Malaysia has many fine golf courses but Palm Garden
is not one of them where amenities are a consideration.
It had an interesting number of missing conveniences, such as, no
ball washers; a lack of fairway markers; and no water available anywhere
on the course except at the club house. The golf cart was even
a bit ragged and sputtered around the 18 holes. On the other
hand, it was great just being in Malaysia and playing on some nice
golf courses; plus we were being treated absolutely superbly by our
hosts. Also, we weren't just visiting golf courses—we were entered
in tournaments and meeting new friends from foreign lands. As
the saying goes, “any day on the golf course beats a day at the office.”
My two (Thai) partners from the first day of golf
were paired elsewhere. Today our international team consisted
of Howard from Australia and Pervaiz and Alam from Pakistan. As
directed we played the white tees on Putra and Palm which were in
meters —you don't catch me twice—that totaled
5536m/6054yards.
The day we played was extremely humid and reminiscent
of playing golf in Washington, DC in July. The weather didn't
seem to bother me as it did my (U.S.) friend Roy who played in a different
group. He told me later that he couldn't see to putt because
the perspiration was dripping down his line of vision…an excuse I
hadn't yet considered. However despite the liquid I consumed
the heat came back to bite me later in the day with a touch of heat
dehydration. Howard neglected to bring a bottle of water with
him believing that it would be provided on the course--as it was the
previous time we played, but it didn't happen. I offered
him a drink out of my bottle of (now) very hot water, but he declined
preferring to wait it out. But after nine holes he zipped
to the refreshment counter where he quickly consumed a bottle of water.
The following description of a few holes should
give you a little insight into what we faced on this muggy day. Hole
#1 at 445 yards in length had a lateral water hazard and bunkers—a
tough beginning hole for (us) 24 handicappers. Hole #9 was listed
as the most-difficult-to-play-hole. Two water hazards cut the
fairway. The first one at 110 yards and the other
at
165 yards required a solid drive that also had to avoid a greenside
bunker that defended the approach. A #1 rating in difficulty
seemed appropriate.
Hole #12 at 423 yards was a par 4 which began from
an elevated green that had water at the left of the green and a bunker
on the right. It carried a #6 index rating. The last hole
I'll describe is #15, a par 3 at 189 yards. It had a water hazard
directly in front of the green, which left you a choice…, go for it
or play it safe on the left side and take a safe two strokes.
I had plenty of golf balls, so what the hell…
Pervaiz, Howard and I played relatively well, but
not well enough to overcome our (high) handicaps. Our teammate
Alam had shot a little over par for 15 holes until the bottom fell
out of his bag of tricks when he carded a 22 on the last three holes.
He just shrugged and smiled.
Overlooking
the course was the Golfers Terrace Lounge and after a humid 18 holes
of golf we all made a beeline for some liquid refreshment. The
lounge is also where we had lunch before continuing our day via a
sightseeing bus venture. A nice feature about Malaysian golf
courses is that they have changing rooms where you may rent a towel
and locker for a couple of Ringgets. This particular club didn't
disappoint for it had a largish changing room, many lockers and sufficient
individual shower stalls. We all came prepared with a change
of clothes, and it was a pleasure to rid ourselves of our soggy golfing
attire.
In case you want to play 18 holes at Palm Garden
the fees are reasonable. The weekday fee is RM 94.50/ $25.00
for a guest or RM 126.00/$33.00 for a walk on. There is an additional
fee for the buggy (literally and figuratively) at RM 57.75/$15.00.
And if you fancy you can order yourself up a caddy at RM 36.75/$10.00.
Should you wish to join the club the membership fee is RM 25,000.00
or about sixty-five hundred dollars which is quite reasonable by U.S.
values.
Refreshed
by the shower and dry clothes we eventually boarded the bus for a
tour of Malaysia’s new Administrative Capital---Putrajaya and drove
by its new IT city, Cyberjaya (nicknamed Cybercity). We then
visited the National Mosque where we had a good view of the King’s
residence just across the lake. Our next stop allowed
us to enjoy a walk though a natural habitat. Next we visited
the impressive Malaysian WWII Memorial. Lastly, we drove into
Kuala Lumpur to peek at the Twin Towers--way up in the air--as the
evening ended with a Malaysian dinner show. It was a long,
full day and I for one was worn out from my bout with dehydration
and glad to return to the hotel.
Note: Photos and a full description of our Malaysian
sightseeing tour may be viewed on the Travel section of this site.
For more details on Palm Gardens Golf Course visit
http://www.palmgarden.net.my/
