Tee Set

No overseas rounds this week but travelling lovebirds, Tom and Cucu sent us a great photo from my favourite course in the world, Merapi, perched on the side of an active volcano with evidence of recent lava flows, the site of many eruptions!!!!

Ric came back to golf playing with the SMOG guys at Pondok Cabe, swinging smooth and free without the admin burden on his shoulders. The ladies were back in force last week too – enjoying the jumping around more than the golf – and preferring not to tell us their scores.

In total we counted 9 scores this weeks, whether you officially entered or not. After catching up with Iris on Tuesday and hearing about her first round back at Jags and her experience at BSD reception, I felt compelled to include her in this week’s post, so I could share her story. Many courses are now offering senior discounts for us 55 and overs…great deal….and Iris being so fresh and youthful was charged full rate then asked for ID before being given the discount!!! Very impressive Ibu, or should we say Mbak….

Solid rounds by Mark 33 at Cengkareng, Craig 36 at Emeralda and Shawn 37 at PJ but the joint winners this week on 38 points are Ric and Jiro – both at Podok Cabe. Great effort by Ric on his first round back ensuring he remains part of Tee Set history by having a global win on the record and a second “Global” victory for Jiro.

Next Up: Sunday 12th September 2021, Welcome Back to Tee Set Round – NOW FULL. IF YOU SIGNED UP AND CANNOT JOIN PLEASE DE-REGISTER SO WE CAN RELEASE THE SLOT TO THE WAITING LIST – no walk-ins on the day; registered players only

While we are all working our way through the easing of restrictions and lifting of capacities at our favourite golf courses, it is still not possible to make group bookings with courses, however, if you go to the MyGolf2U application this week you will be able to register for our Welcome Back round. This will allow the course to register you as individuals and will enable us to run a Tee Set competition on the application without forming as a Tee Set group.

The course requires proof of vaccination. If you have vaccinated overseas, show your certificate and ID matching the certificate. Locker rooms are still not open and restaurant capacity is limited. There will not be a presentation ceremony but fees will be collected and prizes given, all without gathering. All registrations and scores must be through the MyGolf2U app, which enables super fast processing of results. Not all categories will be recognised but prizes will be adjusted to make up for it.

Please register by Wednesday night if possible. We will accept registrations later but it’s easier for the club is they have plenty of advanced notice of bookings. Getting there, step by step….

.

We have a Mick and a Mike in Texas – apologies to Mick (the man with the sox) for getting your name wrong and thanks and regards to Mike, a Tee Set regular and supporter of the Bandung Bash for so long, for taking part as well.

After 7 weeks of our global experiment, we have seven winners and one special mention.

In order as played, our winners are: Santi (UK), Neil (US), Neil (US) again, Axel (Bandung – 2000th event), Michael (Takara) and Terence (Bali) – joint winners that week, Jiro (Pondok Cabe) and Craig (Suvarna). Mick (now corrected) in Texas gets a special mention for his 40 points in the second round, impressive off a 9 handicap, as well as for the best pair of sox we have seen in the Tee Set colours.

We are maintaining this format again for one last time before we return to Sunday competition on Sunday 12th September. We have to continue a low key approach still so this game has been created on the MyGolf2U app as “Welcome Back”, a sort of soft opening…..

All registrations and scores need to be entered through the app. The competition will be managed entirely through the app. Again if you prefer, you can keep a scorecard and enter scores at the end of your round. Registration fees will be collected on arrival. The results are clear on the app and prizes will be distributed quietly, without too much ceremony.

OK, enough of the admin….I was told at the pub last night that Tee Set was not enough fun. Clearly has missed out somewhere but something for us to work on. See you at the Welcome Back!

Entries this week from the US, the UK, Cengkareng, Pangkalan Jati (the basecamp of teak), Pondok Cabe (the field of chilli), Sedayu and Suvarna. There was also a round at Karawang International – that was overturned by a better card but thanks Shawn for the three entries this week.

Rav and the gang are back from Bali but not yet ready to move away from the seaside courses or the tourist snaps, joined here by Divya (never shy of a snap himself) and Bobby who went back to Sedayu twice this week….and got bitten again twice, although Rav’s 8 shot improvement in rounds showed some lessons were learnt.

From overseas, we had the much awaited grudge match of Neil and Ian in Miami – which fizzled into a 25 point tie (no count back or play off)- no doubt both felt the pressure and a fair amount of sledging during backswings and clutch putts. Santi in Liverpool has been working on a posh version of the scouse accent and on her game (3 or 4 days a week according to hubby), and carded a 28 pointer this week.

Overall 17 scores were entered, with the under 30 pointers consisting of Ian and Neil, Santi, Andy, Steve (and with a sandy par – sorry omitted from first edition), Divya, Emil and Indar. On 31 we had James and Geoff, whispering through the Suvarna landscape like a zephyr, on 32 we had Shawn at PJ, Bobby and Rav at Sedayu, on 36 we had Dougy at PJ and Mark at Cengkers, Michael had a very spicy 41 points at Pondok Cabe, but revenge was sweet with our winner this week, Craig (the stretched version), carding 42 points at Suvarna, after being rolled on the last by Michael at Takara a couple of weeks earlier….now feeling like a plonker writing in the third person.

I’m sure there were many other games and, remember, in the current conditions, we are taking cards from days other than the weekend, so send in all your cards and any photos, and we’ll include your best score and your worst photo. In the spirit of gentlemanly discretion, we will not declare what day you played.

Preparing to Resume Comps

We are working with clubs to make sure our return to normal comps is safe and as enjoyable as ever – we have had to skip a couple of big days for us – the 2000th event and our Birthday Scramble – but that’s nothing given what’s going on. Cengkareng have kindly offered to host our first round back but we cannot confirm the date yet, because of official capacity constraints associated with the courses, so we will wait until everything is clear and return to competition at Cengkareng soon.

To make admin safer and simpler, we ask everyone now to load the MyGolf2U app on your phone and start recording all of the rounds you are playing. When we start comps again, we will be using the app to support our competitions. Adhe will continue to be at the course as our Comp Manager but we don’t want players gathering around her or other members of the committee with scores, so all of these will need to be entered on the app. You can do this after each hole or after the round, if you prefer to keep a hardcopy scorecard as well – and you will need this if you are playing dots (ask Bill). If you have a gifted and enthusiastic playing partner like the Whispering One, they will enter your score for you….best deal. There are some bugs to iron out still but we can only do this if we start using the app live as a basis for our scoring and handicaps. It gives us a few months before the Championships in November to work with it and line it up with our longstanding database of records. At the Championships, we will put it to a vote to confirm whether we adopt it moving forward.

Next Up: Sunday 5th September 2021, Tee Set Global Hybrid Continues

That’s right…..keep the tradition alive by entering your scores and sending in your photos…not long to go before we can return to a weird sort of normal, but this is keeping us going for now, and it’s awesome to be playing golf again.

Still unable to hold our regular group comps, players are organising their own flights at various courses around Jakarta. There are flights booked already at Pondok Cabe and Geoff is happy to book a flight or two at one of the courses on the Jagorawi Toll, obviously respecting the rules and the clubs who host us by limiting numbers and not gathering. I think we still have the Bali Wanderers too conjuring up some fun, so get in touch with them if you are in Bali. Contact us at teesetcards@gmail.com if you want to follow these guys up and we’ll put you in touch.

Coming Up: Asia Tigers 45 Hole Challenge, Friday 24th September 2021 (subject to restrictions being relaxed)

One of the great events on the Jakarta Golfing calendar, the 45 hole challenge has been rescheduled as above, along with the 18 hole challenge which starts later and runs parallel, for the fainter hearted among us (that’s me). Asian Tigers will be working with the club to ensure all health requirements are met, and the event is still of course subject to Government restrictions being relaxed, which will be known closer to the date and looks more likely with case numbers coming down.

This is not a Tee Set event but our current Committee Dude among Dudes, Bill, founded and hosts it every year, and Tee Setters enthusiastically support it, so put it in your diary. Stay hydrated, avoid chafing (nasty), work the rules to your advantage. Get your name in now.

Register with Nurung on 08119555806 or by email nunsugi21@gmail.com.

Over the (extended) weekend, there were games at Sedayu, Kedaton, Cengkareng, Modern, Bali and of course Neil in Miami, welcome back mate. Ian is on his way over to take his mate on, and their handicaps are converging as we speak. We’ll report results of this grudge match once Ian fights his way through another quarantine, enforced chipping practice stint. In all, 19 players submitted scores.

Really great to see cases coming down, vaccinations going up and courses in Jakarta and surrounds opening up, The teams at the courses are still working out their protocols around entry, vaccination certificates, negative tests, etc so some players have been turned away. You need the PeduliLindungi app for sure so load it up if you haven’t already. If you have a foreign vaccine certificate, then get ready to show it, along with a hardcopy ID (passport or SIM) which demonstrates that you are the person on the certificate (name and date of birth). Of course, all courses are different so stay patient and work through it if you can with the staff. While capacities remain limited by regulations, they are not accepting group bookings or allowing presentations, so we will continue to spread out in smaller groups and report our games through here for now.

Some very good rounds again this week. under 30 points, we had the guys playing the tough new links course Sedayu – Hari, Randy, Divya and Andrew, Ezra, Bags, Craig (high gravity) and Jeremy. On 32 we had Rav, Terence, Eric and Craig (low gravity); on 33 we had Richard, on 34 Shawn, on 35 was Michael, then on 36 Neil (Miami), 37 – Ian (yep pipped him by one), 38 – second top, and a great round, was Mike….and with a brilliant round of 81 gross, 43 points was Jiro our winner this week.

Thanks again for making the effort to send photos and scores in. If you keep doing that, I’ll keep writing this up. Of course, we would rather be having live comps, but this is the best we can do now, and at least we are out playing golf again.

Next Up: Sunday 29th August 2021

You guessed it – same again. Send your scores and photos to teesetcards@gmail.com. We accept rounds from any day and anywhere really, but if you are playing every day, choose your best round played between Friday and Sunday.

Selamat Hari Merdeka (Happy Independence Day) Indonesia!!!!! A number of us donned the merah putih this weekend and appreciated the freedom of a round of golf after a long break.

Courses are opening up in and around Jakarta, tentatively with conditions, including not allowing groups and gatherings, so Tee Setters need to book their foursomes directly for now and we will organise our comp online like this for a little longer.

Thanks again to all for submitting scores and photos – some preferred not to submit scores but are featured in the rogue’s gallery above, and some preferred to submit scores but not photos, and others again flew right under the radar incognito.

All over the scores were solid, especially given the lack of recent play for many. Neil the Bandito from Miami continues to torment his nemesis Ian with good scores, this time 42 points. Neil, you are now in a league of your own and will be delighted to know that Ian somehow had his handicap adjusted to 2 and is calling you every name known currently. Ian’s protests have been heard by the committee and a review is underway. We also got a score of 37 from Paul in Jindaloop, Western Australia and a photo taken after a couple of Kilkenny draughts. Our gang of wanderers in Bali took on New Kuta again and are included in the Indonesian results below.

The highlight of the weekend was the return of Jakarta golf, played by most at Takara in Banten. We counted about 17 Tee Setters spread out over the two days. Here are the scores we had:

Bringing up the tail end on his 2 handicap was Ian (27), followed by Shawn, Bobby, Bags, Richard, Divya, Holger (31), Indar (32), Manoj, Murthy (33), Jeremy, Simon, Jiro (34), Craig (38)

and the joint winners with 39 points – Michael and Terence.

Terence clearly learned from his previous rounds at New Kuta, and Michael, known well for pulling wins out of nowhere, stormed home with 10 points on the final 3 holes, including a 30 ft putt on the last.

Overall a great weekend of golf.

Next Up: Sunday 22nd August 2021, Tee Set Global Hybrid

Given the circumstances, we are continuing with our current online arrangements.

Jakarta area courses are still organising themselves to meet the policies for opening up. Some, like Pondok Cabe have closed again so they can work it all out, but some of our regular courses are opening up but being quiet about it. Group golf and gathering for presentation is definitely out for now but we may be able to get our Tee Set rates if we ask nicely. It’s still very sensitive so we just have to organise flights and register separately for now, respect the regulations, the golf courses and their teams, and not gather as a large group.

Courses will be requiring players to check-in on the PeduliLindungi application, so please load that on your phone. They will also require vaccination certificates. The Ministry of Health has announced in the media that overseas vaccination certificates are acceptable, preferably digital but paper will be accepted. Of course, this message may not have got through to everyone, so don’t be surprised if it is a bit chaotic, and stay patient as it’s not the time to draw attention to yourself.

Again, please send photos and your stableford and gross scores for your best round played between Friday and Sunday into teesetcards@gmail.com. Low gross scores will be recognised this week. Bragging rights are still on the line, and proving very valuable for Neil in his ongoing battle of wits with Ian. Like this week, we will feature overseas and Indonesian rounds…why? Because it’s fun!!!!!

As cases reduce and Governments start to ease restrictions, several courses including Takara in Banten (above), the Bandung courses, Sedana and several established courses in Jakarta (Pondok Indah, Pondok Cabe, Jakarta Golf Club Rawamangun, perhaps others) are opening but group golf and tournaments are still not allowed and dining areas and locker rooms are not operating.

So, Tee Setters in Jakarta are now getting out again, and will do over the weekend but in a scattered and disorganised way, a four ball at a time, with no gathering or presentation.

We are happy to announce that Tee Set Global will welcome back Jakarta players this week, but that we will remain open to our brothers and sisters internationally and in Bali, who have kept us going over the last few weeks. It has been so good to have you back that we want to keep you.

So, again, wherever you are playing this weekend (Saturday or Sunday), please send your stableford scores and a photo in to teesetcards@gmail.com. Note any birdies, eagles or sandy pars in your email and the hole you scored them on. That’s about all we can cope with still, sorry. Bragging rights continue to be up for grabs…and the promise of a prize in some liquid form when we see you again.