The Day

Kedaton is one of those courses we visit once a year and perhaps a slightly unfavourable scheduling in recent years has resulted in lower numbers than we normally see, therefore clouding its popularity a little unfairly. With an earlier date in the calendar, a strong turnout of 40 players joined us this week and most enjoyed an excellent day out.

The heavy rain over recent weeks left the course slightly soft in places (note to Prez to think about winter rules!) but otherwise we were to enjoy great weather and a quick round. First groups were finished by 3.30pm and there was plenty of time to enjoy the excellent food although some took advantage to slip away early to enjoy the late afternoon elsewhere. Many requests to consider a second visit to Kedaton reflected the positive experience that most players had and one we shall keep in mind if a slot arises later in the year.

3 newcomers recorded on the day as Jussi Ohranen, Harry Lopez and Brad McCaughan were welcomed to Tee Set and our welcome backs included Robert Watt after 131 weeks and Kalli-Erik Penttila & John Stevens after 9 months. We look forward to seeing again soon.

Many thanks to Wina Nugraha for organizing the course and securing a rate lower than we paid in 2018. Thank you also to VP Ric Wymer for managing the scoring on the day, ably assisted by Wina and Lis, and for conducting the prize giving.

Perhaps the busy effort after the round meant that Ric overlooked one important result … later shared to those remaining. Congratulations to Lis for securing the household honours for the first time! Pictures of the day are here.

The Play

As usual, scores at or under net par were few and far between with only 3 players achieving this and the soft conditions definitely challenged the shorter hitters as the course played longer and slower than normal. The 1,100 yards between red and blue also gave us a good harvest of skirts with Alastair Livingston, Detlef Bluemke, Eric Mary, Paul Daud, Werner Muchitsch and William Daniel all contributing their fines although only Eric was there for the obligatory photo. Monster Putter went to newcomer Jussi Ohranen after 48 putts whilst Most Strokes of 15 on a hole went to Werner Muchitsch. Werener also won Most Improved of 9 whilst Robert Watt was awarded First Birdie for his effort on hole 8.

Despite missing out on 2 count-backs, President Roger Finnie had a 3rd banker which was First Sandy on hole 4 whilst Gary Mond’s hot putter streak on the back nine saw him secure Low Putts after an incredible 24 strokes on the greens. Low Gross went to Simon Oxley for his best of the day 80 off the stick.

Our low net winners were Andrew Waite (71), Lis Wymer (73) and Indar Dhaliwal (78).

Congratulations to all our winners and detailed results are here.

New Alignment of Handicap bands for Grade Prizes

Tee Set historically recognizes a Low Net winner each week and at the outset this was a single award from all players present on the day. Some years ago, with playing numbers increasing, it was decided to split the players into 3 groups (A, B & C) based on handicap bands such that 3 players each week had the opportunity to be recognized for their good play and win a Low Net prize. At that time, the bands for each prize were determined based on the playing handicaps of regular players such that the pool of players in A, B or C Grade were roughly equivalent in number.

It has been sometime since the bands were reviewed and so your Committee, with the help of our Web-Guy Keith Miller, has undertaken a review of this. Our analysis of recent events, covering approximately 1/3 of all rounds played in Tee Set in the last year, indicates that the average Tee Set player is playing off a slightly lower handicap than when the grading bands were initially determined. This most likely reflects both better play from our long standing members, our congratulations for achieving that and long may it continue :- ), and that Tee Set is attracting new players who have on average lower handicaps than the historical Tee Set mix; also a positive reflection on Tee Set’s attraction to new social golfers in Jakarta.

As a result of this evolution, the number of players in B Grade is now disproportionately high and in C Grade disproportionately low most weeks. A Grade is roughly proportionate in numbers to 1/3 of the overall players with handicaps on a weekly basis. The Committee has therefore decided to tweak the handicap bands applying to each pool of players by grade so as to address this in-balance and provide an equitable opportunity to win the Low Net prize for all players irrespective of the Grade they are allocated to.

Effective from this week’s Monthly Medal players will be grouped as follows:

A Grade: playing handicaps of 0 t0 14

B Grade: playing handicaps of 15 to 20

C Grade: playing handicaps of 21 and above

New players without a Tee Set handicap will continue to be allocated a 0 handicap and will not be included in the bands for net play prizes.

For those interested, the average playing handicap in the rounds analyzed for the above exercise was 19 and a straw analysis done by your President (so not as scientific!) on data from around 3 years ago showed the average to be around a 22 handicap.

Tee Set Match Play

With Roger Finnie winning 3&2 against Craig Edwards, Wina Nugraha wining a coin toss after finishing all square with Matthew Powell and Andrew Waite winning 3&1 over Ric Wymer, 8 of our scheduled 16 matches have now been completed in the bracket determining first round. A reminder to the rest of the players that there are 2 weeks only left to complete your matches which are due to be finished by 3rd March.

Please contact your opponent and schedule the matches so they can be finished on time; as always, all results by email to James Ross please so he can officially record the outcome and allocate you to the correct bracket for the first knock out round.

Next Up: Monthly Medal and Eclectic IX Round 4 at Cengkareng Sunday 24th February 2019 12pm Rp 850k