Written: October 26, 2010
After a solid 9 hours of sleep from 11pm-8am, we all woke up well rested and ready to go. We went down for buffet breakfast in the lobby at 8:30, then we were off to the golf course at the 9:30am shuttle bus to the golf course. While on the hour long bus ride, I got a glimpse of the Jakarta traffic jams and to my surprise, its actually worse than in Manila. Eventually, we made it to our destination and once entering the gates of Emeralda Country Club, it looked like a totally different world. In the 1-kilometer road to the clubhouse, I immediately noticed how everything was manicured. We were finally there.
We were directed to the registration desk, got our yardage books, practice round tee times and lounged around in the clubhouse. While looking at the memorabilia pictures on the wall, Coach Cassius pointed out one of his pictures taken in the late 1990’s alongside greats like Nick Price, Nick Faldo, Jesper Parnevik, and Ernie Els. Pretty impressive stuff.
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| Picture I was talking about |
After a few more pictures in the clubhouse and of the views, we made our way to the range. By about 1pm, we got to tee off once the shotgun pro-am had ended. First thing I noticed on the first hole was that it was a good thing we got yardage books in yards! The whole course was ‘infested’ in meters as distance. In the tournament, I would be relying on the detailed yardage book they gave us, which is written exactly like the orange Lucas yardage books in the U.S. It was me, Jerson Balasabas, Cassius Casas, and Dante Becciera that teed off. Too bad we were only able to play 6 holes before the afternoon rains drenched us out. Anyway, at least I was able to get a good feel for the course and the speeds of the green which are running at a quick 10-11 on the stimp. Coach Cassius gave us a rundown of the final holes that we didn’t play and what to look out for. A 1 and a half hour ride back to the hotel, and it was time to relax again, eat downstairs in the buffet, and back up in the room again.
There’s one big discovery we made today and that is, there’s internet in our hotel! Rather than going downstairs and paying $10 per hour which we refuse to pay, there’s wifi internet by our window titled “club room”. While we are unsure where that is in the hotel, we know it works sitting by the window. The golf clubhouse also has internet so I think I’ll bring my computer with me tomorrow as well.
All positive attitude for tomorrow. I’m playing with my good buddy Anthony Fernando at 7:50, so that should make it even more fun and relaxing. Taking the 5:30am shuttle bus to the course. Going to bed soon but before that, an episode of How I Met Your Mother.
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