The day before
Before 9.30, the WhatsApp group set up for the event was abuzz with horror stories of the traffic on the Jagorawi Tol, something which led to all sorts of mitigating actions being taken including even using the Old Bogor Road and a variety of Tol exit strategies.
In the end journey times of between 100 and 150 minutes were the norm; horrible but there have been worse. Adding to the joy of the journey for several parties was the discovery of the old Chinese cemetery area on one of the back ways to the course – some quite amazing structures complete with sitting areas for the entire extended family.
Some of our younger members arrived in some style in a Rolls Royce as you will see above. Yep, this was our weekend to do something by way of thank you to our long suffering partners and kids – and a great time they had by all accounts.
As the significant others had fun in the Kid’s Club, swimming pools, Bouncy Castle etc, the round on Saturday was of course, pick up and go – and the highlights were Anlo’s eagle 3 (1 putt) on the par 5 13th and Lin Bunter’s first ever sub-100 round! Well done both!
Fantastic BBQ in the evening with the best mass catered food that any of the committee had ever experienced and which was to find the big people full of Czech beer, malt whisky, fine cheese and heaven knows what else,
Thanks to Jan for the impeccable preparation and execution for the Rancamaya weekend. The tone for the BBQ was spot on for a family night and everyone had a great time either talking and relaxing, playing pool, grooving to the reggae and jazz of the band, assisted by Bill “Freestyler” Lloyd making a return to his roots and the Singing President living up to his moniker.
Great to welcome back Joseph, Mel and Bill after decent breaks from Tee Set since the 2014 Tee Set Championship – and to welcome Newcomers Kim Pham, Tomas and Lottis (who came all the way from Semarang for the weekend) and Sheinal and Jacqueline – all of whom we hope to see again very soon.
The day
The day started for some with a coaching clinic from our own resident pro, Ken “Do as I say…” Runyon, where everyone came away with helpful hints to improve their game and some then put them into action. The Former Past President of Almost Everything tried pointing both of his thumbs down his shaft and found it gave him far more control.
The coaching was followed by a chipping contest which proved to be far more difficult than it looked and Thurmond was the only first round winner, being the only one to land his ball in the circle; Anlo, Chris and Jess achieved this on their second attempt and took the minor prize.
The majority of the field played with the benefit of a Saturday practice round
With so much going on, and no Brenda to help, we did our best to get all flights out early as the course was available from a little after 11:00 and some flights were joined by “late comers” who came ready to play at the scheduled tee off time of 12 noon. Chris Lever had left a seat in his cart expecting Rina but got Mel instead – no doubt a factor in Chris’s focused performance on the day .
The course was in excellent condition and the weather perfect for play. Rancamaya has become a community for lovers of golf, and some residents have clearly settled in to the lifestyle. We can only envy them.
The play
There were some very impressive scores in every grade.
In A grade, Barbora and Simon shared the same cart and posted scores of 76 and 77 off the stick, with Barbora shooting a one under par 35 on the front nine. Exceptional rounds both and it is great to see our top players bringing in gross scores under 80. Barbora therefore took the premier prize of Low Nett A Grade with a 66, with Simon being awarded Low Gross.
The Singing President had the great pleasure of joining the flight as more or less a spectator as he struggled through his own rather less impressive round. At one stage, he had to step in as rules official when Simon asked a question of Barbora’s iphone with the very handy 19th Hole app which measures distance to any point of the course. Clearly in an indulgent frame of mind, and in flagrant disregard of the USPGA rules under which we operate, he refused to award a two shot penalty
Simon’s new found extra height and length, thanks to a newly started and vigorous yoga regime, had him in danger of overshooting on a number of tee boxes.
Chris Lever continued his outstanding recent form with his best ever score of 81 to win Low Net B Grade with 64. Playing off the white tees under what is now known as “The Hayne Exemption”, Harold Hayne fired an excellent net 66 to narrowly pip Leona’s 68 for Net C Grade winner. There were a number of other strong sub-par and par rounds. Bit of a cock up there as Harold is of course a B Grade Player – we are sure that Leona will eventually forgive the officiating staff involved.
In the skills prizes, first birdies went to the Web Guy, Tom and Anlo on the very first hole, Alistair had the only sandy par of the day on the 7th and Thurmond raided the Treasury again with the first par over 30, no doubt due to his excellent chipping.
Barbora had a miserly 26 puts but had already been a winner, so we had to look to 27 putts and found Alistair, but he had won first sandy, and Malty, who had clearly discovered sensitivity around the greens after last week’s harsh bollocking…think of it as tough love Malty.
Jan Jelinek won most improved with 10 strokes, but was not prepared to claim it as a skill prize…don’t worry, Jan, as the Web Guy demonstrated last week, it is a reward for refusing to give up.
Sheinal was welcomed to Tee Set with two fines, both Monster Putter and a Skirt. As many Tee Setters will tell you Sheinal, this is a sign of our affection and we hope you will return soon to reclaim your contributions. Others having skirts included Bill Lloyd, Chris Smith and Mel Cantarella while Tom gave back half his winnings with a fine for Most Strokes.
2015 Tee Set Matchplay
There were four matches staged ever the weekend with Bill Lloyd drawing first blood on the Saturday in beating Ric Wymer 4 and 2
On Sunday James Ross took out Chris Smith with a 3 and 2 result in a battle of wits that started the night before and lasted into the wee small hour. Wina was also to convince Mike Webb to join 7 women (including the caddies) before whipping him mercilessly in a 6 and 5 drubbing. Jan Janda stayed steady for a solid 5 and 3 victory over the unsteady Bushy, who lost an admirable 8 shots in penalties.
Next up
Back to the bread and butter and a course that offers perhaps a greater variety of challenges than any other in the Greater Jakarta area, Pangkalan Jati.
11:00 am start and with green fees of 490,000 walking plus about 100,000 for a shared caret
If you have not been selected for the Interleague match at Jagorawi then do come and join in the fun at the inimitable PJ and play for half price. Sign up here if you haven’t done so already.
Good luck to our Interleague team …. and see the rest of you at PJ!!! …. Tee Set
Tee Set 