HOW IT ALL STARTED

When I started playing golf it wasn't for love of the sport but rather a duty to fulfill when the big boss is in town and he needed a foursome and me as a junior officer was asked to learn the game in case I was required to make up the number. I remember there was only one golf shop in Taiping located in Jalan Barrack and I was there to check out the equipment. The owner looked at me and said `you should use a ladies set because you are not tall...right, me at 5 feet 2 inches was below average for men's height and ladies golf set is 1 inch shorter than men's golf set. Back then I knew nothing about golf...right now I can tell him that I can use men's set and choke down a little bit, just like young Anthony Kim...by the way what the hell happened to him, didn;t see him on TV nowadays.

Phew..the owner sold me a Powerbilt TPS golf set complete with bag for RM 1,200.00 and it fitted nicely in the boot of my Nissan Sunny 130Y.  The next weekend I was at the driving range hitting balls and looked at other people's golf swing.There were a lot of golf swings and styles to choose from but then obviously those were self-taught and not from Jack niclaus VCDs. In Taiping there were two golf courses, one is Taiping Golf Club and the other one Bukit Jana Golf & Country Club. BJGCC had a promotion that golfers only paid RM100 to play unlimited golf for one month and I was one of those guys who roamed the course after office hours playing 9 holes of course. 

Most of my golf mates were from the Government sector, JKR technicians, ADO, Policemen, Prison Warders, Doctors and some politicians. Many young guys from the District and Land offices also played golf and most of us played tennis as well, so we met each other on two separate courts! Weekdays I would play at Bukit Jana and on weekend I would drive down to Kuala Kangsar to play at the 9 hole golf course there. After several months my golf swing got better and better and could easily played below 100 strokes gross.

Except for burning out excess fats when playing golf there wasn't much golf competition or tournament in Taiping and Kuala Kangsar so I could not test my golf skill. After about six years working in Taiping I got a job in KL and moved to Selayang in 1992. After renting a house in Taman Koperasi Polis II for several months, I moved into my present house later that year. After a while I learned that my house was quite close to two beautiful golf courses, the Perangsang Templer Golf Club and The Templer Park Golf Club but it was at PTGC where I got into serious golfing. 

I joined PTGC on Term Membership for 8 years at RM2,500 a year and paid RM20,000. I was offered a Life Membership but the discount given was not favorable and I would end up paying higher than market rate. I played golf every Saturday and Sunday and was a consistent golfer and when I entered competitions managed to win a lot of prizes, electrical items etc. not the main prizes but mostly top 10 prizes.

Mr Ronnie, he sells golf balls at Kundang Lakes GC.