At my golf club at the Lakes course, there is a hole that I now call the Curry Puff Hole fondly. It is a Par 3, Hole number 5, near the drink hut. So, being a Par 3, we try all sorts of incentives to reward a good outcome.
Whenever we play together, our regular golfer friend would buy curry puffs for everyone to share if he holes out for a par. In other words, everyone gets half a curry puff. Isn’t it nice of him?
Not too long ago, I improvised his incentive and modified the on-the-spot curry puff on top of drinks after the game during lunch whenever I play with my group of lady golfers.
Like my friend, everyone gets half a curry puff for a par by me. However, if I struck a birdie, everyone would get one curry puff each! It has been rewarding.
Typically, a round of golf would take four hours plus a little more to complete. But when it’s crowded, the duration will be longer. In the past two monthly medal tournaments that I participated in, it took forever to complete!
Call it slow play, over-subscribed participation, or whatever in the April medal game – it was just too long. Six hours to be exact. Crazy. The angst and frustration were evident. I lost my momentum and returned with an unfathomable effort. Then again, when it’s six hours to finish 18 holes of golf, it’s hard to imagine playing well with all that waiting for every shot.
But I learned my lesson, and in the recent May medal tournament, I tried not to focus on the waiting period like the last time. It worked out better. Chatting with my flightmates about everything under the sun helped our slow-play angst. The game ended ten minutes shy of six hours.
We must learn to be more patient and control our thoughts when it takes longer than usual on the golf course. If we don’t manage our emotions, participating in monthly medal tournaments will be a frustrating outing instead of an enjoyable one.
You would think that playing golf three times a week makes one fit. Well, I had an eye-opener to my stamina and health when I walked nine holes on Thursday. Dang, I was heating up and had palpitations!
It was a late tee-off, 8.35 am, and we decided to use the trolley to pull our bags instead of taking the buggy. By the sixth hole, I wanted to give up. The golf course was like a giant oven! No hat nor umbrella could help me. And the hot coffee I had in the flask became so unappealing in the hot environment.
I was sweating buckets and gasping, especially going uphill! Perhaps I should walk more instead of sitting in the buggy for future games. Hmm, something to consider to overcome this inadequate stamina and strength. I’m not quite as fit as I thought, and it’s a humbling realization.
With two weeks left before 2023 ends, I’m cutting back on my golf games for two reasons. Reason number one is the wet weather conditions. It rains daily, and being out on a soggy golf course is not enjoyable. The round of golf becomes more like a field-plowing exercise, chunking the shots constantly on the soft ground instead of playing proper golf.
Reason number two is the festive season of Christmas around the corner. This year, I’m playing more Christmas carols on my Spotify and indulging in Christmas shopping. It’s a fun season, and I am enjoying it.
However, I must highlight the last golf game that resulted in better than phenomenal putting. I’d take this highlight anytime! The score was not the best because of chunk shots on the fairways. Even at the tee boxes that were soft and soggy, I could not stand firm and ended up with several mis-hits. But putting with the TaylorMade Spider Mini made up for all the mishaps.
I made 26 better-than-phenomenal putts! To break that down, it was 12 putts on the first nine and 14 on the back nine. There was even a silly three-putt, but the eight one-putt and a chip-in for a zero putt made up for the lone ugly blemish. The thing that helped tremendously was the short game. I was accurate and gave myself many opportunities to putt well.
I should hold my head high with this new putting achievement for this year and hope this phenomenal putting can continue. Maybe it’s the focus that creates confidence. I look forward to better-putting results next year!
We played our second game this morning at Royal Perak Golf Club (RPGC). It was a good challenge duelling with hubby. The game came to a draw after 18 holes.
Always enjoyable to play at RPGC
In RPGC, we saw all types of birds while waiting to take a shot when the pace suddenly slowed. The soaring eagle caught our eyes and was quite breathtaking. There was one particular hole – we even saw bats! How strange to see this creature on a golf course.
This fella had its eyes open unlike the others
The bats were hanging upside down on the branches of the short tree next to the buggy track. Our close presence did not bother the nocturnal creatures at all, and they went about just hanging around, pun intended.
I had to whip out my iPhone XR to take a picture because I’m not sure when I will have the opportunity again to see bats in close range, on a golf course, of all places.
Well, if we return to RPGC again for a round or two of golf, we may still see them at the same tree! Who knows? Only time can tell.
We went and came back from the Forest City Resort Golf trip. It was an enjoyable but tiring trip because of the journey both ways. Waking up at 4.00 a.m. to take the bus with the rest of the group was not fun but necessary for the 12.30 tee-off. But we were delayed along the Plus highway with a traffic crawl due to an earlier accident.
Thankfully, we arrived on time at Senibong Golf Club. After a quick catered lunch, we teed off. I have never played speed golf before. The game at Senibong felt like a race against time! There were three of us on our flight, and buggies were allowed on the course. We found ourselves racing and chasing every shot.
The weather was cloudy, and unexpectedly, rain clouds were threatening. And when we heard thunder, the race to complete the game became more evident. We finished that game in three hours and thirty minutes! What a record.
That evening, we checked into Forest City Resort Golf. The Hotel seems to have lost its luster. Our room did not have a luggage rack. The TV did not work, the furnishings had scratches, the bathroom amenities were minimal, and they wouldn’t issue a second room access card. What has happened?
Luckily, the golf course was pristine and top-notch. The fairways and landscaping were excellent. However, the greens on the Legacy Course were frustrating. It was slow, making putting difficult. I recorded 38 putts compared to 30 putts at Senibong.
Drinks after game
The next day’s game was at the Classic course, and the greens felt better. But being a more challenging course, the return score could have been better. Oh well. The weather was a scorcher, and I don’t think I could have played any better.
Would we return to play again? I wouldn’t mind playing at Senibong, after it was our first time there. As for Forest City, perhaps we should play one course twice instead of both.
The trip to Johore for Interclub games was fun but tiring because of the ungodly wake-up hours and the return journey. Once the second game and luncheon concluded, we left for KL. The weekend traffic jam along the Plus highway contributed to a longer-than-usual trip back.
The second Interclub game on Sunday was against Ponderosa Golf & Country Club, half an hour from our hotel. A morning game this time around, the course challenges were very different from the first day’s outing. However, both days had the same strong wind external factor, creating challenging conditions to play.
The four-seater buggy
Hubby and I had an unusual four-person buggy instead of the typical two-person buggy. A first for us to be using this for a tournament! It took a while to get used to being in the four-seater with the opponents to move along the golf course.
Although hubby and I won against our opponents, my putting was terrible. I made 37 putts, with two 3-putts and TWO 4-putts! It was so demoralizing to have such horrid putting stats.
Being a Matchplay format again, our side lost by a substantial margin to our host this time, 9.5 points versus 20.5 points. But everyone was happy and enjoyed the hospitality and outing tremendously!
Sometimes it is not the outcome but the moment that matters most – the fellowship, the fun, and the experience. The memories are stored away but reminisced fondly again with time passing.
We will sign up for the next away Interclub outing without hesitation, should the next one appear on the club calendar again!
I finally played my first golf game after laying off for a month due to my recent medical issues. All’s good with me now, and off to the golf course yesterday. Although it was only nine holes (I did not want to exert myself too much), put it this way – it certainly was not an impressive return! Hahaha.
All the muscle memory to hit the little dimpled ball was gone. The tee-off was wayward, and the second and third shots were all short. I have lost the power and strength to compress the ball to fly it. Hmm, a few more games should suffice to fix this, methinks.
The short game was decent simply because I started chipping in the garden for distances between three to 10 feet several days ago. Putting with the new TaylorMade Spider Mini putter was not too bad. There were more one-putts than two-putts, so this is good.
The outcome of my first game post-medical procedure is expected, non-impressive, and trying. I should not be demoralized and take heart that at least the short game and putting saved me some blushes. I should be back on track after a few more games!
I have played golf for so long and have never encountered a situation of fear before until my Tuesday game this week. Shudder.
Our typical Tuesday golf game had only two flights this time. We played at an outside golf club instead of our home club for a change. The weather was cloudy, and the company was good. Despite such good conditions, my game continued its downslide. Oh well. However, it is not about me today but the situation.
The men had just teed off, and then we ladies teed off soon after. Just as we were about to follow them along the cart path, our flight mates in front shouted in fear, “Cobra! Cobra!”. Oh my goodness!
Our terrified caddy called out to me to quickly reverse the buggy. The cobra was already upright in an intimidating posture with its hood open as if ready to strike! Shudder. The men had driven past the cobra without realizing it. Luckily we were slow and behind. I think it was when they looked back to search for their balls that they saw the cobra.
And upon hearing their shouts and our caddy’s insistence, I reversed to a safe distance behind the scene. We stayed put for ten minutes as the men took some photos and the caddies did the same to report to the club. It was a fearful moment waiting out the cobra. Thankfully, the cobra stood down after a while and slithered off into the nearby bushes. Phew!
The cobra slithering off
After that incident, I had another unexpected encounter but this time, with an eagle! I was walking towards my ball when I stumbled upon an adult eagle resting in the rough under the trees. Its brown feathers camouflaged the bird under the shade, and I did not see it when I approached my ball.
The eagle looked injured as something was sticking out of its body. Unfortunately, I was not fast enough to get my phone out to take a picture. Oh well. The eagle spooked and flew off when it sensed my presence.
What an outcome the golf outing turned out to be, having close encounters with a cobra and an injured eagle.
During rainy days back in the dinosaur era when we were young, we used to think that playing in the rain was fun but were told not to do so. If we did, we would fall sick, and that’s not good. And if we choose to defy this, just be prepared for the consequences, be it a scolding or punishment, for not listening.
Strangely, as we get older, do we follow these rules set out for us when we were young? Of course not! A case in point is yesterday.
I woke up to the sound of a slight drizzle in the morning. Uh oh, a golf day, and it’s drizzling. It continued when I left the house but let up a little to allow us to tee off.
But after two holes, the drizzle turned to constant rain, and we were soaked instantly! We decided to wait it out at the nearby halfway hut. Fifteen minutes later, the rain let up a little, so we resumed play. Woefully, it did not last, for it rained again after another two holes. Sigh, and the second wait was longer.
Taking shelter to wait out the rain
It was not the most comfortable situation, with wet gloves and grips, not to mention clothes and caps as well. The umbrella did not help, unfortunately.
The two pauses in between rain and game were disrupting the game momentum. Yet, we continued or tried to continue. The situation changed when it thundered, and it was not feasible anymore.
We had to stop because it was dangerous to be out in the open with lightning charges in the atmosphere. It was the shortest game I have played in a long time, with only six holes completed.
The myth of playing in the rain being fun has been proven wrong! It was not fun playing golf in the rain at all. Maybe I should have listened to myself instead of braving the rain to play on. I hope I won’t fall sick from this outing.
Angieneering 
Remarks