Tag Archives: Annual Championship

Redemption!

7 Jul

Soon after the demoralizing Annual Club Championship golf result, I took a break and went away to play more golf! It’s weird, but going away with some golf buddies helped. Perhaps it is the golf course of choice because I played one game on Tuesday—two days after the annual weekend—at my club’s Hills course and fared just as badly. So it is the golf course! Hahahaha, a fact that I cannot understand.

My golf buddies and I did a mid-week 2D/1N to Seremban and Port Dickson last week. And it was a very enjoyable outing in terms of the golf, company and food. I vaguely remembered the layout of Seremban International Golf Club (SIGC), having played there before in recent years, and played a decent round. But the second game on the second day was redemption!

It’s been a long time since I last played at Port Dickson Golf and Country Club. So familiarity was not on my side, but I took it in stride. My ball striking was crisp, and my putting was exceptional again, with 29 putts.

I returned with a personal best gross score of 91, almost breaking 90!!! It is redemption indeed. I could have broken 90 if not for a three-putt. Oh well, I am happy with the results. It reaffirms I can play good golf. It is not me but the course doing weird things to the mind when the outcome is not what we hope for.

Second to my personal best score, I did not lose a single golf ball for the two games! Typically, at my home course, losing three or four balls for one game is expected, and the score is an eye-popping figure. My home course sucks, in other words! Hahahaha.

I left the outcome as is, taking a real break from golf for the next few days after that fantastic feel-good score, before my next golf adventure.

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Resetting My Problems, Part 2

30 Jun

Guess what? My terrible golf continues – not a whole lot, but enough to demoralize me. As mentioned, I participated in my club’s Annual Club Championship tournament over the weekend. It was a mixed-fortune outing, with an improved score only on the first day; the second day’s outcome unfortunately regressed the overall two-day total. Like I have repeatedly emphasized, the spirit and mind are willing, but the body and ability are not. Sigh.

There were some brilliant moments, but there were more of the opposite that I could not recover from to minimize the damage. The first day’s score had four pars to cover the disasters on several holes. Pars are not to improve the score but to do damage control so that the score does not blow up!

However, on the second day, Lady Luck was not on my side; I could only manage one par. How is this miserly one par enough to minimize the disasters that occurred? We are not even talking about birdies, which were nil, zilch, and nada. 

So many near misses. A typical bogey became a double bogey, a par became a bogey, and worse, a double-bogey hole exploded to become a double par or more! Every hole, there were little mistakes here and there that added up the strokes! The only bright outcome from the experience was my putting. It was my saving Grace from an even higher overall score! Hats off to my caddy, who was of great help in this department for both days.

On the first day, I recorded only 29 putts, very impressive putting overall, I have to say, but alas, the same cannot be said for the other departments of the game. Honestly, it is rather amazing that I improved to 28 putts for the second day; I just took more strokes to get to the green! The irony.

Now that the stress of preparing for the Annual Championship is over, I can heave a sigh of relief. I can feel the tiredness in my bones and joints. Was it worth it? No. I am in more pain than ever! And although I gripe about not being physically fit, I actually played a game this morning, albeit half-heartedly. Sucker. It’s a love-hate relationship for this game called golf.

I will have a physiotherapy session soon to reset my body, and I hope it will help so I can play better golf in my next game.

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Resetting My Problems

23 Jun

I have been playing some terrible golf lately. Every month, I participate in my club’s monthly medal, and fare terribly. So much so, my handicap has gone up, and it is very demoralizing and embarrassing. But what can I do? The spirit and mind are willing, but the body and ability are not!

My internal injuries are far worse than I thought! And it affects my golf game. However, instead of allowing the situation to drag me down further, I try to fix the problems at hand.

Firstly, I have been going for physiotherapy treatments to address the physical pain, and then to the driving range to improve my ball striking. Slowly but surely, it is working. My physical pain feels less, my ball striking has improved after several driving-range sessions, and my confidence has increased. 

The reason for all these extra efforts is that I am playing in my club’s Annual Championship this coming weekend. All I aim for is to improve my score from last year’s participation, that’s all. I played a decent round this morning, not the best, but sufficient to know the mistakes and what to do to avoid a disaster.

I play one more game on Thursday, and let’s hope for the best outcome come this weekend. Wish me luck!

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Annual Championship 2025

17 Jun

Over the weekend, my golf club held the 2025 Annual Championship for the Ladies, Senior, and Super Senior categories. It was a mixed-feeling experience. The Ladies and Super Senior categories teed off in the morning on Saturday, while the Senior category had their round in the afternoon. The Men category will commence this coming Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

All was good but hot! I played fairly decently and did not blow up any holes – no double-digit scores for the strokeplay event. Putting was good with the Scotty for 31 putts.

The next day, the categories swapped tee-off times, and the Senior category played in the morning. The other two, in the afternoon. And boy, oh boy, was it hot!

Despite the heat, I played much better on the second day. After we completed the back nine holes and crossed over, the weather changed and was cooler. However, don’t be deceived by the drop in the temperature!

As we approached the 4th hole and were about to tee off, an unexpected sudden lightning flashed! It was too close for comfort. We headed to the halfway hut nearby to take shelter, along with other players from within the few holes. But soon, everyone returned to the clubhouse immediately for safety. The rain came down fast and furious, and the siren came on.

The golf course was pelted and looked flooded, and the strong wind blew the sponsor’s drink tent onto the green at Hole 9! I have never seen an incident like this before.

Everyone had to wait out at the clubhouse until the weather improved. However, after some time, the Tournament Director and the Committee decided to abandon the second day of the 2025 Annual Championship tournament due to the weather, and scores from Day One for the Ladies and Super Senior would stand as the final results. While some players were unhappy, I was okay with the decision. The weather got too hot for me. The Senior category was not affected by the weather.

Looking back, my score from Day One compared to my past years’ participation was an improvement. And while I could have played well on the second day, I’m happy with my overall performance. It is over now, and I look forward to taking a break from golf.

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Winning Again

30 Jul

It is nice when we play golf and win. It is nicer when this winning repeats itself. During my weekly Tuesday golf with my group, I returned as the champion for two weeks. What brought about this change in fortune after the disastrous Annual Club Championship outing not too long ago?

My glasses. My prescription glasses were giving me problems because the prescription was no longer correct for my vision. And I find it irritating when I play golf, especially when putting. The vision was blurred, and this affected my concentration. But all this discomfort is a thing of the past with a pair of new glasses.

The icing on the cake was the Interclub match over the weekend against the visiting club, Royal Perak Golf Club. It was a four-ball Best Ball format. My partner and I returned as the Best Pair from our club. We both played well, taking turns to score points on each hole. Both of us combined for a best-ball score of 47 Stableford points! Woo hoo.

A dozen new balls! Nice

I’m glad I discovered and rectified the problem affecting my golf performance over the past few months. The game is enjoyable again because I have a clear vision and better concentration to play well and win.

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Redemption Games

18 Jun

After last weekend’s Annual Club Championship disaster, I played two weekday games with redemption! I could not believe that I could not play golf. I had to purge myself of the horror.

Last Tuesday, I played at a different golf course, and everything worked! Golf is strange. I played one under my handicap for that day! I did 32 putts, so much better than the 43 putts on Sunday. I’m a happy camper with the recovery for putting.

Then, on Thursday, I returned to my club and played a round with hubby and his friends. Guess how I fared? I played to my handicap and 20 strokes better than the results of the ACC! Unbelievable. Redemption was sweeter as I managed 30 putts, which was 13 strokes much better!

Golf is strange – one can be demoralized and broken in a tournament. Then, on the next outing, one can heal with redemption. It’s a love-hate activity.

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Annual Club Championship Vibes

7 Jun

The Annual Club Championship at my golf club is tomorrow! I hope I won’t get butterflies in my tummy for the first tee-off. Last year, I missed out because my niece’s wedding ceremony was on the same day. And me, being the only aunty from her dad’s side, the wedding was far more significant than an annual championship golf tournament.

Well, this year, there are no weddings or other important occasions – I will be playing the two-day event despite an increase in the tournament fee. Besides not wishing for butterflies, I hope the weather and course conditions will be good.

It rains every evening, the thunder rumbles louder than usual, and you can feel the electric charge in the air. In the mornings, it is very humid, and the heat is intense, not comfortable on a golf course. Good weather should be cloudy with some breeze; good conditions mean the fairways are not soft and the greens firm.

Whatever the situation, managing the mental and physical, besides the game and approach, is essential for a good outing. I will not analyze too much but bask in the Annual Championship vibes. Wish me luck!

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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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