Pangkalan Jati, Sunday April 18th 2004

That every cloud has a silver lining proved to be a true enough adage recently when, following a loss of laptop and cash from his car a couple of months ago, the Vice President of Almost Everything came across a Tee Set newsletter from more than 12 years ago as he worked feverishly to recover some data from an old USB drive.

The post, from April 2004, is now the oldest you will find on our website – and penned by the much missed Matt Harter who passed away a little more than three years ago. It is clear that Matt set a very high bar with his weekly musings all that time ago and one that his successors have tried hard to live up to, have gotten close, but maybe never quite matched 🙂

Lots of historical, and even a few current Tee Setters in here, some Pommie abuse, the starter inserting groups on the 10th and insight into how we arrived where we are today, not least in terms of handicapping and a preoccupation with 19th hole tinctures. Enjoy!

PANGKALAN JATI, SUNDAY, APRIL 18, 2004

Due to Bogor activities only 9 Tee Set golfers fronted on Sunday to an almost deserted Pangkalan Jati. The planned kick off was disregarded as two flights slipped past the starter at 10:30 followed by a couple of stragglers at the official tee off time of 11:30. All was going well until the starter jumped 4 groups in front of tee set as we came to hole 10^th . Being a really cool group we just waited our turn and put the starters tip back in the pocket. Still a fun day was had by even if the scoring didn’t set the golf world on fire.

Yes it was Jack Calcote, with a LOW NET win for his 73. He easily beat out 2 other Tee Setters, John Murt and Chris Utting. There was a brief moment when the crowd thought that the Committee had played favorites, but it was quickly cleared up that Alan Clark was not carrying an official Tee Set handicap yet (see bully pulpit below).

Bob McLeod eked out a LOW GROSS win with an 83. Not sterling golf by his standards, but easily the best of the day for our group. The 1^ST BIRDIE prize was collected by Paul Palthe for his birdie 3 on the relatively virgin Hole #2. I think this hole is tough for Tee Setters because although many of us hang out with them (please watch for double-entendres), we are not per se hookers ourselves, making it difficult to make that left turn.

Matt Harter took home 1^ST SANDY for a par on the very same hole. On Sunday, Matt could have found the sand from anywhere, left or right. Nita Adjis came close to setting a modern-day Tee Set record with a 16-stroke improvement, to win MOST IMPROVED. Of course a 61 on the front nine gets you halfway home for this prize.

LOW PUTTS was really low this week, with Mick Mongold only taking 26. His score would indicate that he was chipping it close and not until after hacking it through the countryside as well. His hopes of a good score didn’t end until a triple-triple finish on 17 and 18, saw him lose 6 shots to par in only two holes. And Mick’s lovely playing partner, Diana Mongold managed a familiar Tee Set double, when she took home 1^ST PAR for a par on Hole #5, where she avoided the water hazards galore, only to part with half of here winnings for 39 putts and the MONSTER PUTTER.

Diana had a glimmer of a chance, when Elis Utting posted her putting score, only to lose by a whisker in a double-secret countback.

19^th Hole Observations

John Murt told me to make sure that I welcomed back Paul Palthe, who was kept away from Tee Set last week because he had a new Mona. No, I have met Paul’s lovely wife, so it couldn’t have been that. Maybe he said nude moaner, but that doesn’t sound quite correct either. Perhaps I misunderstood John’s heavy English accent and he said pneumonia. Anyway, we were glad to see Paul up and about.

Tuti Potter just flew in from Canada and her brain has not adjusted to Tee Set thinking, as she tried to use a 132 handicap, to offset here 123 gross score for a minus 9 net. Perhaps she was also affected by a late anniversary celebration at Oskar’s pub, where I and several other Tee Setters happened to bump into each other, until about 1:30 AM.

Tee Set would like to welcome back Brian and Ann McKinnon, who managed to join with us in April this year, but thought that our golf game was just too advanced for them. They informed VP Murt that they didn’t know that we accepted hookers hackers.

I also want to welcome the return of Alan Clark, because it gives me something to write about in the section below.

Tee Set Lesson for the Week (or how to be a good Tee Setter)

The Tee Set does not have any hard and fast rules about Tee Set handicaps, except that you must play at least 5 games with the Tee Set. I have carried this a little further to include a reasonable time limit of at least 1 game in the last 6 months. If I don’t have any scores from a golfer during a 6-month time period, I feel vindicated in relegating them to inactive status and they must play their way back in the good graces of the Tee Set.

In my opinion, there are some exceptions, and I will give you a few of those, although the list is by-no-means complete. Anybody that has run the Tee Set as an officer, gets to retain lifetime Tee Set membership. They may not have an up-to-date handicap (Jack Larson), but they can come by anytime and play a round of golf with us and be appropriately rewarded. I will exempt anybody that has had a profound affect on the Tee Set, that I am aware of, which will include Lily Salim, who managed to win almost half of the Low Gross prizes one year, or Liz Murt, who shows up weekly to support her significant other and has provided the Committee with food and drink. And finally you can pay me money or buy me beer. It may be a lot of money or a lot of beer, but it’s a way back.

The only other way, but by far the easiest on me and the future Tee Set handicapper, is to actually play with the Tee Set and turn in all of your scorecards

Calendar

Sunday, August 4 at Pangkalan Jati, starting at 10:30 AM. We will be saying farewell to Sarah Murt (and Chris Barnett). In their honor and at their request we will have a 3-club match. You will only be allowed to play with 3 clubs. If one club is your putter, your caddie will be carrying only two others. You might consider putting with your Driver. Come on out and test your skill (or luck). At least you should get a discount on your caddie tip. See notice below for further specials. I hope to see everybody out there.

Tee Set Annual Tournament

The Tee Set Annual Tournament is still scheduled for August 25^th at Matoa, starting at 7:00 AM. We are up to 10 competitors. We now need a few prize sponsors.