PD/Malacca Golf Tour - 2018 Match

PD/Malacca Golf Tour 5th to 7th Match 2018
by David Wong

Participants: Khoo, Dennes, Lim, Siew, Alex, Woon, Liaw, David

Day 1: We arrived PD Golf Club bright and early with promising good weather. Fairways and green conditions were good and Dennes took full advantage of both and return a most admirable score of 78.Well done High hand! Rest of did fairly good too. 

Had lunch at a less traveled town of Pasir Panjang along the coastal road. Lunch was a simple 3 dishes affair but was good. After lunch we found some interesting items and Khoo san bought a nice hat.

After about 1 1/2 hours drive we arrived in Malacca and checked into our hotel, 906 Boutique Hotel at the reclaimed area of Laksamana. 

Dinner was at Melaka Jaya a claypot speciality restaurant recommended by local boy Siew. Before we call it a night we drop by Mahkota Parade and were treated quality ice cream by Khoo San followed by a round of Thai massage.

Day 2: 5:30 am morning call. Had a sumptuous pow and dimsum breakfast at a very popular shop recommended by Siew. The pow was good and with our stomachs fully stocked were were then off to Ayer Keroh GC for our daily dose of golf. Grounds conditions was rather damp due to a overnight downpour but it dried out rather quickly. We played the Governor's and Tunku's nines, with the highlight of the longest par 5 in SE Asia measuring 600 plus meters. Being a tough and undulation layout we had our share of ups and downs but we thoroughly enjoyed our outing at this course. Worth returning again and again.

Lunch was a memorable affair at nearby Hong Seng eatery, the food and "Oh Kaw" were so good we agreed to return the next day.

In the late afternoon five of us were treated to a very educational tour by another local boy Lim KS. " If you have not visited Jonker's Walk then you have not visited Malacca" says Khoo San. So off we went and had the most delicious cendol there.

Dinner was a simple affair in a eatery near the Hotel. For the rest of the evening it was another round of massage for some and others free and easy.

Day 3: 5:30 am morning call. Breakfast was at a very simple coffee shop with nasi lemak, fish ball noodles, soft boiled eggs and COFFEE. Economical and very good this breakfast

gives us the omph needed to tackle the challenging Tiara golf Course. Registration was fast and we tee off the Lake nine in no time amid cloudy sky. Half way through the first nine the sky opens up and we headed for the club house for shelter. Half an hour later we were back on the fairways and we ended the Meadows nine cool and dry. Good game from all of us.

We returned to Hong Seng for lunch. Highlights were the  special Assam parrot fish which was fresh and tasteful and salted egg fried prawns. Excellent place for lunch after a round of golf.

Everyone agreed it was a great trip and look forward to another one in the near future.

Kuching Golf Tour - Jan 14-18, 2018

Jan 14-18, 2018 – Kuching Golf Tour

Kuching has 3 golf courses which are all affiliated to KRTU. Coupled with the promotional airfare (about RM 250 return) offered by Malindo Air, nice food and very cheap massage; we have decided to come back again although we were here during Jul 17-20, last year. This time around, Siew replaces Dennes to make out the last 8. So in the group were Alex, Liaw, David, Lee, Lim, Khoo, Woon and Siew.

Since our ETA is 11.30am, we had lunch immediate after arrival and tee off at Samarahan GC at about 2pm before checked into our favorite hotel, Lot 10 Boutique Hotel.

As it has been raining during the previous week, many parts of the fairways were wet and soggy. To certain extent still playable!

Day 2, we played Sarawak GC. The course conditions were worst than Samarahan! A lot of balls were lost even on the fairways. In most cases, the ball buried itself in the muddy field even after a good shot. Most of us lost about 10 balls after the 2 days. It was starting to rain after 9 holes so we decided not to go on and were lucky that the golf management issued us buggy vouchers for the unfinished nine!

We drove to Damai GC on day 3. To our frustration, it was raining and was told it rained on the previous day too. After waiting for a while and guessing that the course conditions could not be better, we decided to abandon this course and proceed to Sarawak GC instead since it is a course with 36 holes and we had few free buggy vouchers that can be redeemed . But after yesterday’s experience, we made a very smart decision. We decided to pay just for the first nine and continue if course conditions permit. We had the same frustrating experience like the day before, loosing balls after balls to the wet and soggy ground! So it’s time to pack our clubs and go shopping in Kuching town instead.

Lessons learned – Check weather report before date confirmation of each tour

Our appreciation to the following persons, who always make sure we have the best time in Kuching:

Captain Alex – organize Affiliation cards, golf itinerary and assistant navigator

Transport Minister, Lim – van rental and driving

Flight Controller, Lee – Flight & Hotel bookings

Finance Director, Liaw – manages rolling funds for the trip

F&B GPS Operator, David – where to eat, where to shop

Main Sponsor, Khoo – main Dinner

Entertaining Manager, Siew

Silent Snipper, Woon

Thailand Golf Tour - Hatyai, 2018 Jan

Day 1 – Jan 2nd

It has been a while since our last trip to HatYai. So when it was suggested to make another trip, the response was almost immediate that 6 of us confirmed without much hesitation. At the last minute, Dennes jumped into the wagon as well. We left KL in Khoo’s Toyota Wellfire at 4am. Although there were 7 of us, each with our golf bag and hand luggage, we managed to squeezed everything into the Wellfire, literally making full use of every space available.

The magnificent 7, Dennes, Khoo, Lee, Alex, David, Liaw and Woon arrived at Darulaman Golf Club at about 10.30 and tee off with few packages of “nasi lemak “ and some local “kuih” as our lunch.  The food were picked up from a road side stall just before the turn off to the golf club.

Day 2 – Wednesday, Jan 3rd

Since our usual New Season Hotel was fully booked, probably due to the long holidays; thanks to David, he managed to book us all at xxxx hotel. Although the hotel is quite far from our usual must visit music happening bar, West Side; the room was clean and spacious for relatively attractive rates.

Since today is Wednesday, it is a Sports Day promotion at Southern Hills Golf Club. The golf package with green fees and caddy, only cost TBht 550. A very good deal offered by a golf course, which we always enjoyed playing. And “Shot of the Day” without doubts goes to Dennes, who hit a fantastic 2^nd shot with a 3 wood to Hole # 3. The ball flew across the stream and landed on the green on the other side of  the river about 4ft from the pin. It was an easy birdie and won the hole outright!

After dinner, we celebrated his achievement at West Side. The same old bar with the same old live band,  but played the best music in town. The group never failed to entertain. It was obvious that everyone in the bar were enjoying the music, many were seen tapping, singing along and clapping hands with the beat. As always, many of our favorite song requests were played that night too.To our surprise, Dennes became an instant international artist when he went on stage to sing Beyond’s top hit “Pang Yau (Friends)”. His score – 10/10! This guy can play and sing too!

  

As usual, big brother Dennes is always the “Cheers” leader urging everyone else to  “yam seng “ with him. But he never ever seems to show sign of getting drunk.  I am wondering if he has got a bottomless belly for liquor. That night, my innocent partner fell into his trap. She was really high but fortunately got knocked out only after checking into the room!

Day 3 – Thursday, Jan 4^th

As per our previous outing, we planned to play Koh Hong GC, which is located next to the army camp close to town. However, after our game at Southern Hills GC on the previous day, Dennes suggested we checked out the course conditions of Thongthai Banrai GC, which was initially a 9 hole courses but later added another 9 just few years ago. After a brief inspection and also encouraged by the very cheap golf package of TBhat ….., it was decided we should tried out this GC again, even though we were very disappointed with the new nine when we last played here. To our surprises, the new 9 has fully matured and the greens and fairways were in excellent conditions. Right away, we knew that we will comeback again in the future.

Day 4 – Friday, Jan 5^th

Today it was free and easy, but we had planned to check out of the hotel at about 9am so we could arrived at our favorite restaurant at Nibong Tebal in time for lunch.