CAPTAIN'S REPORT

Chuanglee Day
24th August 2008

MGS revisits The London Golf Club (LGC) after an absence of some 5 years for our August outing kindly sponsored by Jimmy Chua of Chuanglee. Jimmy (a member of LGC) managed to secure tee times on the Heritage course.

For those of you unfamiliar with LGC, it's the recent venue of The European Open won by England's Ross Fisher in July and it is a Jack Nicklaus designed course, so carry over water and the ability to hit your approach shots with precision is paramount (in other words a tough and difficult course). It is indeed a challenging course made more so by the course maintenance work of sanding and hollow tining of the greens which made putting a lottery to most of us but not the winners.

Jimmy Chua is a relatively new MGS member but like most Malaysian golfers who have joined, looks forward to each outing and when asked to sponsor the day, did not hesitate. I had the pleasure of playing with him and was most impressed when he hit a 7 iron 180 yards into the wind! No doubt when he develops his short game he will be a dangerous player off his 18 handicap. MGS will be monitoring his progress with interest.

51 golfers (14 guests) turned up to enjoy the challenge. The day was overcast with dark rain clouds but fortunately the rain stayed away. In fact the sun came out towards the late afternoon and made it into a glorious day.

Bacon roll and coffee was served in a private function room and the usual wagers and banter went on, some ‘bandit' players hoping to entice a sizeable bet from some poor unsuspecting victim.

I set off with Anoop and Jimmy (who were playing their match play) first. It was close all the way with both players matching each other until the last hole where Jimmy won. I had the chance of winning NTP on the 17 th but Dick Lawrence managed to hit his shot closer thereby denying me a crate of Tiger beer.

After our game, we sat and watched the rest of the group coming up the 18 th fairway and it was interesting to watch how each of them played the last difficult par 4. Ronald Lim had a good drive on the 18 th until Ken Gillingham (a guest from Chigwell) beat him to win the longest drive prize and a crate of Chang beer.

Shot of the day belonged to another guest, Victor Tong, who had a hole in one on the 3 rd . Rather than the usual tradition of buying everyone a drink he is treating all those present to dinner at a venue to be agreed. How generous and well done!

The results were compiled by Simon using his trusty computer and after a 2 course meal, the results were announced and prizes presented by Jimmy (please see Results section).

As I reported in my last newsletter, Jimmy's brand of prizes is unique with winners winning bags of rice, boxes of instant noodles crates of beer and tins of Milo (Viagra according to Tiger Chan). From MGS, Jimmy thank you and we look forward to your day next year.

The overall winner for the day (and quite deservedly) was our own Secretary, Vincent, on 39 points beating Bruce on count back. Apparently Bruce had 39 points standing on the 18 th tee but blobbed the hole. Vincent had to par it for his 39 points. It goes to show that every point makes a difference and you should not stop trying. Apart from Jimmy's prizes, Vincent also won a handsome trophy and £500 towards his air ticket (which makes up for all his losses for this year).

As usual our thanks also goes to Vincent, Bok, Simon and all the committee members who helped out to make the day as enjoyable as possible for everyone and to Max for updating the website and to Rick for his photographs.

The next event is on Saturday 27 th September at The Shires (a Seve designed course) so be prepared to rise to his challenge. The day will be sponsored by our member Mike Davis of Hammerpot Brewery, Sussex who will be dishing out his special Ales as prizes and for us to sample as well.

We have already 40 confirmed players with only 48 places available so if you have not entered, I suggest you do so promptly to avoid disappointment.

Until we meet at The Shires keep practising and happy golfing.

Peter Chew
MGS Captain

CAPTAIN'S REPORT

Margaret Wong Day
26th July 2008

It does not seem that long ago when we had our first outing at the Hertfordshire at the end of March and we are already in late July. That day was cold, windy and wet and what a contrast to the July day.

Our day at Hatfield GC was sponsored by Margaret Wong who most of you know has been a supportive member for some years. Her presence has always made a difference to any occasion, adding her brand of glamour and depending on your level of noise tolerance, a vocal personality. Her golfing passion is strong and she also enjoys the social side of MGS. So it is rather sad that she could not be present for her day but MGS members that turned up ensures that we all enjoyed her kind sponsorship.

Originally, the day was supposed to be held at Stockley Park GC but our Secretary discovered that the course was under severe construction making it look like a building site. As a last minute arrangement and with the help of Jimmy Chua, we managed to change the venue to Hatfield GC playing the New (members) course.

Personally I am impressed with Hatfield GC for their service and also the course we played on. The full English breakfast was indeed full and the Ramen Noodles/dumplings after the game was delicious and plentiful, all this for a fee of £50. The general consensus is that we should make this a regular annual venue and I will be surprised to hear of any objection.

One of the interesting feature of the course is that there are 2 greens on each hole and unless you have a stroke saver, you will struggle to gauge your yardage for your approach shots. The greens were in excellent condition, receptive to good shots, true and fast to putt on.

My playing partners were Justin Tan, Devinder and Chris Chia with me playing Devinder at match play.

I was never in front as Devinder played superbly on the front 9 and despite dropping 4 shots, I was 3 down. I rallied briefly but Devinder was too consistent and eventually won the match on the 15 th hole.

After the game, I tried to drown myself in the Japanese bath but Mike Davis was there as Life Guard! So I just had to have a good soak before enjoying the noodles meal and a refreshing drink.

The results were compiled by Simon using his trusty computer and announced by Chris.

Not surprising the winning score was 41 points with Gary Shek winning on count back from the last event winner Max JJ Lim. Well done to everyone that won. It was nice to see our more ladies playing.

Thank you all for signing the Best Wishes card which I am sending to Margaret in Hong Kong to thank her and wish her well in her recovery. She misses the outings and hope to be back in the UK soon.

My contribution towards the Captain Charity is £46 for this event. For those of you who did not beat my score of 28 points, kindly remember to contribute your donation at the next meet.

The next event is on Sunday 24 th August at London G C (near Brands Hatch in Kent ). This event is sponsored by Jimmy Chua of Chuang Lee and we can look forward to his unique prizes composition (last year we had bagful of special rice and noodles). MGS has also agreed to give £500 towards the cost of an air ticket as part of the prize

And finally a few words from our Champion, Gary Shek

“The course, conditions and company were perfect for a game of golf.  Accompanying me in my group were Austen Turner, Tom Foo and Frank Skinner who were excellent company throughout the day. If it wasn't for my playing partners I would have ever have done so well. Tom and Austen on numerous occasions helped find my ball when I was in heavy rough. I was also putting poorly in the first nine and only scored 17pts but then Frank said that I needed to guide the ball better when putting. That is the main reason why I came home with 24pts. As a new member and nervous ex-24 Handicapper (now down 21 with a severe cut) my playing partners were perfect examples of the positive attitude shown by the members of MGS. Special thanks to Margaret Wong for the sponsorship and best wishes for her recovery. A great job my Jimmy Chua for providing such a fantastic day for everyone on such short notice. Finally to my dearest brother Bruce, there is no such thing as sibling rivalry, better luck next time”

Until we meet at London Golf Club keep practising and happy golfing.

Peter Chew
MGS Captain