Mentiri Golf Club - What's next?

The club internal issues were once again made public by the ongoing court battle between BLG and PMGC which was covered earlier this month in Borneo Bulletin.. 6th Aug me thinks.. And from what I understand this is just the tip of the iceberg

Driving range issues aside, My own view is that it doesnt matter who is right or wrong. What is important for the members is what does the future hold? It is unlikely that the club can afford to have an ongoing legal battle as its going to cost the club a few bob paying the lawyers and unless of course the Chairman pays from his pocket (I think not) It also distracts the main objective of running the club and improving the course condition.

All things considered, it makes me sad to see how the club is no longer a magnet for golfers in Brunei. Most certainly, members can influence the future by exercising their wallets and feet if they think the future is best to go with a new leadership.

If you like to learn and read more just search for BRUCLASS under GOLF heading...

Fasting Month - To play or not to play, that is the question

Note to Latif: Will consider to have one or two games on a Sunday.

Its almost three weeks now I havent had a swing on the course (except the quick 4 holes I had about 2 weeks ago - which doesnt count) I sense my Ping irons are getting restless in the store room as the day goes by.

Speaking of which, PING have released not one but two new sets of irons and a new driver namely the K15 driver, K15 irons and K15 hybrid iron mix model and the all new S56 or was it S57.. Hj Amir has the S56 which I thought was a pretty good looking model. Go onto their website and you can even do an online fitting.

Nevertheless, my PING irons and settling well although Im still getting use to finding the exact distance each iron carry.

It about ten days time, BMMJ will celebrate... no its not Hari Raya.. Jang Hj Manan will be back from KSA.. hehe... I am sure there will be no shortage of offers to take him out to play...

BMMJ golf calendar Aug to Nov, playoffs

25th September
Hari Raya Special – team event Best ball format

Explanation notes
For Hari Raya Special game

1. This is a team event where each team is comprised of two players.

2. Each team will use his BMMJ handicap and cannot used other handicap.

3. Players may invite other golfers from outside the BMMJ group with prior notice given to the Competition Secretary (Hj Zairin) who shall ensure handicap use is the lowest if the player is a member of more than one club.

4. The score will be decided using “Best ball” format so both team members will play as per normal but to determine the team score, the best net score for each hole is used. So for players who have a handicap of 19 for e.g Hj Abd Rahim will have two strokes on an index 1. So if he gets a gross bogey then he has obtained a net birdie score. So if that score is better than his partner’s net score, so the team score is adjudged to be Net Birdie using Hj Abd Rahim’s score for that hole.


2th October
October Medal

16 October
BMMJ Classic (4th and last major)

6th Nov
Playoffs 1 “BMMJ Tour Championship”
1. Top 12 players on order of merit qualify, others regarded as “camp follower”
2. Points reset (explanation below)
3. Handicap reset for all players

13th Nov
Playoffs “BMMJ International Championship”
1. Top 10 players from previous game proceed, others camp follower

27th Nov
Final playoff game “Battle of Borneo”
1. Only top 8 players from previous game proceed, others camp follower


For play offs
Option1 – Status Quo
No points reset i.e same as per last 8 months continue until end of season.

Option 2 – FEDEX cup format
Reset points after last major
Rationale
The reset ensures a real shootout from the start of THE TOUR Championship as all 12 players in the field will have a mathematical chance of winning the BMMJ Cup if they are the most consistent in all three tournaments. A win by any of the top five seeds will increase their chance to win the title outright while seeds 6-12 will have an excellent chance of capturing the title if they play consistently in all three tournaments.

Points attribution
Reset points for THE TOUR Championship
Based on BMMJ O.O.M after the last regular season tournament
Position Reset pts
1 2,500
2 2,250
3 2,000
4 1,800
5 1,600
6 1,400
7 1,200
8 1,000
9 800
10 600
11 480
12 460


Playoffs points
1 2,500
2 1,500
3 1,000
4 750
5 550
6 500
7 450
8 425
9 400

Mercedes Benz Golf Tour: Magical Mardan, Brunei pro made the cut (shock!)

Allahu Akbar... hats off to Singaporean Malay Golfer Mardan Mamat (got his signature a year ago at the Brunei Open) for winning the Mercedes Benz Masters tournament (Malaysia leg) in a playoff at the Kota Permai GC beating Thai golfer Khun Pariya Indakupandaimenyabutsurnamenya.... Not only that, he played while fasting in all four rounds.. Salute eh.. When he made his winning putt on the first playoff hole he clasp his hands and followed that with a sujud syukur... Think baiktah belajar yoga arahnya..

In other news Pg Hassanal made the cut in this tournament (first for a Bruneian) but ended up fourth from last collecting a not so bad US$320 (B$450) for his effort.. congrats to him but nda cukup cover hotel & ticket tu.. sadly Faiz Damit did not do so well and missed the cut... For more details checkout the ASEAN PGA website

Backspin - July Panaga Monthly medal 25th July

Didnt remember much about this game but only remembered that it was my 1st ever MM at Panaga. Didnt fare too well with an 89 gross.. Was two under handicap with three holes to go.. but subsequent bogeys and a double over the last couple of holes and all the good work earlier came undone...

At least dapat jua naik handicap...

My good friend Hj Abdullah in all his glory...

Backspin - Rusli Sulaiman farewell 17th July, Panaga GC

A farewell golf game was organised to bid farewell to Rusli Sulaiman the Handicap secretary of PGC. Hj Samuil, Hj Rahim, Hj Zairin and myself represented BMMJ and the tournament also saw LAPOR PO played a friendly match with the visiting Miri team.

Personally, my game wasnt too bad an 86 gross could have been better but partly due to the stop start nature of the afternoon due to rain... losing to both Hj Samuil and Hj Rahim (Evident in G Sam's fist pump) ada tu karang...

Perhaps we could have a friendly game with Laporpo before too long..
Lucky draw pun inda menyangkut...

Wish Hj Rusli all the best in his future endeavours...

Ramadhan Al-Mubarak

Wishing all muslim BMMJ members a fruitful and blessed Ramadhan - may all your prayers and blessings be accepted by Allah the almighty.

ASCOPE 2010 - Singapore

The Brunei team of PetroleumBRUNEI was ranked fourth out of six teams at the 2010 ASCOPE games in Singapore from 29 to 30 July.

The tournament was shorten to 9 holes on the second day due to heavy rain. The tournament was won by Malaysia (Petronas) on countback from Thailand (PTT) while Indonesia (Pertamina) finished third 2 points ahead of Brunei.

But after asking the club for the official results, the points table proved in-conclusive at best, incomprehensible at worst. If you had a closer look at the results.. you would think the same...

So we'll put this behind us and concentrate to reclaim back the title in Thailand in 2011. It will be a difficult ask playing against the home team of PTT on their own backyard.

Weekend Golf Marathon Part 2: DANA DPMM Charity golf

After playing in the Audi Quattro Cup in the morning, Hj Shahbudin and myself joined
other BMMJ members Hj Amir Osman & Hj Abd Rahim Matusin in this tournament teeing off at 1.20pm. The event raised $30,000 for the DANA DPMM charity fund where the highlight of the tournament was when HRH The Crown Prince consented to receive the cheque from the Organisers on Sunday afternoon right before the lucky draw of the Audi cup... At the same the DANA tournament also raise $30 for me.... hehe... abis bisia....

Golf weekend Marathon Part 1: Audi Quattro Cup - Brunei 2010

The top two players on the order of merit - Hj Shahbudin & myself joined the Audi tournament which was held for the first time in Brunei last weekend. About 120 golfers participated in the event with the view of representing Brunei to the world finals in Italy this October.

However, despite a solid 38 stableford score based on alternate shot we couldnt get a top three places especially with the winners scoring 44pts.

Despite that setback, overall think I was quite satisfied with the the outcome and the game did give us ideas on future BMMJ tournaments by having it based on team events and best ball or best score.

We did not leave the tournament empty handed as Hj Shahbudin won a small Audi portable radio(?) in the lucky draw.. Would have liked a new car for Hari Raya in the shape of the Audi A3 that was given away for the grand lucky draw. That went to a friend of mine Hj Shahrir.. Maybe next year..

Cebu.. not Sibu (Hj Manan farewell flashback)

Never let your opponent's caddie walk well ahead before teeing off... bola dalam hutan pun timbul ahh rumput... bisai lagi tu macam ada tee.. sadly I heard somewhere that the flight from KK to Cebu has stopped.. pity...

ASCOPE 2010 - Singapore

Full story of this to follow.

shotgun golf

Was passed on to me a while ago.. think was GY... gives a new meaning to it..

Jakarta - Bogor Raya

Two weddings and a graduation...

Congrats #1
Belated Congratulations to Anak Inchan Senior Hj Mohamad Zairin and family on the joyous occasion of their Elder Daughter wedding in mid July.

Congrats #2
Best wishes to Pg Mohamad Fuad Pg Hj Sallehudin and Dyg Hjh Zurina Hj Nawawi on their wedding on 1st August.

Congrats #3
Warm wishes to BMMJ merit leader and Bapak President Hj Shahbudin Hj Musa and family on his daughter recent graduation having recently been awarded a university degree.

From all of us at BMMJ, I would like to wish them well on their future endeavours.

P.S
Two BMMJ members will soon be earning the title "Datuk" or "Nenek" within 2010.. So I will keep all of you posted when the bundle of joy arrives..

Finally...

Salam all and apologies for the long absence mainly due to competing priorities both on a personal and business level.

So FINALLY I have a bit of time to update members the activities involving us over the last three weeks - some of the highlights (Just in case inda ingat)

1. Pictures of last major
2. Belated congrats to Hj Zairin and Hj Shahbudin
3. ASCOPE
4. Audi Quattro Cup
5. BMMJ Play off format

So I will try to get the above agenda items covered over the next few days so sit tight and enjoy the show.