Make it a good walk Golf is an enjoyable sport as long as there is an element of exercise involved, like walking, otherwise it’s just a parlour game.Bukit Jambul Country Club in Penang has issues with members now not allowed to walk the course. The phrase “Golf is a good walk spoilt” is often attributed to the famous
American scribe Mark Twain, who was said to have used it to describe his frustration with the game.
The truth is that Twain, whose real name is
Samuel Langhorne Clemens, never uttered those words but it seems a
US magazine in the 1930s attributed the phrase to him because “it sounded like something Twain would say”.
Regardless of who is the original author, we golf mortals, who find the simple instruction of keeping the ball in a straight direction an impossible task, find so much truth in that phrase.
Even a demi-god like
Tiger Woods is struggling to keep his game together and often refers to the present state of his game as military golf because he keeps hitting the ball left and then right and then left and then right again – like soldiers marching.
However, all of us continue to chase after the white dimpled ball because we want to get better at it and it is probably the only form of exercise we get after hours in the office. Thus, it’s a good walk spoilt – a good exercise pursuit interjected by bad golf.
This brings me to the recent controversy surrounding the Bukit Jambul Country Club in Penang where the management company running it has decided to ban golfers from walking.
The actual ruling is not a ban on walking but rather that all golfers taking to the course must rent a buggy.
The clash between the golfers and the club operators – Taiyo Resorts – has descended into all sorts of battles from name calling at press conferences to disciplinary hearing against members who opposed the buggy only ruling which took affect on Feb 1.
It all started when some 100 members voiced their displeasure over the compulsory buggy-use rule at the golf club.
According to the club’s liaison committee chairman, Stanley Park, from that day walking hours were restricted to after 5pm (only on Monday and Tuesday). Many other clubs around the country also restrict golfing to non-peak hours but none have enforced it as strictly as BJCC.
“However, the club has already made known to the members of the
Liaison Committee during one of our regular meetings, that BJCC shall be a full buggy course as soon as the renovations of the fairways gets completed,” Park said in an interview.
More than 100 disgruntled golfers protested at the club on Feb 2, saying the ruling was not suitable due to the way the course was built as it was designed for golfers to walk and not intended to be a buggy course.
They also complained about the increase in the buggy rental rates from RM22 to RM37 for the first nine holes.
Taiyo Resorts’ managing director Datuk Eiro Sakamoto argued that majority of the club’s 2,800 members did not object to the new ruling and it was just a few golfers who were making noise.
It cannot be denied that the “buggy only” ruling is a way for the company to increase their ancillary income – after all it had promised the state government, which owns the course an increase in profit.
However, most visitors to Bukit Jambul would rent a buggy as it is quite a commando course with hilly and tight fairways that are quite sapping for those unused to such conditions.
But for golfers, seeking a good workout, Bukit Jambul is the perfect course to keep fit and to test whether you can avoid playing Tiger’s military golf.
Making money from running a golf club is not an easy thing especially when you have a course built into the top of a hill. Maintenance, I expect, would be high and the green fees collection cannot be much.
The subscription is just over RM90 and with 2,800 members, this works out to be RM252,000 per month. The extra revenue from F&B plus ancillary income like
golf buggy rental becomes important.
However, the management of BJCC must take cognisance of the importance of walking when playing golf.
It improves your game because it keeps the rhythm going when one walks:
This is how the game is supposed to be played and this way the game finishes faster as the golfer walks straight to the ball.
It improves the fellowship among the flight of golfers because all four of them can walk and talk at the same time.
I hope that the matter can be resolved amicably as golf is a gentleman’s game with proper rules.
So till next month, walk the course and truly enjoy the view.
Keep Walking.. Keep Walking...Keep Walking
Keep Walking.....
Because...
The Organs of your body have their sensory touches at the bottom of your foot.
If you massage these points you will find relief from aches and pains as you can see the heart is on the left foot.
Typically they are shown as points and arrows to show which organ it connects to.
It is indeed correct since the nerves connected to these organs terminate here.
This is covered in great details in Acu-pressure studies.
God created our body so well that he thought of even this.
He made us walk so that we will always be pressing these pressure points and thus keeping these organs activated at all times.
So, keep walking....... LIVE LONGER !!!!! Golfer or not, you must see this clip...
- http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=aw-nt0eTb2w
It's all in the balance... (He plays off 3!!) And he walks the course!!!!!
Is there something unreal with our fliers at the club?
Hear that members are filing court action for some declaration of rights to play golf the way it was meant to be played?
Perhaps some of you LC members can show this clip to the presiding judge. Thanks
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