Golf in Batam, INDONESIA

September 8 – 9, 2007

On Friday, September 7, we put up a night in Johore Bahru (JB) at M Suites Hotel located along Jalan Skudai fronting Danga Bay. We were to catch the morning ferry for a weekend golf escapade to Batam, Indonesia the next day. This time, the trip was with a new group of acquaintances from Kuala Lumpur. We called ourselves Kelab Golf Mana Mana (KGMM) headed by Datuk Iskandar, a prominent figure in the Foreign Ministry.
Kelab Golf Mana Mana founding members: Me, Ashri, Zainal, Datuk Iskandar, Datuk Ayob, Hamidon, Zack, Darwish, Norman, Haji Amir

There were 16 of us, including spouses, one child and 10 golfers. We were met on arrival at the ferry terminal by Daud, the manager of a travel company in JB. He would be our guide during our stay in Batam.
All aboard! Departing JB. Darwish, Norman & Mrs (Kamsiah), Zack (L to R)

It took sometimes to load bags and stuffs onto the ferry. There were a lot of passengers, mostly Indonesians carrying a lot of things, going back for the weekend. We had to carry our golf bags and clothes bags all the way from the parking lot to the ferry. It was quite a distance but everybody was in a holiday mood. It took almost 2 hours to get to Batam and it was a bumpy ride.
Nasi Padang before hitting the golf trails

After clearing Immigration, we had our lunch, ‘nasi Padang’ at a place called Pak Datuk. It was a hearty lunch with plates of food arranged in piles on top of each other, typical of nasi Padang (Padang rice). Padang is an Indonesian city in West Sumatra.
Southlinks Club House from the 9th. Hole

We headed straight to the first golf course on our tour schedule, Southlinks Country Club . I was paired with Darwish and Hamidon. We started at the 10th. tee box while the other 2 flights went to the 1st.
Threesome at Southlinks: Darwish, Me & Hamidon (L to R)

Southlinks is a flat course with pockets of ponds and lakes traversing the fairways. It is known locally as the Japanese course, catering to the many Japanese expatriates in Batam. I managed to hit an average round with 5 pars. My flight finished the 18 holes ahead of the others. We had our showers while waiting for the rest of the group.
Southlinks' flat terrain

We had dinner at a western Javanese restaurant called Pondok Batam Guring. It had the usual fete of Sundanese food with fried ‘gurami’, a local fish, the highlight of the menu.
After dinner, a member of the group, Haji Amir informed us that the t-shirts meant to be distributed to the KGMM members were missing. We had a hard time trying to figure out where the bag of shirts was last seen. Finally, six of us decided to trace them back to the ferry terminal, a more likely place to have left them on arrival. It was almost 10pm. Luck was on our side. The ferry terminal authority kept the bag of shirts.

Batam Hills Club House under construction

We had an early date with our next golf course, Batam Hills Golf Resort. We had breakfast at around 5.30am. It took about 40 minutes to get to our next golfing destination. Everybody donned the KGMM t-shirts for the day and we took group photo before the start of the game.
The foursome at Batam Hills, Me, Haji Amir, Darwish & Ashri ( L to R)

I was paired with Haji Amir, Darwish and Ashri. Haji Amir was clearly the better golfer. I just made up the number. I had a strong start but lost steam along the way. I seemed to have good tee and approach shots but struggled around the greens. It was an embarrassing round for me.

Haji Amir on a par 3 tee box

Batam Hills was a better course compared to Southlinks. It got character. Except for the club house which was under construction, the course was well maintained. They even provided complimentary breakfast.
Daud, the tour leader ushering the group to get inside for a good lunch at Mak Ateh

We headed to Batam’s more famous Mak Ateh, for lunch. It was another heavy meal of sumptuous dishes of nasi Padang, piles of them. Between Mak Ateh and Pak Datuk, I think Pak Datuk is a better nasi Padang restaurant.

We still had about 2 hours before our departure. The group went for some last minute shopping for fruits and layer cakes.
Last minute shopping at a fruit stall

Batam’s golfing trip was very much different, in a way, compared to our other golfing excursions. Instead of flying comfortably, we had a ferry ride. Instead of checking in our bags, we had to lug around with them all the way to the waiting ferry. The golf courses that we played were not as good as those in Jakarta. Nevertheless, it was an adventurous weekend golf escapade.