Leading Golf Publication in the ASEAN Region

Organized by Golf Malaysia’s magazine this tournament is dedicated to golfers who have achieved an eagle during a round of golf and registered as a member of Golf Malaysia Magazine’s Eagles Club.

On June 28, a full field of competitors proudly donned themselves in a stylist Lyle and Scott shirt that has a large Eagle emblem on their chests, took off on a shot-gun start at the challenging Kelab Golf Perhidmatan Awam’s par-72 6,005 metres course.

When the day was done, Lam Kong Foo, Sharifudin Omar, Yau Wai Heng, Laila Hafidah Mohd Ali and Andrew Lim, emerged the A, B, C, Ladies and Invitational top finishers respectively with each taking home a host of prizes including various sets of Thermoskin therapeutic products.

But there was one special winner – in no effort, Danavandhan Batumalai (13) was crowned the Grand Champion and was instantly spoilt with a one-night stay at Eastin Hotel’s luxury suite for two persons including a bottle of champagne and Singleton single-malt whisky.

Long hitter Lam Kong Foo (7) amassed 40 points including four birdies prevailed both the Division A title (handicap 12 and below) and the Longest Drive challenge with his outstanding tee shot of 246.25 metres at hole 18. His strong endeavor also won him a Wilson Golf Bag sponsored by MST Golf.

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In the men’s B Division (handicap 13 to 19), the champion’s trophy was decided on countback between Sharifudin Omar (13) and Nik Rahimi Nik Mohd Nawi (17) when the pair signed for 37 points. After the decisive countback, 42-year old Sharifudin triumphed over runner-up Nik Rahimi for the title. Yau Wai Heng (20), managed to defend his C-Division title for the second time with 36 points. For the full story, subscribe to Golf Malaysia Magazine today!

Organised by Golf Malaysia, this year’s Eagles championship, is fully supported by Lyle and Scott the official apparel, Thermoskin, MST Golf, Ho Yan Hor (Drinho), Eastin Hotel, TanMan the official sunscreen wipes, official drink Gatorade and Bleu Mineral water, The Singleton Single Malt whisky, Heineken Beer and Chery Alado.

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By Doug Neumann

If an avid Asian golfer is has asked which area of the world has the most golf holes per square mile their selection would most likely be China’s Mission Hills with its 12 courses. For an American, however, it would most likely be the US resort of Pinehurst in the Southeast portion of America in North Carolina.

The resort, which was born in 1895 when Boston philanthropist James Walker Tufts purchased 5,800 acres of timberland, offers 144 golf holes on eight full-size layouts. The most famous of the group is Pinehurst No. 2 that as designed by one of the sports most famed architects Donald Ross who spent his winters in the sand hill country of North Carolina away from his summer residence in the Northeast portion of the US until his death in 1948.

Golfers are drawn to the area to play this course that has a history that includes the late Payne Stewart’s 1999 win of the US Open over Phil Mickelson and has been the site for the 2005 US Opens, the 1951 Ryder Cup Matches, and the 1936 PGA Championship. The tract is also scheduled to host the 2014 US Open.

Traveling golfers, however, who are looking for a more non-traditional, and less costly golf have a worthwhile option that is a mere 10 minutes away.

While Pinehurst No. 2 is over 100 years old the unique The Pit Golf Links is a little over 25 years old, but was in the making for over 80 years.

In the early 1920s the Norfolk Corporation began commercial sand mining near the then tiny, sleepy town of Pinehurst. These operations were active until 1975 and the excavation of the sand carved a canyon of pits and mounds and single deep pit that is now filled with water to form a good size lake.

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Berjaya Hill Golf & Country Club, Too Good to Pass Up

By Doug Neumann

Located among the lush, rolling hills of Bukit Tinggi, at about 2200 feet above sea level, is Berjaya Hills Golf & Country Club. It sits an easy 55-minutes drive from Kuala Lumpur via the Karak Highway adjacent to the hills of Genting Highland.

Upon arrival and after visiting the bag drop station, golfers can head to the first tee of a lovely, expertly maintained 6,312-metre golf course that is the centrepiece of the sprawling resort.

Created by American golf architect J Michael Poellot, the par-72 tract features deviously mounded and dramatically shaped fairways that rise and fall as they unfold to end their journey at well-crafted green sites.
Local players may recall the course as Bukit Tinggi and they may also remember that the course’s condition suffered greatly before the new owners, the Berjaya Group, took it under their wing. But, over the last several months, the course has become a hotbed for golfers, as its Bermuda Tifdwarf greens and Greenlees Park covered fairways and tee boxes have been painstaking upgraded. Besides bringing golfers back to the tract the successful work to restore the course to its former shining self has resulted in it being awarded The Best Highlands Golf course in Asia by the Asia Pacific Brands Foundation (APBF).

This recognition has also gained the Pahang state government’s praise, as they applauded the Chairman/CEO of the Berjaya Corporation Berhad Tan Sri Vincent Tan and the executive director of Berjaya Hotels & Clubs, Valen Tan for winning the coveted award.

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The view from the tee of the near 90-degree, dogleg right 368-metre 17th hole is one of the course’s best and it, also, reveals to golfers two distinct routes of downhill play to reach a distant green that sits near level with the tee. Many golfers select the corner-cutting option that requires a long carry over Stony Creek to a tightly defined fairway. Staying left of and short of the creek, however, is a much better choice for 90 per cent of those looking to score well on this deceptive piece of real estate.

In general, the same can be said for the 468-metre – For the full story, subscribe to Golf Malaysia Magazine today!

No More Changes, Please!

The recently completed FIFA World Cup produced a month of low scoring matches where 1-0 dominated and even its grand final had Spain becoming the 2010 Champions of the World by the score of 1-0 over The Netherlands (or Holland, your choice).

As the matches unfolded, many blamed the ‘Jabulani’ (which means celebrate in Zulu) ball for the low scoring as the players claimed it was unpredictable and generally failed to go where they aimed it. Others talked about the officiating that failed to see good goals and disallowed other actual goals. Then there were those who said the field of 32 teams is too large and the more than a few non-world-class teams that were part of the action needed to rely on questionable, rough defensive tactics in an attempt to keep the games close and give themselves a chance to win with a lucky goal.

As the World Cup was concluding in South Africa, halfway around the world in the Midwestern US state of Illinois a field of over 150 golfers competed in the US$4.4 million US PGA Tour’s John Deere Classic. As it turned out this sporting event was also another ‘low’ scoring happening.

In the 2010 June issue of Golf Malaysia, my editorial covered the weekend of May 1 and 2 when Rory McIlroy and Ryo Ishikawa each made golf news. The youthful Northern Ireland golfer had won the US PGA Tour’s Quail Hollow Championship by going 16-under on the weekend, which included a closing round of 62. Then when this editorial was being written the 21-year-old tied the major championship record by firing a 63 on the Old Course at St. Andrews in the first round of the Open Championship. Halfway across the world, the 18-year-old Ishikawa shot a 58, yes a 12-under 58, on Sunday to win the Japan’s Tour The Crowns.

The combined scores of these two impressive rounds by these equally impressive young golf stars totaled 120.

At the John Deere Classic another duo bested that mark by one-stroke. On the event’s opening day Paul Godyos turned in a 12-under 59 on the 7,257-yard par- 71 course, yet only lead the tournament by one-shot as Steve Stricker, the events’ defending champion shot 60 for the day. The next day both golfers remaining hot, as Stricker posted a 66 and Godyos a 68. On Saturday Stricker returned to super hot status with a 62 to set a new 54-hole PGA Tour scoring record of 188 and a 65 on Sunday would break the PGA Tour’s 72-hole scoring record of 254 held by Tommy Armour III (64, 62, 63 and 65) at the 2003 Valero Open.

Playing in conservative mode, Stricker, after being ahead by seven strokes with 17 holes to go, saw his margin reduced to two with five to go before a birdie on the par-5 No. 17 cemented his victory, as his round of 70, while failing to set a new Tour record it kept him two ahead of the still hard playing Goydos, who closed with a 66, for the victory.

What is interesting when it comes to all of this low scoring in golf is that the ‘new’ groove rules for the pros that went into effect this 1 January 2010, was according to the USGA and the R&A suppose to stop the extremely low scores as the new wedges generate much less spin and that was going to make getting the ball close to the pin (especially from the rough) a difficult task, thus fewer eagles and birdies.

Well just like the FIFA’s need to change from an 14-panel constructed ball to one with only eight thermally bonded, three-dimensional panels that was deemed more modern with its near seamless surface, the groove change by the powers that be in golf has not gotten the hoped for results.

So be it football or golf it is obvious the people who run these sports are helplessly blur to what makes their sports popular and that their meddling only hurts those who watch or play the game – and I will not even go into the numerous silly rule changes that the Formula 1 honchos make each and every year.

To the USGA and the R&A: “Enough is enough! Please stop trying to make golf better and even more emphatically do not tamper with the rules that govern the golf ball. Past history shows you and the other sports governing bodies nearly always produce unintended problems whenever an attempt is made to make things better.”

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Pro Pointer – Chong Chee Meng

Keep on Rocking

The putting stroke, as we know it, has more movement than you might expect, which makes striking the sweet spot on the putter’s face on each putt a difficult task. Here are a few ideas you can use to achieve a better putting stroke.

The set-up should be a nice comfortable position. Comfort in this case is relative. It is relative to how you normally set-up. In Picture 1, you can see that I have effectively set my weight on the left side with my ball position favouring left as well. From this position, you have the best chance of staying over the ball and making a smooth stroke without getting stuck or punchy.

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Lotus Malaysia recently launched its much-anticipated all-new Lotus Evora sports car for the Malaysian market.

The Evora represents one of the biggest milestones for Lotus since the birth of the popular Elise in 1995 and seamlessly brings together years of engineering heritage with new and advanced technologies aimed at propelling Lotus into a new dimension globally.

Keeping to the true Lotus philosophy of performance through light weight, the Evora was built to project velocity, agility and sophistication and is the result of a bold five-year plan that began in 2006 in which Lotus had underlined a three-platform portfolio for its range of sports cars which also includes the Europa and Exige.

Now, the Evora is set to introduce the Lotus driving and ownership experience to a much wider audience by offering a far more mature and well-rounded sports-car package while retaining the world-renowned Lotus DNA.

The sports car is powered by a Lotus-tuned 3.5-litre VVT-i V6 engine and fitted with a 6-speed manual transmission. It has a maximum power of 276bhp and a maximum torque of 342Nm and is capable of hitting 0-100km/h in just 5.1 seconds with a top speed of 261km/h.

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