New Respect for Par 3s

Today, I visited Jurong Country Club again. This time, I teed off with Josh and SW at its 5x2 hole Executive course.

It's a pretty decent course - greens are nice, but not as well maintained as it main one. Being an executive course, it's predictably short. Well, at least it allowed us to play "proper" golf - a drive, followed by mid/short iron shot, 2-putt, par.

It's been some time since we played on a short course like this, and it made us respect par 3s a lot more. We used to think that par 3 holes are relatively easy because of the shorter distances. But, if you do not get the first shot on the greens, the best you can get out of it is a par. I'm not sure if it was because of the hot afternoon sun, but we scored quite a number of bogeys and double bogeys on the par 3s. SW and Josh didn't even bother to record their scores after a while.

My Virgin Trip To a Local Country Club

I've been playing golf for a good two and a half years, and Jurong Country Club is indeed my very first local country club.

I hate the pretentious nature of local golfing, people going to the fairways here to show off their expensive equipment, make small talk, the stupid handicap requirements and all that shit. Not to mention the rather exorbitant prices and the marshals' anal approach to making you 'move along'.

But, I'd have to say Jurong Country Club is fabulous. For SG$100, we get to play 18 holes, get a $8 lunch voucher, and even get the help of a Golfing Assistant aka caddy. Offer is valid during weekdays only though.

Club House - A Mixed Grill

For much of the glitzy exterior of JCC, the changing rooms are quite basic. The design reminds me of a kitchen in a 1980s HDB flat. I don't have pictures to show it, but, it's retro to say the least.

The restaurant is pretty nicely decorated. The table cloth reminded us of the officer's table at the army cookhouse. Red-checkers. Wonderful.

Food-wise, I had chicken rice. But, I prefer to call it rubber rice, because the chicken had texture like rubber. SW and Alfred had curry, which is insipid. So, nope, the food wasn't wonderful.

Wonderful Golf Course

Teeing off with HDB flats in the back drop is indeed a fresh experience for me. Most parts of the greens and fairways are well maintained, in fact, excellently maintained. What's different here compared to Batam or Bintan courses is that there are no jungles hugging the fairways. So even if you have a dramatic slice or hook, chances are, you'll find your ball.

Since we are 3 young dudes, the golfing assistant being an "uncle", can't help but give us some golfing tips. He is friendly on most parts, doing his job professionally. No complaints here. Definitely better than the meek Thai or Indonesian women caddies who don't even play the sport.

18th Hole

In conclusion, Jurong Country Club offers an excellent local week day golfing experience. It is value-for-money for $100, you don't have to spend the time to travel to Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal, take a 45min ferry filled with gambling middle aged aunties and uncles. In addition, the course is really well-maintained. I'll definitely come back again.

Scores:

Green Fairways @ Eng Neo

Congratulations to Joe, Alfred and Seng Wee for getting their PCs. SO, what can you do with a PC here? Probably nothing much. I was never asked to produce my PC ever since getting it about a year and a half ago. But still, it's some kind of achievement I suppose.

The Set Up

The trip to Green Fairways was a rather pleasant one. After turning into Fairway Drive from Eng Neo Avenue, you'll be greeted with horses and their trainers taking a stroll around the grasslands. Pretty relaxing sight, especially on your day off from work.

Price-wise, it's rather expensive at $42.80 per golfer. To put things into perspective, a well-maintained Seletar Base Golf Course only charged around $30 for weekday golf.

The Up Swing

We've heard about the rather undulating slopes and hills of the course, and true enough, the slopes are steep and undulating. Going through 9 holes here is great for burning off that carbo-laden nasi lemak. Anyway, it's all cow grass here. Maintenance wise, it doesn't beat Seletar Base, but it's a whole lot better than Mandai.

Impact

Being a property of the Singapore Turf Club, the holes are named after parts of the race course. For example, hole 1 is called "Starters Up", hole 6 "Home Turn and the last hole is aptly named "Home Straight".

The morning started off nicely for us, we went round "The First Bend", got "Through The Gap", and reached the "Home Turn". However, we had to abandon the race when we went "Down The Hill" as the thunderstorm came.

Follow Through

Because of the rain, we had to get our lunch at the restaurant there. Prices are a bit on the high side. Around $5-8 for their fried-rice-type dishes. But it's really not bad though. Better than the average zi-char stalls.

By the way, Joe generously treated us to lunch. From all of us, we wish you all the best in your new job.

Oh, finally, why didn't I mention anything about the clubhouse? We didn't use it. So there...