Royal Sumatra GCC, INDONESIA

April 3, 2009

The Clubhouse, taking its time to complete

I used to refer this course as the “cattle farm” due to its poor maintenance. I was in for a big surprise after more than 3 years blacklisting Medan on my travel list. There were residential houses built around the course. Even a clubhouse was under construction. The course was not as pristine as those in Jakarta but it had character. Royal, as fondly referred to by locals, had come a long way to be a better course than Graha.

This Course has character

Formerly rice field, now abandoned

This time we teed off at the “right” time for golf. It was sometimes after 1pm and the sun would be more bearable as time went by. We used buggies this time, one each. This course measured 6,018 metres from blue tees. The course layout was full with characters with waters, bunkers and bushes pretty much in play. The former rice fields inside the course were apparently abandoned.

Lining up my putt, Villegas' style

Making the putt

The caddies celebrate

The last hole, 352-metre par 4 was one of the best single hole that I have ever played. It teed off to a split fairways with a choice of laying up to the right or straight to the left with a likely risk of ending up in the water if you hit it short. Zack managed to carry it to the left. I hit mine into the water.

Hole 18

I would recommend Royal Sumatra anytime if one is in Medan for golf.

Graha Metropolitan GCC, Medan, INDONESIA

April Fool Day, 2009

We were in high spirit to hit the golf course, formerly called Graha Helvetia GCC. The name change did not bring any improvement to the course. The clubhouse remains the same, small and old. It was just before noon when we teed off from the 10th Tee Box. It was super hot. This 5,884 metre Graha is a walking course designed by former golf great, Gary Player. Somehow, the mostly flat course fringed by palm trees failed to excite me.

The Course

As we walked through the fairways, I could recall the course that played a very memorable role in my golfing life. It was a nostalgic game down memory lane. The sun was getting unbearably hot. We could not focus on our game. After the par-4 Hole 14, we decided to take a long rest at the drink hut. We spent a good one hour taking shelter from the sun. I was ready to go back to the clubhouse. The gang wanted to finish at least 9 holes.

The Fairways

So we pressed on to the152 metre par-3 Hole 15th. My first shot steered to the right and ended in the flower bed just before the big pond. I took a mulligan and parred the hole. That was my best score for the whole nine holes. We struggled in the mid day heat until we reached the 18th Hole.

The Greens

We waited for our driver at the clubhouse. We just wanted to get out from the heat and go back to rest. For the first time, golf took a back seat for these crazy golfers.

Medan, INDONESIA

April 1 - 4, 2009

I love to hate Medan! From the year 2000, since I started playing golf, I have been making many trips to the 3rd largest Indonesian city. Medan offers the cheapest and nearest golf escapade outside Malaysia. However, at the end of the trip you might end up paying more than what you bargained for. I used to be “taxed” by unscrupulous airport officials on both arrival and departure. Even the porters would join in committing this act of highway robberies. Everywhere you go people expect to be tipped, heavily. Once given, they would ask for more. Sometimes more than what an average person earns in one day or even week.

Medan roads are always congested

We arrived at Medan’s Polonia Airport very early, 7.25am. This time, after more than 3 years absence, I was more prepared. I tried not to be friendly going through the Immigration. Putting up a stern face works at most of South East Asia’s rogue airports (see my earlier post, “Rogue Airports of South East Asia”). No greetings, no good mornings and no smile. One word should be the standard answer to any unofficial question. Otherwise, keep mum. From the Immigration I went to collect my golf bag. I could see it already on a trolley manned by a porter. I got another trolley, put all my carryon luggages and grabbed my golf bag from the porter’s trolley. He trailed me insisting on lending a hand. I did not budge. I had bad experience in the past. It was just not worth it. I was surprised to see quite a number of “jilbab” donning lady officers at the Custom counter. These ladies looked more professional and honest compared to their male counterparts. I got through without any question raised. I was beginning to believe that Medan had changed to an extent.

We stayed at the 4-star Emerald Garden International Hotel located along the busy Jalan K.L. Yos Sudarso. The hotel is a bit old but the facilities are adequate for our stay.

We came to Medan during the time the country was having its election scheduled on the 9th of April. The streets were full of campaign posters promising the moon to voters. Syamsul, our guide told us that there were 44 parties contesting the election, most of which did not have any fighting chance against the mighty big boys.

Election time

During the day, we had nasi padang lunch at Garuda Restaurant and dinner mostly Sundanese food. That was our routine as far as meals are concerned. On the days we played golf, we had lunch at the club house. I liked sup buntut (ox tail soup) goreng (fried). It is a local specialty, a must try. We took complimentary breakfast by the hotel’s poolside every morning before going out. Despite having a sumptuous buffet spread of food, I was not much into eating heavy breakfast.

It rained on the second day of our stay in Medan. It was very heavy, came with gusty thunderstorm and went on for hours. Soon the streets were flooded and the ever congested traffic turned into a nightmare. We did not play golf that day. Instead we went shopping at Medan’s biggest mall, Sogo to ride out the storm. It was like any other shopping complex. I was not much of a shopping person. So I took the gang to J Co. Donut, my favourite. In KL, you have to line up for at least 30 minutes to buy some J. Co. donuts. The soft and tasty donuts are a big hit. In Indonesia, they even gave us complimentary donuts.

Pasar Ikan

One day, before going to our golf game, we stopped at the famous “Pasar Ikan”, a bazaar-like market selling all sorts of stuffs. I bought some knitted “telekong” for the Missus. No Malaysian Mak Cik would skip visiting Pasar Ikan. You can buy “buah salak” here but there is no ikan (fish) at this place.

Medan is a cheap travel destination for Malaysians. Somehow you still need to drive a hard bargain. Most locals think that all Malaysians are loaded with cash and everybody tries to make some quick buck. I may not come back for a while. I had enough of Medan, for now.