THE DAY

Tee Set is of course a reasonably regular visitor to the delights of Gunung Guelis though, for at least the last three years anyway, we have always played on the West course, so it was the first time on the East course today for many of us. And the change was not to herald a disappointment with a small majority taking the view that the East course is even better scenically and on the fairways if a little behind on the greens.

Thirty three starters on a day the course hosted not one, but two Jakarta golf societies. The DOGS with a similar number of starters took over the West course while Tee Set took over the East. One assumes club members had been informed in advance to play somewhere else.

The restaurant staff had also been warned of the course being overrun by orang putih and, as a result, the cold beer stocks were bolstered and proved more than adequate for once. Thanks to Wina and Endang for organizing the booking and getting such a competitive rate of Rp. 688,000  Appreciation also to Mike Garwood, the Tee Set “hit man“, who convinced course management into letting us out 30 minutes early onto an empty course. With the course almost in darkness by 16:30 we would never have finished otherwise.

A true mountain course and Mike Romango was to observe on the twelfth that the entire course was quite bereft of a piece of flat ground. This was quickly proven to be false as, at the very next hole, he found a relatively flat bit – though perched rather precariously between two bunkers as you will see in the following photo.

Even more than its sister to the West, the East course’s mountain location made it essential to consult with an experienced caddy if the correct answer is sought to the rather basic question of, “is this putt uphill or downhill?!”

WEATHER REPORT

The DOGS benefited from the presence of our resident Pawang  Hujan, thus enjoying rainless conditions all day although there were plenty of thunder rumblings coming from the overcast skies. The pressure of keeping the rains away proved too much for Graham himself, however, as he was to lose his match play to David Baglivo two up with one to play despite his brilliance on the greens to stay in the game.

PLAY

Welcome to new recruit Sam Western who played off handicap 7 and has thus far managed to fly under the Tin Cup’s talent scout’s radar. Showed plenty of potential to take on the cream of Interleague’s match play competition with a solid 82 off the stick. Nicky Moir is another showing plenty of potential, although breaking 40 on the back nine is not so brilliant when considering his front nine 51.

If Nicky Moir’s 51/39/90 was a ploy to claim the Rp.100,000 for the most improved award then it certainly worked, while Reka Romango took low net yet again with a 68 and is now firmly in the sights of the handicapper. Great effort from Mark Fiorello who shot the best round of the day with a gross 79. Probably would have done the same last week at Bogor Raya had he been able to penetrate the Puncak road gridlock and actually reach the course.

Low putts went to Graham McGeady with a remarkable 25 while in the absence of the President, the rest of the half asleep committee failed to organise nearest to the pin and long drive.

Given how far some of the ladies tee boxes were ahead of the blue ones, the Treasurer had a rather modest crop of Skit fines this week at just four.

As you may see from the smiles on the faces of this week’s victims, the skirt appears to no longer put the fear into the hearts of Tee Setters that it once did. The committee is working on a few ideas.

Detailed player by player results can be seen here.

NEXT WEEK

Next Sunday, being the last of the month, will see us at Matoa for the Monthly Medal where Tee Setters will be setting forth with optimism and thoughts of the glory of winning Tee Sets second medal event. Stableford scoring of course and maybe check out the Monthly Medal page here. Main prize for highest Stableford points will be a tray of meats from Slaney’s Butchery worth Rp. 500,000. Might even be a couple of other consolation prizes on offer,

We will be starting from two tees at 11:00 having paid our green fees etc of Rp. 650,000 including shared cart. As usual, please register for the event by filling in the details on the “Yes, I’m playing!” form here.

See you Sunday!! – Tee Set