BUNG BENGOH MAKES A CLEAN SWEEP AT BIDAYUH GOLF SET

Damai, Santubong, 16 December 2007 ( Damai Santubong Sarawak Time )

Bidayuh Golf Season-Ending Tournament ended with a clean sweep for glory by the Bung Bengoh Team yesterday. 33 under! That’s the winning margin, biggest ever in the history of golf anywhere in the Southern Hemisphere. The win makes Team Bung Bengoh champion in all categories,,,well almost, for year 2007. Bung Bengoh wins the Campion Team trophy, gross champion and nett champion. But ladies and gentlemen, the true real winners are all the golfers from both teams as it makes history of some sorts.

Prizes are given out during the dinner immediately after the event at Teo Seafood Restaurant at Buntal. Our sincere gratitude and appreciation to Mr Albert Tanon, main sponsor of the event such as Challenge Trophy, Gross and Nett Champion trophies and cash. Hey Man. You're the Man! Hyginus, have you got the pictures yet?

This is the first time in history that the two ‘rival’ groups are at ‘war’ again in modern way. There are no victims after the battle just happy faces of golf-hardened Bidayuhs each with heroic and sometimes close-encounter-type of tales and war-stories to tell.

In a game like this when the stakes are high, the only way to continue to fight the losing battles is to summon some divine intervention to help you out. Be it in the form of ‘Mr Lee’ at the cemented hill’ or be it the goodness within the soul of a dead body.

Upon reaching the cemetery hole, ocean side, James Sinjeng the dukun, at his usual-self actually talked to Uncle Lee as he calls him to help him to secure a birdie to help to resuscitate his game. On his second shot, he golf ball flew high and found the fringe…close enough to chip in for par. Birdie was denied unfortunately but he was grateful to Uncle Lee.

Mike Mangges ( often renowned for his smart-play, I call him Mickey Mouse) who does not believe in luck not does he fancy playing with lucky people, he used to bragged, took few extra strokes to reach the green. He was slapped with a double bogey.

Upon reaching the next hole he screamed, “Go to Hell Uncle Lee”. And the gullet was laid.
He teed-off and ripped his driver sending the ball high and long. That’s when divine intervention redirected his ball and dropped it on the road hard and ricochet away into the bush next to the immovable rock. He took another swipe on his next shot which only moved the ball a mere 10 feet. It took him a good ten minutes to reach the green and he double par the hole. Uncle Lee must have smiled to himself and thought, “I maybe dead but I still play golf round here too”.

On the next par three, the damaged was not done yet. MM would you believed it, took a wood nine on a shot 141 metres par three and blast the ball hard. It flew close to South China Sea deep in the hazard. Unplayable. He took a drop ball and hit it but at this time Uncle Lee must have had enough of Mike and he sent Mikes ball a mere 20 metres to rock below.

Meanwhile the Dukun’s tee-off landed hanging and was deemed unplayable. By then I could not control myself and almost died laughing, Mike made a double par and Dukun made a bogey 7! I escaped with a bogey and was quite happy with myself but some times bad fortunes just need few more victims and me was to be next. At last hole par five, I smashed my tee-off into the bush right, just like the first holes, and made a terrible bogey 8, carbon copy of all par 5s!

On the Ocean side 1st hole with ‘Beware of Crocodile’ signs everywhere, it was by no mean easy. In golf, crocodile is associated with crack and skilful golfer with high handicap that no one wants to play with, elses you'll be 'Ngapped'. Today it’s real crocodile though but fortunately nowhere to be seen so far. At the crocodile hole, Jabing suddenly found himself as the sole player left standing after Robin, Dominic and Fabian both found the watery grave. He is still stunned by his good fortune, he’ll remember every second of it.

Short Takes
Paul Ponar had to endure a long and hard golfing adventure from his play partner. Every hole is at least an 8 strokes affair but he remained as unflappable as a rock and managed to contain and control his game and shot a commendable 93 gross.

The way the course was set made it extremely difficult to find the green. Many occasion, I felt like I needed to check with the GM whether the Damai Ocean side has somewhat a good breeding ground for rodents. I swear that in many instances I saw some kind of rodent running around the fairways…but proved unfounded and totally false. Quick verification confirmed that what I saw was Mike’s strayed chip shots rolling in the grass like rat. Silly me.

Strange Sound about Damai
In golf the sound of bid driver smashing a golf ball sometimes can produce sweet sound of comfort and glory especially when the ball can find the fairway. If only that sound can be converted to winning, we might have many worthy winners the likes of Dominic, James, Mike, Albert and the latest in contention could be Joseph Jindy. Joseph Jindy quickly adapted to his new driver, Calaway Fti, square head (the only one in the possession of Bung Bratak golfer at the moment) and no nonsense. The trouble is he way only given 5 minutes coaching on how to use it and it sure head straight to the competition. How’s that JJ?

While on the opposite side of the scale, EMC2 driver in the hand of RGS produces such an unwelcome sound that Dominic score not to be near it as the sound can induce ghostly sensation…the type that makes your hair grow on end. JS summed it up most fittingly. If it sounds good, you bet the ball is just a stone throw away, but if it sounds bad, it means the ball flew quite far. Whatever it is the sound of that EMC2 is unprocessed and unedited as it a raw sound with unearthly pitch that could reach 100 decibels.

Robert Elone claimed that his wood 3 performed just the way he wanted – long and straight. Event though he had paid money to me for the wood, he still calls it ‘Ricky’s Wood’. I wonder why.

Jimson, a newbie at Golf. If a pilot’s license can be awarded by the hours of flying time, Jimson’s shot at fame through golf surely can be justified by the number of golf balls hit. For the record, just before the tournament, he had only hit about two buckets ( 100 ) of ball at the KGS driving range. After this tournament, make that 204! We will see more of him for sure.

Ik Talano promised to show his stuff by playing good golf. Every thing went well before the first hole. He took his driver and ripped the ball and next hole and next hole. Soon he found his driver was not firing. In anger he kept it neatly inside the bag and swore not to use the driver ever again.

Magit had a quiet game considering the potential of his flair. He cannot be blamed for not trying but when you have a chance to score an eagle and perhaps a gross champion, you have every right to turn tail and feel deflated. He’ll give his best every time though.

Hardest Sand On Earth!
The constant shower makes the bunkers unplayable. To some, bunker shot is a joy. With the sand so firm, I could send my ball sky-high. Not to the Dukun. He sent his bunker shot miles off course. He swore that the sand bunker has the hardest sand on earth and he is not alone. Magit is singing the same tune and during dinner, GM had to endure the remarks about how hard and bad the bunkers are. What do you expect from a flood? Only good wishes in a bottle.

There shall be many war stories next time we meet at Borneo Height come May 30 2008. Cheers.

For the record, here is the BISAPUG TROPHY - RESULTS
BUNG BRATAK NETT
Robin Tigai 76
Robert Elone - 78
Jabing Bujing - 79
Ik Talano - 80
Andrew Peter - 81
Ik Pahon Joyik - 83
Johnny Peter - 85
Dominic Siron - 88
Joseph Jindy- 88
Lusus Runan - 89
TOTAL SCORE 827

BUNG BENGOH NETT with the Biggest Winning Margin of 33 Strokes! Congratulations to Bung Bengoh.
Fabian Marip 68
Albert Tanon 71
Ahkim Sarok 73
Magit Semong 73
Paul Ponar 76
Hygines Kavin 81
Ricky Guing 81
James Sinjeng 83
Mike Mangges 84
Jimson 104
TOTAL SCORE 794

Winning Strokes - 33

FINAL POSITION / MOUN/OCEAN/GROSS/HDCAP/NETT

1. Fabian Marip 45 36 81 13 68 ( Nett Champion )
2. Albert Tanon 41 38 79 8 71 ( Gross Champion )
3. Ahkim Sarok 46 46 92 19 73
3. Magit Semong 40 41 81 8 73
5. Robin Tigai 47 41 88 12 76
5. Paul Ponar 43 50 93 17 76
7. Robert Elone 50 43 93 15 78
7. Jabing Bujing 47 46 93 14 79
9. Ik Talano 55 49 104 24 80
10. Andrew Peter 45 50 95 14 81
10. Hygines Kavin 46 50 96 15 81
10. Ricky Guing 51 49 100 19 81
13. Ik Pahon Joyik 49 55 104 21 83
13. James Sinjeng 47 52 99 16 83
15. Mike Mangges 52 56 108 24 84
16. Johnny Peter 49 51 49 15 85
17. Dominic Siron 49 53 102 14 88
17. Joseph Jindy 58 54 112 24 88
19. Lusus Runan 57 51 108 19 89
20. Walter Dior 56 67 123 24 99
21. Jimson 63 65 128 24 104