The big news in the world press today was the Princess of Wales cancer revelation and the capture of extremists in Russia. But the big news in our corner of the world was Cucu. Cucu standing on the par 3 8th hole at Cengkareng was last to tee off in a group of men, who had sprayed their balls all over the hole. The group behind Cucu’s group were fortunate enough not to see that manly display, but we knew what had happened as the 3 lads spread out. Cucu standing on the ladies tee made solid connection with the ball and it flew straight, not straight to the hole but straight to the green right of the pin by at least 6 metres. Cucu happy with the result made herself busy collecting the tee and heading for her cart. At this point the ball has started to break towards the hole. It’s looking good, Cucu is reaching for her water bottle. The boys are getting excited the ball drops in the boys erupt, Cucu turns to see what all the commotion is about. Hole in ONE!

The nearest the in monitor on this hole is sent home as the chances of one of the other 20 players to follow nailing it seemed rather remote. News spread around the golf course and through the Whatsapp group and warm congratulations started flowing in from around the world, but mainly Jakarta.

After seeing that, there is not much else to report about this round except to mention that Kurt’s Team had the course in great condition after being pumped by nasty weather on Thursday and Friday that threatened to close the course for Sunday, it was closed Friday with major flooding. So let’s go off to the minor winners, a short story later about low putts.

Alessandro with a very smart 67 nett off the stick proves he is a golfer on the improve and takes the medal. Respect from the Massoni.

Double banger for Roger taking low gross 79 and first birdie on the first hole. Amongst the last men standing at the end of the day.

Long drive men Lee with a handy 239 metres. Malaysia pips Philippines by a few metres. Let’s see what happens in the World Cup.

Shinta rarely goes home without some money, or without Jens, this time she went home with both. Great long drive 176 metres

Shyam takes home the first sandy wong for a lovely bunker shot on the 17th that landed inches from the hole to clinch a par.

Cucu entered the restaurant to a standing ovation, nearby Japanese golfers joined in when they heard the reason. CUCU, CUCU hole in one, nearest the pin!

Low putts was won by Albert with 29. Unfortunately Albert was sent home by the President saying he had no chance of being the Albert with the low putts. So when I went to present the money to Albert Smith he wanted nothing to do with it saying he had putts in the low 30s. The Scots, honest as the day is long, it’s the nights you have to worry about. So this left the President in a conundrum which lasted a nano second. Earlier in the day, before start of play, Albert had asked me to order him a club sandwich which i did, and duly logged it on my card. As Albert left, I deferred payment for the sandwich for a later date. Little was I to know that the later date was just minutes away. No photo of Albert but a nice photo of a Cengkareng club sandwich which may be renamed the Albert Club sandwich at Cengkareng. Don’t hold your breathe.

What’s coming up?

Some of the teams already registered for the World Cup in June. The World Cup a great TeeSet tradition that gets the nationalistic and competitive juices flowing. Get your team organised to ensure that you participate in a great day’s golf. We always have a few UN teams that cross all borders feel free to organise your own or the Committee can allocate you a UN team once you have registered your interest to play. You can do this by entering the team in the TeeSetters Whatsapp group. You can also sen me or Adhe a message saying you would like to be part of an UN Team.

The teams so far.

Kilted Warriors, The Melbournians, RED, WHITE & BIRDIES, Rule Britannia, Malaysian Eagles, ⁠ The JOCKONISIANS, Team Lederhosen, The Napoleoniens

Rancamaya Charity Weekend

A little bit prior to the World Cup we have the charity weekend at Rancamaya with the DOGS. It is a two day event with one of the day’s being a Match play comp against the DOGS we are looking for players to make up the TeeSet Squad we need at least 20 players. So please speak to myself, Sam, Roger, Bill or Dean if you wish to play. Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of the party. It’s not what TeeSet can do for you but what you can do for TeeSet. The Massoni will be there.

Easter Weekend Bandung Bash/Parahyangan

A group of TeeSetters are heading to West Java on a golf safari. It is not too late to join. The golfing starts on Friday at Giri Gahana golf and has a second round there on Saturday with a party after that round. Wild West theme. Giri Gahana has it’s own toll gate from the toll and the trip can be done in just over 90 minutes +/-. The Sunday the squad moves to Parahyangan, considered by many to be the best course in Indonesia. A great weekend sign up on MyGolf2U and let Adhe know if you wish to book a room.

Well done Cucu

See ya

Mr President

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Gading Raya a popular course due to its flat wide layout. I know a few golfers with a fat wide layout but they are not as popular as Gading Raya. The buildings are going through a big renovation and the ladies locker room has been relocated to the ground floor and the restaurant is closed, hopefully for staff training also. TeeSet had nearly a maximum turnout on Sunday with 38 players, one having first traveled to Bogor Raya before returning to Gading Raya. We won’t mention this luckless fellow, ok Claudio your secret is safe with me.

We looked on time for a 12.30 start and Vijay with his late start was able to spend valuable time denied other golfers, practising his chipping and putting. Some guys get all the breaks. As we arrived at the tee box 1 so did the rain. It started as a trickle and turned into a mid-sized storm, you could still see the driving range so not that big according to Jens. After about 15 minutes the rain abated and we were off with Rosita, Siti and Jane in the leading group.

The next two flights had some folk competing in the TeeSet Matchplay opening round, the last group had some folk competing for coin. After we got off the first play was steady but not fast. The first hole the president with a cracking drive over the trees into position A had his match play competitor Jens in serious trouble being a good 50 metres in front of him and easy stricking range of the green. Jens cleared the ditch but pushed it wide, the President craftily stuck it in the canal, Jens visited the bunker the President put it on the green and then nailed a 15 metre putt to match the bogey from Jens but that 24 handicap comes in handy and the free shot on that hole was enough to move one up. The next 15 holes saw the battle sway in both directions until the 16th with another shot in hand the President got the job done. Jens did report that he was once the TeeSet Matchplay champion and it happened after a first round loss. Beware of Jens in round two. The nice thing about matchplay is when you have lost a hole you can practise things you wouldn’t normally try, unless of course you were lucky enough to get to the course early and have a late tee time like Vijay which affords you so much practise time it should be illegal. I think I will use my Presidential powers and move him up the list after the interleague round and ruin his game, through lack of practise.

Occasionally we caught up with the group in front and it looked like trouble for TeeSet Interleague VC Dean in his matchplay against Roger. In the other pairing Douglas was inching ahead of Velma with a fair bit of golf still to play. A brief rainstorm saw the brollys produced but the rain was not heavy enough to stop play. Bags was running hot and cold but finally was getting some nice consistency into the round. On the narrow short par 4 I slammed it into the creek. The caddy for some strange reason was on the stones in the creek carrying 5 golf clubs when BAgs and his caddy pointed out a non- existent snake. Down went the caddy but she was still dry and clubs were still in hand as we scrambled to her assistance she attempted to stand and fell into the deep part of the stream, at least it was fresh due to recent rains. One soggy caddy emerged clasping my clubs and the remnants of her pride when HANDY BAgs arrived towel in hand and commenced to dry her, a knight in shining armour. Two shots later the soggy caddy was replaced with a dry one as the first headed home to have a massage.

Encouraging words from the Matchplay master defending champion, Patrick Chaundy, helped me edge past Jens with 2 to go. A crap 3rd shot gave Jens a good opportunity but his putting on the hole came up short as I nailed a wedge back onto the green. With this talk of match play let’s go to the other winners; Roger barely raised a sweat as he moved past Dean 8 and 7 and Velma pulled off the biggest comeback since Lawrie won the Open, with a 1 hole victory over Douglas, who gave up a 4 point lead with 5 to play. Meanwhile on the back nine Diarmuid was battling Simone with Simone prevailing 5 and 4. We have quite a few first round games completed so please get your match organised ASAP.

On to the day’s winners

Alessandro tamed Gading with a colossal 45 Stableford points. Well done mate.

Hitoshi with a well struck 76 off the stick takes low gross and some money to make up for earlier losses in the day. Please explain?

3 blokes with birdies on their second hole. Well done Jude, Roger, and Fernando. I hope someone helped with Fernando’s laces before he left.

JP had low putts with a very low number of 24. Well done.

Alessandro, the winner of the first diners Handwash trophy. Well done and thanks for dinner.

Next week Pondok Cabe.

The first round of the JIL Matchplay season is at Pondok Cabe. TeeSet are looking at fielding a strong team this year and our team leaders have recruited well. Team will be announced later this week. Those TeeSetters not playing in the JIL please come along and play and support the mighty TeeSetters. Wear red.

Bandung Bash

This is the first of 3 out of town weekends that TeeSet have planned for the year. This is always a good one played on a lovely course. There is a kids fun park now right next door and the toll road drops you nearly at the front gate. The fast train is also an option. Get your name down on the list and have a great Easter golfing in the cool hills at Giri Gahana.

A bit on the side

The President has been running a Ramadhan event for the last 10 years and this is the 11th offering and will be played at Pondok Cabe on Friday the 22nd of March. Cheap religious golf with empty courses, cold beer and light traffic conditions send a message to the President if interested. I will put a MyGolf2U listing up soon.

Adios

Mr President

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Teesetters awoke, last Sunday, to heavy rains and Jakarta covered by dark clouds. Never the less this is still Sunday and it’s also the monthly medal. Carts were banned but this did not deter the hardy golfers of Teeset, golf is always better played on foot. A weather report came in from Nicolas at 9am who was at the airport saying it was raining cats and dogs and cloud in every direction. But hey we are not playing at the airport we are playing at Cengkareng and that’s so far from the airport in Indonesian meteorological terms that his report was not heeded.

The President had declared fair weather, and fair weather is what we had. So fair that several golfers came off the course with more of a suntan than they were expecting. Tee time was set for 11.50 and we hit off on the par 5 1st at just after 12pm for the first flight. The wind was a bit ferocious at the start of play. The wind made things interesting on the 3rd and 4th holes in particular. I saw a drive with a slight fade literally get grab by the wind and thrown OB by the wind. The player did the same shot off the tee again and the wind did exactly the same to it.

The wind slowly died down as the threat of rain retreated. The call of fore was less frequent than usual that day. This may be due the wind caring off the calls or that players were adapting to conditions. My belief is with the earlier rather than the latter option. 6 players out of the 40 managed to play to or better their handicap. A big improver from a horrible Saturday was Dean. Dean is proof that you play better golf walking than you do driving. There were whispers that Vijay was inflicting financial damage on his flight but not too much as the other members Hitoshi, Fernando and Roger were seen down several pitchers of the famous frozen Margaritas after the game.

A gallant Rosita took her dodgy knees out for a test and managed to get through 9 holes before retiring for the day. The round was played at a reasonable pace but could have been a bit faster, so TeeSetters always be thinking about where the group is in front of you. Unless it is a 3 ball you should not be falling a hole behind, that just makes it harder for others to finish.

The just ok scores posted on the Sunday may have had something to do with the Pocksia V DOGS match play on the previous Saturday where weather conditions were way less favourable than Sunday’s. Meaning it was just that much harder for the wearied warriors who were playing both days to back up again. What did come out of this weekend’s golf is that the young folk have made their marks on the competitions. Meher on Saturday was the dominate player racking up an impressive 48 stableford points to street the field. On Sunday’s stroke play, Carter was in similar dominating form recording a net 66 to be 2 shots clear of the next player. These two players’ combined age and then doubled is years short of Fernando, years.

So what I have done as president, in the face of the wave of young, fit and skilful TeeSet golfers, is a bit of research. This research will lead you in the right direction as your discs implode and your arteries harden and your swing shortens. I have even come up with a name that has a strong connection to TeeSet, the new group will be called TeaPotters and this link will lead you to a more successful sporting career https://www.chess.com/club/jakarta-chess-mania. See you there Sunday. Zimmer Frame preferential parking.

To the scoreboard

Carter Cross with a great 66 takes the low net monthly medal. We done, keep enjoying the game.

Fernando, Jakarta’s best supplier of Montreal Smoke Beef, also smoked the course with best low gross 80.

Neil made it look easy on the par 5 1st with a birdie. Great return to golf.

Hitoshi takes the long drive with a reasonably long drive of 238 metres.

Rosie picks up the two ladies skill prizes with LD and NTP. Well done Rosie.

Simon knocks the president off the green to win NTP. Well done.

Coming Events

Imperial Golf Club Lippo Karawaci 4th of February

Make sure you sign up on MyGolf2u. This course, like Cengkareng lies outside rainbelt. So a great chance of playing a round of golf and not being rained off. Get on down.

Pondok Cabe 11th of February Valentines Day Scramble

This annual event is always a lot of fun. A two person scramble playing best ball. Mixed sex couples off the Red tees. Same sex couples (males) off the Blue and White tees. Great prizes for the winners and give-aways for the girls. All welcome.

Jakarta Interleague

The Interleague starts in March and TeeSet are looking to put a competitive squad together. If you are up for some thrilling match play competition reach out to Dean Merrilees and join the finest.

TeeSet Matchplay Championship

If you are interested in playing in one of TeeSet’s most competative and friendly competitions sign up with Adhe next time you join a TeeSet Sunday. Matchplay where the high handicappers stand a very good chance of taking out the more fancied players.

Darts is also on the board for those not capable of Chess.

Adios

Mr. President

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