With pollution levels not getting any better in Jakarta, weekends offer a great opportunity for us all to escape the crowded and congested urban areas we live in and head to the golf course, for fresher air, greenery and open spaces.
Golf is a great opportunity to meet new people, exercise, and have fun whilst enjoying clean, green environments. As the best golf courses are often located 40 – 60km from the SCBD area, air pollution levels will be much lower, especially in the Bogor area. This is almost guaranteed.
Did you know there are two golf societies running in Jakarta? They’ve been running weekly golf days on Saturdays and Sundays, 52 weeks a year. One society has recently celebrated it’s 36th birthday!
Are you new to Jakarta, and like golf? Want to have fun? Looking to connect with fellow golfers? Have you always wanted an up to date USGA handicap? Looking for affordable weekend golf rates?
The D.O.G.S
www.djakartaoldgolfsociety.com
Djakarta Old Golf Society gets together on Saturdays for a midday tee off. They have been playing in the Jakarta area since 2005. The original D.O.G.S were based in Manila and the founder, Fritz Hainzl, recognised the demand for a Jakarta chapter and quickly went to work to create one for the city’s golfers to join. Membership of the society is free and it now has over 500 past and present members. Each week, on average 25-40 golfers attend to compete for the Big Dog Trophy.
The D.O.G.S format is unique and fun to play; a golf course is selected and played for 6 consecutive weeks. During the weekly games, members compete for the Little Dog Trophy which is awarded to the person with the highest Stableford Scoring System score. Over the 6 weeks of play, each competitor’s best score on each hole is used to determine their final eclectic score. Each week, besides winning the Little Dog, the goal is to better your scorecard. The best net score over the 6 weeks is declared the Eclectic Champion, receiving the Big Dog Trophy and gets to don the Champions Blue Jacket.
A valid handicap is essential to ensure fair play and at the beginning of 2019 the D.O.G.S and Tee Set incorporated all of their players into one handicap system. The benefit of this is that both societies receive handicaps using the same method as the USGA and are easily verified. The D.O.G.S negotiate a discounted rate for each course, making their rounds much lower than usual weekend rates.
Each Golfer pays a Rp100,000 admin fee to the secretary each week to enter the weekly skills prizes, with several chances to win the following: drive and pitch, longest drive, nearest to the pin (all offered on two holes) low putts, low gross, and not to mention the booby prizes; lowest Stapleford Points and ‘best’ exercise (highest gross score).
So, if you are looking for a round of golf on a Saturday and looking to connect with fellow golfers, log onto the D.O.G.S website and sign up for the next round. The full schedule of play is available there: you will be back for more.
Tee Set
https://teesetgolf.wordpress.com/
Founded in 1983, Tee Set plays at a variety of courses around Jakarta every week and proudly boasts of never of having missed a weekend game since its inaugural Sunday outing over 36 years ago.
Equally welcome are regular and irregular golfers, including one-off visitors and guests of members. Each year sees over 300 different players, from over 25 different nationalities, turn out on a Sunday to join Tee Set.
Recognising that many members will enjoy their Saturday nights, Tee Set generally tees off around midday on Sundays, with the only real rule of the society being that “one must be able to stand unaided on the first tee box whilst teeing off”! After all, it is a fun golf society.
The Tee Set Committee works hard to provide members with a colourful schedule of courses to play on in and around Jakarta, allowing members to play at and enjoy great courses for very reasonable weekend rates. The regular games include stroke play, a monthly Stableford medal (because they like to be different!), eclectic, and match-play knock-out competitions. There is a variety of formats played to keep most golfers happy. Alongside these regular Tee Set games, the society also arranges matches against other societies, either head to head or through Tee Set’s participation in the Jakarta inter-league golf competition.
The highlights of the Tee Set calendar are:
The Club Championship, held on the last Sunday in November each year, followed by a large, end-of-year party
The Anniversary Birthday Scramble, held annually in July or August
The Tee Set World Cup of Golf, where Tee Set members form their own four-man teams based on nationalities; after 4 editions, this event has quickly become a member’s favourite!
Although weekly events are always in the Greater Jakarta region, Tee Set arranges the occasional long weekend golf trip, for example, to play in Bali, Yogyakarta, or Surabaya; either to play against another golf society based in those areas, or just to enjoy golf and fellowship away from home.
To join a Tee Set Sunday, the committee asks that you contribute a Rp100,000 administration fee which then entitles you to compete for the weekly skills prizes. There are many opportunities to win back your money with prizes each week for best net flight A, best net flight B, best net flight C, low putts, low gross, first sandy, first birdie, and most improved.
There is also a little fun with a penalty of Rp50,000 being levied for booby prizes: skirts – players who fail to advance their tee shot further than the ladies tee markers, monster putter – most putts over 18 holes, and most strokes – for one individual hole. All funds left over each week go into the pot to be spent at the championship which is why that event is recognised as one of the best golf parties in Jakarta each year.
Like D.O.G.S, Tee Set provides active members with a handicap maintained under the USGA rules, and for those with plans to play abroad, an up to date handicap is available.
Tee Set is very welcoming to all new members so for those new to golf, new to Jakarta, or who have not got out much recently, it’s a great way to meet new friends and enjoy a Sunday out in the fresh air with fellow lovers of golf. The up to date Tee Set schedule of events is available on Tee Set’s website. Log on if you are keen to attend a Sunday with the club, and just sign-up!
It’s a wrap: weekend golf should never be a lonely affair in Jakarta. With two great, fun, and active golf societies teeing up and taking care of their members every week.
Happy Golfing All!