in a buggy at one point ….. does he not see these basic issues in the course and take some action! Wish I had the opportunity to talk to him.
Please refer to the photos in this report which highlight some of the many issues discussed above.
Restaurant
The restaurant food and level of service has shown no level of improvement from what I recall from before with the usual slow and tardy service and a few non attentive staff who had to be called on numerous occasions.

In summary I will be removing this course from our playlist and will certainly not be planning to return there again during my tenure as Convenor. It is sad to see such a scenic and interesting course slowly degrading into total disrepair – it really needs a major shakeup there otherwise I can foresee the course being totally unplayable very soon.

Ok … rant over.

Many thanks to Mike Smith who paid for the drinks today at lunch to celebrate his Birthday … he did not elucidate what Birthday it was …. suffice to say it was probably a big one! Thanks Mike!

Results

It was interesting to note that of the top 5 best scores today …. 4 of these were from the players who were members of Bukit Unggul …. obviously local knowledge counts for a lot here. We had 4 players score better than their handicap. The winner with an excellent gross 80 and 44 points was Bernard Romahn with Tony Morris runner up with 43 points and a gross score of 83. Full results below.

Photos