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Survival of the Fittest

16 May

The two-day Annual Championship over the weekend was tough mentally. And the weather played its role to the hilt to challenge all those playing. It would rain the night before on both days and this made the course conditions soggy and soft. In turn, this made the game plan a bit awry as club selections became questionable.

Did I survive? It depends on how you look at it. There were ups and downs. I was prepared for the weather, bringing extra shoes and shirt onto the buggy in case the weather worsened. But this did not happen. What we had on game day itself was rather nice temperatures that turned hot only towards the end of the game. Although hot, it was not enough to dry the fairways on time.

Looking back on day one, I think I held up because I did not have any fear and stuck to my game plan to ‘play against myself and not the others’. I also managed the heat well, something I don’t do often. I now see that when you are playing against yourself and not your opponents, ego does not get in the way and the approach becomes more sensible. It stabilises the thoughts and the course management becomes better. So what went wrong? Several club selection mistakes cost me but my good putting saved the day. 

I think overall, the field of players struggled; maybe nerves played a role here besides the soft fairways. Of course the stronger players prevailed better than the rest. It was really survival of the fittest. 

The next day, the course conditions were the same. Play was slightly better but there were still problems like wrong club choice and unfortunately this time, my putting let me down. Sigh…. don’t know why I can’t have it all good all the time. 

My result on the second day was only a stroke better because my putting was not up to it. I think the problem came about when I started having doubts and fear. All the ‘what ifs’ came to mind. What if I was not firm or too firm? It’s a downhill. Hmm. Oh no, I missed, I need to charge back up. How much strength to putt now? All these zipping in the mind, playing mind games. It was not necessary but it happened. Self-inflicted I would say.

Thankfully when it came to crossing all the water challenges on my phobia holes, I did not allow fear to get the better of me. And I conquered all those holes. So what went wrong? It was when I doubted myself at chipping and especially putting that mistakes were made.

Mental strength and confidence are two very important aspect of this game, not just the physical or the course management. I can’t say for everyone who participated but what I learnt the past two days has gained me more insights to how I should play my game better. It was a good experience and made me look at a different perspective on how I have been approaching my game all this while. I do relish in the challenge although at times, the tension was not necessary, the camaraderie was just nice without being irritating and the laughter after the games was a good relief.

Will I participate again next year after all the ups and downs? It’s part and parcel of the game and especially more so when it’s an official tournament. I survived and would like to think I came out stronger from it so yes, definitely, I will participate next year.

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Taking Forever

13 May

My virtual games have been taking forever to progress. Sidetracked by travel, golf and hard levels, I was at Level 875 for the longest time for Farm Heroes. Bordering on giving up, I finally crossed it when a window to progress came around. Phew. So a farmer I shall continue to be.

As for the candies, it’s slowly but surely. Currently, at Level 1643 for Candy Crush and Level 729 for Soda and somewhere up there for both Monster Busters, I’ve lost track. This weekend I won’t be attempting any of these because I am participating in my Club’s two-day golf Annual Championship under the Ladies category. Hoping there won’t be wonky weather to deal with.

Wish me all the best!

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Playing in Wonky Weather

12 May

When I was in school dinosaur years ago, the choices we had for games were rather limited in an all-girls’ school. Besides track and field, which I was hopeless at, there was netball, table tennis, basketball and softball. 

And somehow in those days, rain or shine, we enjoyed our games. I don’t recall ever complaining about playing in unfavorable conditions nor do I remember falling sick. Weather back then was more mild compared to the weather now. My friends and I had even walked home on several occasions after school in the rain, something we don’t allow our children to do today. Ahh… those were the days.

A couple of years back, during a sports activity at school, M1 lamented that the sports teacher made them play netball in the rain after school, just like my good old days. But these girls besides fearing all sorts of disaster, groaned and worried about getting soaked and being tired out from playing three continuous matches. It didn’t help the team spirit that M1 told them that they would all die from the rain. Rain? Really… you mean lightning, falling structures or trees?

While I rolled my eyes when I heard my brilliant child commented on dying from rain, inwardly, I was glad no major mishap occurred from that outing save for a few bruises and scratches.

Nonetheless, we must be mindful of the lightning charge in the air before being too gung-ho about it. Maybe on that netball game day, it was just rain, no charge in the air so it was deemed safe to continue.

While playing in the rain is not something we would do or encourage due to the lightning charge factor especially, the weather these days compared to the good old days have changed for the worse. And I find that one falls sick easily if exposed to too much sun or soaked by a little rain. Global warming?

It has been reported our hot oven days will soon be over but not for the better unfortunately. The conditions are predicted to be replaced by rain and flash floods followed by haze soon after. One woe to another and then another! My goodness. For now, almost every afternoon without fail, it has been raining and this will worsen. 

Sigh… looks like no afternoon netball or golf until this spell clears. But when it does, the haze will swoop in. Yay. Great.

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Hats Off, Part 2

6 May

Two weeks ago when I played golf with the octogenarian, it made me think of my maternal grandpa. I don’t have many octogenarian friends and people of this age usually reminds me of the grandpas and grandmas of the world who should be sitting at home comfortably instead of out on a golf course.

Now my grandpa was one cool dude (grandma was the worrier) but he was also a scary one, at least for me when I was younger.

I remember I used to follow Mom to visit the old folks whenever opportunity came around. And it was always, always customary to go greet him before anything else. This scared me the most because he would be sitting at his usual recliner with the fan on at full blast, playing his cards, and I had to go interrupt his concentration to basically say, hi grandpa, I am here.

And he would look up from his cards, squint his eyes and peer at me. It was terrifying as I had to stand there, fidgeting until he acknowledged my presence. Then when he realized it was me, he would tell me to come closer and without fail, pinch my nose and cheeks to no end! Ouch. Painful and I was not allowed to yelp. This was my greet grandpa routine. Some things you remember for life and this was one of them. Every single visit, this treatment.

After the ritual, I was off the hook and then only to grandma I would go or out to see the chickens, the dogs or just hang out around the house.

Mom always said that I have good cheeks and a pert nose today because of grandpa’s loving touches. Hats off to grandpa, a brandy and whiskey-swishing dude, who lived life to the fullest until the ripe old age of 97. When he passed on, it was a celebration of life instead of death. God bless his soul. 

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Home and Comfortable

2 May

It is nice when after a short break, you get home and still have a day to rest with today being a replacement holiday for Sunday’s Labor Day, so I get to recover from the tiredness of yesterday. It was a long day no doubt, waking up at 5.00am and then checking out of the hotel after breakfast to continue with another round of golf and traveling.

It was a forty five minute journey from Crystal Crown Hotel to Orchard Golf Club. Traffic was not that bad I guess, shorter than anticipated. This then threw the timing a little awry because we arrived early and tee off times had to be juggled. Thankfully, the golf course was not crowded so we were allowed to ‘go when ready’. This time, we managed to finish 18-holes of golf. Phew. After two incompleted games, it felt good. 

Orchard also allows buggies (like Palm Resort) on its fairway and this speeded up play. The golf course was not as beautiful as Palm Resort and I must say was very confusing its layout especially for one hole. Several flights, my flight included, lost our way when approaching the Par 4 Hole 12 and ended up playing on the Par 5 Hole 16 without realizing it! We all had a good laugh about it when we realized some of us actually played 19-holes, twice on Hole 12. My flight did 18 and a half, half being picking up our balls after two shots upon realizing our mistake.

All in all, it was a good and enjoyable time I had, something different from my usual smaller group. The day stretched longer when we hit a traffic crawl on the highway on our return. Eventually we arrived at the Club by 7.45pm. After the goodbyes, wishes of thank you and hugs, I was home in no time.

Until the next trip, the past three days’ happenings are now stored in the memory, besides Photos and Shoebox. And it is always nice to be home and comfortable. I was dead like a log by 11.00pm after some chatter catching up with a friend.

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Day Three: Last Game Then Home

1 May

Without fail, a 5.00am wake up call. Gawg… I feel so sleepy this time and it wasn’t even a late night last night. Slept early knowing this would happen. It is our last day for this golf trip. So have to pack up, have a quick bite and we depart by six as the golf course is an hour away.

I will nap in the bus dreaming of having a good game later!

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Washout!

30 Apr

We thought we had it good, teeing off on time. But after 13 holes, the siren came on and game was abandoned. Pity. Mother Nature decided the rest of the day for us. A hot soothing shower beckoned then and it felt good.

The Chempaka course allowed buggies on the fairway so it was easier on the legs. Yesterday and today, I have exceeded my walking quota – yesterday 17,844 steps, covering 10.7km and burning 792 calories according to my MiBand. Today, up till we boarded the bus, it’s a little over 11 thousand steps.

Day two draws to an end with a good dinner in mind. Tomorrow is our last day in Johore, playing Orchard Golf and Country Club before we head back to KL.

How did I play today? All in or nothing. Much better in other words; maybe because the body was rested and we were not chasing time. So I hope after tonight’s dinner, will have a good rest and have another enjoyable golf game tomorrow.

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Day Two: Palm Resort

30 Apr

The bed was too soft, the air con not cold enough and the bath tub water so slow to drain but did it matter? We were too tired to let these bother us. We were out by 1.30am last night.

So after a good rest, today all of us are back to our normal selves. After breakfast at the hotel, we left for Palm Resort Golf and Country Club for our day two game. Unlike yesterday, I am staring at clear skies and a hot sun.

Game plan for today, just do it!

 

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What a Long Day

30 Apr

The journey to Singapore took slightly over five hours this morning and unexpectedly, the immigration at the Singapore checkpoint held us up. It took almost two hours for the whole group to clear this necessity only to be met with rain and thunderstorm! Nooo….

All that trouble and no golf ahead?! It didn’t look promising as the bus inched its way slowly through traffic to get to Keppel Club. We were so late to arrive but our gracious hosts waited for us for lunch!

So lunch was a leisure affair because the course was closed due to the rain and thunderstorm. When the weather finally cleared, it was about 2.45pm when we teed off.

We never got to finish 18-holes. My flight had 3 holes left while other flights varied from 6-holes to 4-holes to go. As dinner could not be pushed to a later time, we had to finish by 6.45pm regardless of how many more holes to go.

Keppel’s hospitality was impeccable. The food was delicious, the beer and wine was free-flowing and the company very good. But all good things had to come to an end. By 9.45pm, we left Keppel Club with happy memories and braced ourselves for the heavy traffic ahead.

It’s a long Labor Day weekend ahead and we had the holiday makers to contend with on the road. These Singaporeans are headed over to Malaysia and we are leaving Singapore to check in at Johor Bahru. 

Tomorrow, we play Palm Resort and thank goodness tee off is passed noon. It has been a long day and yes, I am tired. Checked into the hotel pass midnight.

Mortals being mortals like us, Adidas tagline or Nike tagline did not help at all when one is so tired from the traveling and waiting. Oh well. Tomorrow is another game and it’s either ‘all in or nothing’ or ‘just do it’ again.

Interesting architecture surrounding Keppel

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Just Do It

29 Apr

I just realized Adidas changed its old tagline ‘Impossible is Nothing’ to a new ‘All In or Nothing’. Now how do I apply this to my golf? The first thing that comes to my mind would be the putting. Of course to put the dimpled ball in the cup with one putt would be best for the ‘all in or nothing’ statement but what if I missed? 

Two putts or even three putts, which is my problem lately, just do not bode well with the brand’s statement. It then becomes I will be nothing because I was not all in. This in a sense would affect my confidence and ultimately my focus in the game. Not good.

Honestly, I would prefer to ‘Just Do It’ but I am not giving the brand with this tagline any justice because I am geared in all Adidas, down to my sports bra but short of my underwear. There is a conflict as far as brand loyalty is concerned.

Even Adidas’ old tagline of ‘Impossible is Nothing’ does not work for me. Most times the impossible become possible in a negative way! Shots that you wouldn’t think possible you’d execute becomes a reality. Nothing becomes everything whereby unwanted situations on the golf course becomes a nightmare, the list can go on! It all works more in the opposite manner instead. Sigh… Although it’s a mental state of mind, it is tough to discipline the thoughts when things do not go the way you want it.

Maybe I am championing the wrong brand all this while. Hmm… 

Let’s see how I fare today. The mode of play for today’s Interclub match is four ball, System 36 with handicap of the day.

The journey has taken three hours already as I am writing this. My tee off is at 1.07pm. I shouldn’t be too Adidas on what lies ahead but ‘just do it’!

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