Palm Spring Golf @ Batam

I returned to Tering Bay but the weather did not welcomed us as much as we would like. I remembered when I used to organize monthly golf trips here, some of those days were like that. It began raining heavily when we were in the ferry after waiting for a month and spent time planning the trip with a day's leave wasted. So everyone just sat in the ferry quietly with a grumpy and long face.

Fortunately there is a thing called beer to keep you sane.

We managed to finish the first half and by the ten, with inclement weather looming, we decided to call it off ourselves for safety.

At places where they do not have reading for pressure built up in clouds, there would be no siren to stop play so we have to use our common sense. It is a clear and almost immediate danger if lightning is about from 5 km away. In such a situation, if you detected the first flash of lightning activity, start counting (as you can see from a flash and as light travels faster than sound, a thunder clap will follow) until you hear thunder - one thousand (lightning flash), two thousand, three thousand, four thousand, five thousand (sound of thunder), it means you have counted 5 seconds and that represents that lightning is 5 km away from you. Stop all outdoor activities and go back indoor. If God is playing, let Him play through.

In a worse case scenario, when you feel your hair, your whole body hair standing, this is static electricity which means that lightning is directly over you. At this point, it is futile to run and your only chance is to quickly go down on the ground lying sideways and then quickly roll into a ball so that when hit, it will not go through you. This might save your life. You do not want the whole flight to be met by St. Peter as a golf marshal at the Pearly Gates.

Then when you see dragonflies flying very close to the ground, rain is coming. The closer they are to the ground, the nearer the rain. Finally, in the dark of night when you stare into the night sky and you do not see a single star, rain is coming.

Palm Spring

It has been a really long time since I played at Palm Spring. The three 9-hole courses are more demanding than Tering Bay. I was pleasantly surprised with the condition and beauty of the course. You could even see the green speed at 9.50 which is excellent. Welcome to the Palm Course.

The fairways are well maintained.

Some holes are contoured.

You have to apply course management - lay out before the water ways or avoiding bunkers to be better positioned for your next shot.

It is also pretty and scenic.

Greens are treacherous - ups and downs with breaks. Not for the faint at heart.

Par 3s are interesting.

Sun Tze's Art Of War says "Know your enemy, know yourself. A hundred battles, a hundred victories''. And know your terrain. You have to lay out and get to before the far away bunker 160m from the tee before your approach and not too right for this hole.

A lovely green with swaying coconut trees greeted us once you get a good first shot. Otherwise, wayward shots means you get the devil sliding behind you.

The following hole is a par 3 that is almost do or die.

After a good shot, you can see paradise.

Unfortunately, we gave the Island a miss as there was some kind of congestion and we moved on to the other less picturesque Resort course.

In Batam, you get real jungles and forested areas.

We had a late lunch. The wind has been incessant bringing the coldness of the monsoon season smacking into your face. The other night at the seafood restaurant in the open area out into the sea, the wind got us all chilled.

We will surely be back. More people are asking me to organise golf at Batam again. Seems like old times. For the love of golf.

Golf as in life, play as it lies.