For the uninitiated the term "Kaki" literally means "Leg" in the Malaysian Language or Bahasa Malaysia. Colloquially, Kaki-Golf, refers to a person who plays (in this case, love) Golf.

Friday, February 27, 2015

Christmas come early.

I know Christmas has come and gone, but I can never resist getting / fiddling with new golf gear. 

A number of 'upgrades' are in store and for starters, I am finally replacing the big stick. Yeap, farewell trusty Callaway Razr Fit. (Sold off the 913 D2 driver head a while back. I have a feeling though that the Graphite Design BB6 shaft, which is for sale, wasn't right for me and thus I wasn't gelling with the Titleist).

So what's the new replacement? No pics for now but let's just say I am hoping it's going to help my game flyyyyyyyyy!

Sunday, February 22, 2015

Putting woes

Drive for show, putt for dough.

There was a point in time when I would stand over a putt and just know that I would make it. That confidence has disappeared along with the touch on the green.



Of late (the last 2 months or so) I have been putting like a clueless donkey and it's killing me. 10 footers, 6 footers, the putts just wouldn't fall. It's time to bust out the ol'putting mat and get in more practice. 

Managed to play last Saturday over the CNY weekend and the weather was great. The course is drying up nicely and it looks like the rainy season is finally moving along. 

In other news, caught the final round of the Hero Indian Open and my word is Anirban Lahiri on a roll. 2 weeks, 2 events, 2 huge wins for the young European Tour Rookie. Amazing stuff really considering how he came from behind in both events (Won after a 1 hole playoff in the Hero Indian Open). 

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Monterez Golf and Country Club : Night Golfing

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I felt there was a need to adjust the 'review' posts on the courses I play.

Previously, I was rating courses according to course conditions, course difficulty, caddy rating and clubhouse facilities. For starters course difficulty is subjective and caddy ratings were at times irrelevant. So, in a bid to improve the reviews, I have decided to 'grade' a course on the following  6 categories. Each category is worth 5 points

"Value : Did I get my money's worth?
Staff : Were they competent? Did they provide above average service?
Course Conditions : Things like greens, fairways, bunkers 
Aesthetics : Landscaping etc
Amenities : Things like food and beverage, whether there is a driving range, pro shop etc.
Experience : Did I enjoy the round? Would I want to play the course again?"

Without further adue, here's the first review for 2015, the Monterez Golf and Country Club.

Monterez is an 18 hole golf course and is one of two courses in K.L offering night golf. The other being Kelab Golf Sultan Abdul Aziz which has suspended night golf for the time being apparently. So golf bookings are basically divided into two sessions:-

Day golfing from 7am - 4pm 
Night golfing from 4pm - 7pm

Although we pushed the envelope and finished past 10pm as I recall. So I guess they are pretty flexible about the time.




The Club House itself is rather old but presentable and they have a fairly well stocked pro - shop. I managed to snap up three pairs of Greg Norman shorts for about RM280.00.


Apart from the pro-shop, there is also a driving range (didn't check it out) and a golfer's terrace for the hungry and thirsty golfer.



The buggies were really old and the brakes on the buggy we had was in dire need of maintenance.




We were asked by the starter to tee off from hole 10. Coincidentally, there was a twosome (two brothers) behind us who suggested we play as 4 balls, which we did. The more the merrier we always say.



From the get go, I was pleasantly surprised at how narrow the fair way was and like clock work, I proceeded to hook my drive to the rough on the right. So off we go (buggy on track by the way).

The course was fairly dry and along the way, I spotted several patches of cow grass amongst the bermuda grass on the fairway. Playable, but a sign of neglect and lack of maintenance surely. That unfortunately was only the beginning. The greens were something else.


This my friends, was the green (or should I say "brown") Make no mistake, the greens were filled with brown patches and bald in places. 

Clearly there was some green maintenance being carried out (with the sanding and the holes) but conditions were shocking. Worse greens I have ever putted on, period. Putts and chips would bobble offline so unless you were a pro, it didn't really matter how good your short game was.

It didn't help that there were a couple of greens that were playable in between (no more then 5 greens were playable). Had us feeling teased!


But we moved along and as the light started to fade, the flood lights soon turned on and I was keen to finally experience night golf.


These were some powerful floodlights so it was brighter then I expected. Though that can only be said about the fairway and greens. Beyond that lies a dark world altogether. So, accuracy was key as I soon discovered. Somehow, I was even having trouble spotting the ball on the fairway and I was struggling with the shadows as well. It made putting that much harder.


There were only two flights playing that night. So while we were able to play at a leisurely pace, it was somewhat eerie too. It didn't help that the marshall who was tailing us would turn off the flood lights once we moved far ahead enough so we would hear the lights turn off and darkness would immediately descend.

One of the 'playable' greens. 

Eventually we made our way to the last hole and after we completed our round, I made a very quick visit to the empty rest room and we then made our way back.

As a matter of interest, Malaysian Top Amatuer Gavin Green holds the course record of 62. I believe this was back in 2010 and I am really curious if the greens were better then. 

Onto the ratings!

Value : 4/5

We paid RM78.00 each (green fee + buggy, twin share) which is cheap. Sure the greens were crap and buggies were old, but you get to tee off later in the evening and still finish a round of 18 holes. 

Staff : 3/5

The reception staff was rather quick and efficient. Took us about 5 minutes to get from paying to the tee box. The Marshall on the other hand patiently waited for us to finish playing a hole and made sure we were far enough before he started turning off the lights, bless him. Though apart from that, there wasn't anything out of the ordinary.

Course Conditions : 2/5

The greens in general were Crap.

Aesthetics : 2/5

Nothing out of the ordinary in my eyes. On the whole, the landscaping was rather 'meh' plus some of the water hazards were questionable in colour. 

Amenities : 3/5

The clubhouse though old had a pretty well stocked pro-shop, driving range, practice green and golfer terrace. Restrooms were spacious and clean too.

Experience : 2.5/5

A rather mixed experience this one. It wasn't an expensive round and I will definitely try night golf again in future. But there was no fun watching your putts and chips bobble and bounce in every other direction but the hole. Until they fix the greens, I will probably give Monterez a miss.

Total score: 16.5/25

Up next, Templer park!

Monday, February 9, 2015

Maybank Malaysian Open 2015

It's been a while since my last post but I just got back from a short trip to Kuala Lumpur, so there will be a number of updates soon!

I will start off with some of the action from the Maybank Malaysian Open 2015 at the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club. 


The Malaysian Open 2015 (Sponsored now by Maybank) started in 1962 and was sanctioned by the European Tour in 1999. Since it's inception, the tournament has seen some of Golf's biggest name win. Past winners include, Lee Westwood, Louis Oosthuizen, Vijay Singh, Thongcai Jaidee to name a few. Tournament fact sheet here.



Sanctioned by the European Tour and the Asian Tour, this years edition of the Maybank Malaysian Open saw a field of 156 players from the European and Asian Tour (headlined by defending champion Lee Westwood, Graeme McDowell, Paul McGinley, past winner Thongcai Jaidee and perhaps the coolest man in golf, Miguel Angel Jimenez) compete for the coveted trophy and a share of the increased purse of $3,000,000.



22 Malaysians also made the field led by Danny Chia as highest ranked Malaysian.



I will be honest. The field wasn't impressive and that's why I wasn't encouraged initially. But as it turned out, I needed to be in Kuala Lumpur at the time and tickets weren't expensive. So why not? 



It might have lacked the glamour of the PGA sanctioned CIMB Classic ($7 million purse) but there was still plenty of fantastic golf to be played. With a lesser crowd, it was easier to get around too and (knowing me) I managed to get a few autographs and pictures with the stars.

The yellow cap was signed by Paul McGinley, Tommy Fleetwood, Miguel Jimenez and past winner Matteo Mannesero


  
Miguel Angel Jimenez warming up, with a cigar no less.



I had seen Lee Westwood in action during the CIMB Classic so I decided to follow Graeme McDowell, who I have to say is the consummate professional. I have seen him in interviews on the telly and he seemed like a really approachable and all round nice guy. 

 Lee Westwood at the driving range


Scott Hend, Miguel Jimenez and G.Mac on day 1

So it was great to actually get to meet him in person and he was friendly and super obliging when it came to pleasing the fans. People would catch him when he was warming up or practicing and I didn't see him turn anyone away. 


On day 2, he stepped off the practice green to get to the first tee-box and he was stopped by a fan who asked for a picture. He actually stopped to have his picture taken right before his tee-off time! 

He was well within reason to say "No, sorry. I will get you later after the game." but he didn't. 


Oh, just G.Mac and me (I need to lose some weight...) 

There was hardly anyone at the scoring zone after Day 1 and those who waited got autographs and pictures with G.Mac. As I mentioned previously, Day 1 is always the best time to meet the players.

The Par 3, 15th - 4 aces during the 4 days.

Unfortunately, he didn't do very well after day 1. Might have been the scorching heat (and it was HOTTT!) but even then, he kept grinding and still responded when fans cheered him on.



View from the 9th tee box.

G.Mac teeing off

The Voice Caddie T1 watch has a function that measures your shot and I was curious to see how far G.Mac hit his hybrid on the 9th tee.

So I decided to track it on day 1 and voila!~ The watch showed "213 meters". But I had to factor in the fact that I was standing at least 10 meters in front of the tee box and slightly behind his ball in the above pic. So give and take, I would say G.Mac hit his hybrid a whopping 220 meters (I am assuming he was gaming the Adams a7 - 22*). 

The green at the 14th 


What about our local boys? you ask. There's Danny Chia who's had a great start to the season and future pro, Gavin Green. Both finished respectfully tied for 25th place. Looking forward to see how Gavin performs when he eventually turns pro.

I recognized a few other faces who feature on the local PGM circuit (R. Nachimuthu, Kamerol Baharin, Khor Kheng Hwai to name a few). Nachi (as he is fondly called) looked really happy to be there and you could tell he was appreciative of the support. 


Caught Kamerol (above pic) crossing over to the 1st tee box and struck up a brief conversation about his game and course conditions prior to his tee - off. Very pleasant chap as well. Shook his hand and wished him good luck before he teed off and when he did, he was certainly giving his  Asian / European Tour flight mates a run for their money with the big stick! 

Wasn't there for Day 4 but managed to catch the live updates and subsequent highlights and it was Anirban Lahiri (5 time Asian Tour winner) who pulled off an unexpected and stunning win. (What about that lengthy birdie putt from off the green on the 17th to grab the outright lead?) 



Anirban stormed into contention after carding a scintillating 62 (-10) and started the final day 5 strokes behind leader Bernd Weisberger. 

The European Tour Rookie closed with a 68 (-4) to earn a 1 stroke victory (-16 total), to bag his biggest win to date. ($500,000.00 in prize money and an invitation to the Masters - not too shabby hey)



Glad I caught him before his round on Day 3 for a quick autograph. Congratulations once more to Anirban!

Also managed to play some night golf at Monterez, took on the limestone mountains at Templer Park and had a taste of perfection at Palm IOI. Those posts next!