2014 round up!

As usual, it's hard to believe that the new year is just around the corner. So as we bid farewell to 2014 and usher in 2015, it's time to reminisce on the highlights of the year.

Striking a pose at Borneo Highlands.

2014 has been a pretty good year. In terms of Golfing, I would have to say it's been fantastic.

For starters, I started blogging again. After reigniting my love for the game, I decided to document most things golf right here on kaki-golf.blogspot.com and it's been good fun.

In terms of game time, I was pleased that I managed to play alot more golf. Squeezing in a round of 9 holes during the week every now and then. 2014 was also a year of travel and I was fortunate enough to play on a number of courses abroad and at home. 

In July, the boys and I had a golfing excursion to Thailand. Pattaya and Bangkok to be more precise and we played on some great courses.

Thai Country Club, Bangkok.

St. Andrews 2000, Pattaya.

Through September and October I played a number of courses in Kuala Lumpur including the prestigious KLGCC (although I wouldn't rate it as the best course in KL) 

KLGCC.

In between, I made a trip to KL to check out the CIMB classic 2014 and had a blast. Met a bunch of the stars, snapped plenty of pics and got a bunch of autographs. 

CIMB Classic 2014, KLGCC.

Ryan Moore successfully defended his title. A worthy champion, especially those approach shots down the stretch on day 4, my word.

Then, thanks to my mate Kenny, we attended an exclusive demo day with Titleist at the Glenmarie Golf and Country Club to check out the latest 915 metals.

In November, the boys and I made our second golfing trip. This time to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. We had a great time and our kaki, Edwin made his first ace at the Sabah Golf and Country Club.

Sabah Golf & Country Club, Kota Kinabalu.

That pretty much sums up 2014 and I couldn't have asked for a better golfing year. All things considered, I might have set the bar pretty high for 2015. 

Moving forward and onwards, there are a few things I would like to improve about the blog. Getting a proper web domain is something I have been considering and I am probably going to tweak the 'golf review posts' too. Particularly, the criteria ratings.

Come the new year, I am also hoping to play more new courses in KL and if the opportunity arises, a round at the The Els Club, Teluk Datai, Langkawi. There's also the golfing trip to Bandung, Indonesia next June the boys and I have planned next June. 

Speaking of which, it's devastating to read about the latest on QZ8501. I can only imagine the sorrow the grieving families must be going through. May they find solace soon.

Closer to home, states in West Malaysia are experiencing the worse floods in decades and through this difficult time, it's moving to see Malaysians come together to help those in need. 

If anything, it serves as a reminder the life is indeed precious and short. 

Cherish your loved ones. Always be thankful. Appreciate the little things. Strive to be happy and remember to pick up the pace on the fairway.

With that, I wish you, my dear readers and fellow golf kakis, a Happy and Safe New Year. 

Golf Ball Flex Rack

A while back I posted a pic of the Ikea glass cabinet I bought to display my golf memorabilia.

It looks fantastic in my books but there was alot of unused space particularly in the lower 3 tiers and I had a bunch of other balls I wanted to display. My mum suggested that I create another tier in between the compartments but that seemed rather difficult. 

So I was rummaging around for a golf ball display that would fit in the glass cabinet and came across this, the Golf Ball Flex Rack. For starters, it looked better then the conventional wooden golf ball displays. 

Secondly, it had a flexible structure allowing for wall mount or stand alone display and what's more, you can combine two or more units to create different shapes to display different amount of golf balls. 

Each unit holds up to 24 balls and it fit just nicely in the glass cabinet. No assembly required either. Just shape to the desired shape and place balls.

They come in a couple of colours and also come with magnet attachments that fit onto the display poles so you can display ball markers too. 

Ta-dah!~ So I have used the rack to display logo balls from courses I have played on and other novelty logo balls. 

So this is what the 2nd tier looks like now. I have also laminated some of the tickets and draw sheets to ensure they stay intact. 

This is what the 3rd tier and bottom tier look like.

Holding score cards, markers and other souvenirs. At the rate I am collecting, I am going to need another glass cabinet soon. 

Hope everyone had a good break over Christmas.  

True shoes!

There have been a shortage of pictures of late and posts with words and only words make for a boring read.

So here are a couple just to shake things up.

 

I confess, I am a shoe-nut. A golf shoe nut to be precise. My mates think I am obsessed and while some call it a fetish, I prefer to call it a hobby (LOL!)

So imagine my excitement when the postman came by to drop off the latest addition to the collection. 

The True lyt dry in White / Salmon. More info here.

Ryan Moore wear these as well and I really like how they look. And when I slipped them on, boy were they c-o-m-f-y. Like all shoes from True, these are spikeless, so if you are a traditionalist, these aren't for you. 

However, if you want a pair of golf shoes that you can wear on and off the course that are comfortable / fashionable and practical, do yourself a favour and check out the True line. 

Trues are available in Malaysia but at a hefty price in my opinion (upwards of RM300.00). Transview at the Thaniya Plaza, Bangkok were selling the PHX and Protos (both discontinued) for less then RM200.00. So worth checking out if you happen to be in the area. 

Tis the season

The last few weeks have been rather busy. So much so that I haven't touched the golf clubs since the Ball Sweep event. Yikes! Needless to say, I am looking forward to the weekend when we hit the fairways, so here's hoping for fantastic weather (and for the game to stay intact).

In other news, I am contemplating whether or not to attend the Maybank Malaysian Open 2015 which starts on 5th - 8th February. Lee Westwood will be back to defend his title and he will be joined by Ryder Cup mates Graeme McDowell and captain, Paul McGinley. 

Apart from the star trio, they will be joined by other players from the Asian / European tour. A lack of star-power if you ask me (compared to the CIMB Classic). 

I mean if I was staying in Kuala Lumpur, sure why not. But if i am going to have to fly there, it better be a star-studded field in my eyes haha. More info here.

Christmas is just around the corner followed by the impending new year and if you detect a tinge of gloom, you are not wrong. I have come to accept that time flies faster the older we get. 

So make sure to get in as many rounds of golf as you can. Take that golf trip with your buddies. Buy that driver you have always wanted. Keep trying to get that elusive hole-in-one. And always remember to replace divots and repair your ball marks.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Nerves and slowplay.

Last Saturday, I joined the Samarahan Country Club's Ballsweep. At RM100.00 per golfer (inclusive buggy fee, goodie bag and lunch) there was no reason not to play. I was playing in the Handicap 19 - 36 category and because my game has been rather erratic, I didn't expect to win anyway.

It was a shot gun tee-off so we started off on the Par 3 on Hole 17. Personally, I don't like starting on Par 3's but fortunately, my first short of the day, though short of the green was safe. 

In summation, I didn't play very well (what's new?!).

For starters I was hit by a case of the 'nerves'. Secondly, a golfer in our flight was slow and I mean terribly slow, but we will get to that later.

So, nerves. I have played in a few competitions and I still get nervy whenever I tee up. This time though was rather ridiculous. I was stubbing / duffing chips (which I haven't done in recent games) consistently and I was hitting shots, really fat. As a result, the confidence in my swing and game took a terrible beating and it was infuriating to say the least.

The silver lining from Saturday's experience though was that I improved in two areas. I was having a pretty good 'driver' day and on a day when my iron play was awry, my 3 wood oddly enough performed excellently. Out of 13 drives, 10 were sweet and straight. The 3 wood on the other hand was a much needed boost of confidence. I used it off the deck 3 times and every strike was pure, flush and more importantly, straight. 

Now on to the subject of SLOW PLAY. I have played my share of long rounds but Saturday was ridiculous. It was bad enough that we were teeing off at 11.00am (when it was getting very hot) but it took us a ridiculous 5 HOURS to complete the round and we didn't even stop at the halfway house.

(As a disclaimer, this has got nothing to do with age. I have had the pleasure of playing with other senior golfers who play at a very good pace and the displeasure of playing with younger golfers who play at a snail pace)

Said golfer (let's call him uncle) was probably in his late 50's / early 60's but it wasn't his movement that was slow. It was his super long PRE-SHOT ROUTINE and his lack of urgency to speed up. 

On the tee-box, he would take at least 30 seconds to set up (I timed it) and he would take nearly as long for every other shot. I could nearly see the grass growing.

As we progressed along, the golfers in front of us eventually disappeared from sight and we were more then a hole behind. To make things worse, the flight behind us were soon just 'a-stroke' away and they were clearly agitated from the lengthy wait. 

The course marshall came to our group 3 TIMES to tell us to speed up play and at various stages, we politely told uncle that we had to speed up play. To send a message, twice the marshall told us to walk off the green after taking our putts and uncle was left on the green alone. Didn't make a bloody difference and frankly speaking, uncle was lucky that he wasn't penalized.

It didn't matter that his fellow flight mates had to wait an eternity for him to take his shot or the fact that we were holding up the flight behind us. He was simply oblivious and went about his business.

I don't want to blame uncle but if I am being honest, my game was affected to an extent. To compensate for his slow play, I was taking less time for my setup (especially during my putts for instance) and I was brisk walking / jogging back and forth. 

Some may say I shouldn't have given a crap and just carried on as usual since it was a competition, but I was honestly embarrassed because we were holding up the flights behind us and I loathe SLOW PLAY.

Uncle wasn't a beginner either. I think he plays to a handicap of 20 or lower and as a seasoned golfer there was a serious lack of awareness and etiquette on his part. Suffice to say, I won't be looking forward to be in his flight again. 

Uncle if you happen to read this, I am sorry if you feel offended but I believe my views are warranted.

Whether it's a casual round with your mates or a competition, there simply is no room for SLOW PLAY. 

- End of Rant!

But in other news, what about Jordan Spieth? A 10-stroke victory at the Hero World Challenge beating out an elite field of golfers. My word is he playing some scintillating golf at the moment.

Guess who's back?

If you haven't heard, a certain Mr. Woods is back. 

Plenty has happened in Tiger's world in recent months. First he decided to split with Sean Foley and then subsequently announced that he has partnered with new swing consultant, Chris Como.

He's set to tee off at the Hero World Challenge tomorrow (4.12.2014), (an 18 man field, 4 day, no cut event) and this will be the first time he's played since he missed the cut at the PGA Championship in August.

I wouldn't say I am a huge fan of Tiger per se. But that said, I am in awe of what he's accomplished as a golfer and have a ton of respect for what he has done for the game of golf. Even if you're not a fan, you can't help but be compelled to watch him on the telly. 

I will be tuning in to the Golf Channel, but until then, here's a peek at his 'new' swing.