The Biwako Championship : The Biwako Winners

There were 5 prizes for the Biwako players. Unfortunately pakdokter did not have the names of the players and pakdokter had not met or played with them either. Pakdokter apologises for this short-coming. Of note, many of the Biwako golfers were 'semior' gentlemen but still played good golf.

the 1st Prize Winner from Biwako
a Selangor Pewter traditional Malay gong (drum)

the winner of the 2nd Prize is 92 years old!

Okamurasan? 3rd Prize winner

4th Prize Winner

and the 5th Prize Winner

The Biwako Championship : The RSGC Winners

After dinner, the usual welcome and thank you speeches were delivered by the respective Captains. Dr Saitosan spoke in Japanese with the translation into English done by Matsuokasan, who was pakdokter's flight-mate in the practice round. RSGC Captain Mogd Azlan delivered his speech in English and ably translated into Japanese by RSGC member Ichiro Suzuki.

The two Captains then exchanged gifts from each club to the other.

The results of the RSGC players

pakdokter came out 4th!

if not for the @ the index-1 Ritto pakdokter would have been

the winner again!

in 2009, pakdokter scored a gross of 88 to a 24 handicap and

was that year's winner

Ezanee Bakar was 2010 winner

and the 2011 Tour was cancelled due to the tsunami

L M Sielecki, the RSGC Winner of the Biwako Tour 2012

Mr Foong Kai Ming was 2nd

Mr M Kondo came in 3rd

The Biwako Championship : Dinner and Prize Presentation

After the game, we all went for the Japanese bath which by now most of us were no longer conscious of walking around nude exposing our ' jewels'. Typically one would soap and scrub at the side bath-stall first - pouring hot water over oneself and scrubbing the body with the small face-towel. Once clean, then one goes into the hot water bath for a 5 to 10 minute soak. The bath pool water is at 42 to 43 degrees celcius. One must not soak for too long a time or else one may get giddy from dehydration and low blood pressure. The hot water soak relaxes the muscles. What would be nice is a Balinese or a Thai massage after that.

The group of non-golfing ladies were taken on a tour of the Hikone Castle - courtesy of the Biwako Club. They were brought back to the club after that to join us for the Closing Dinner and Prize Presentation.

Dinner was a luxurious spread of sushis, sashimis, lobsters, black pepper beef and beef curry and and assortment of fresh fruits. Of course, there was the free flow of beers, sakes and wines.

Datuk Khadar and Datuk Azizi Yom Ahmad took some yens

from their Biwako flight-mates.

Rematch in January 2013!

Biwako Captain, Dr Saitosan, showing Steven K B Low

how to get the flesh out of the lobster

pakdokter with Biwako Captain, Dr Saitosan

Dr Saitosan is 87 and is a retired internal medicine physician

but plays golf to a low teen handicap

In his prime, he was a single-handicapper

pakdokter with Okazakisan

Okazakisan, altho in his 70's, is still a keen skiier

he just returned from a skiing holiday in Nagano the day before

he told pakdokter this winter he had skiied for 45 days

he is a businessman and is a regular visitor to the RSGC

pakdokter with flight-mate Kenji Yamashita

pakdokter first met Kenjisan during the first trip here 5 years ago

Kenjisan got his first ever hole-in-one then

and over lunch Osaka was hit by quite a strong earthquake

our lunch table shook and moved sideways

it was pakdokter's first experience of a tremor

Kenjisan was oblivious to it as he was already 'pissed drunk'

then, celebrating his 'hole-in-one' achievement

to commemorate that acheivement, Kenjisan later sent

to all of us a tube of a specially embossed golf balls with

notes to remind us of his achievement.

The Biwako Championship : 2nd Nine at the Ritto Course

The 2nd Nine was played at the Ritto Course. This is the longest of the 3 Nines at the Biwako. We did not play this Nine during the practice round. Over lunch pakdokter overheard Shahrir Roose( who was the Biwako champion at RSGC in January this year) reporting how poorly he played at this Nine and pakdokter was expecting to have a tough time there.

In the end pakdokter played reasonably well. Unfortunately pakdokter 'blew' the index-1 par-4 hole when pakdokter sent the ball from the tee into the lake. Pakdokter took a drop about 5 yards in front of the tee and hit with the 3-wood which unfortunately went into the lake again. The next drop and another hit with the 3-wood went across but sliced into the right forest. Luckily pakdokter got it out with a 7-iron and got the ball on the green at the 8th shot and 2-putted for a 10! Pakdokter came back with bogeys on the remaining holes to return a reasonably good score of 50.

Hole-1 of the Ritto Nine seen from the tee-box of hole-2
par-3 hole No.2 Ritto Nine
pakdokter had a par here as well as the next par-4

at the drink hut at hole 5

par-3 hole No. 6

only about 110 yards but with head-wind to consider

the front pin was on a steep slope

Ezanee hit the pin and had the ball just 2 feet away and got a birdie

pakdokter pulled to the left but manged to chip in but 3-putted for a 5

The Biwako Championship : Lunch

As is the custom in Japanese golf clubs - we stopped for lunch after the 1st Nine. Lunch was a' la carte and after trying out their beef steak the day before, pakdokter settled for their beef and buck-wheat noodle soup which was served with a small bowl of rice, pickles and a cup of green tea. The noodle was delicious. Oishi desu......

pakdokter's lunh set of the beef soba
Ezanee's set lunch of the unagi rice ( grilled eel)

The Biwako Championship : The First Nine @ the Biwako Course

Sunday was bright and sunny - but the temperature was still in the low teens. After 3 rounds of golf in this 'winter' weather, pakdokter had actually suffered 'sunburn'! Pakdokter's facial skin was sore to touch. Pakdokter had never experienced a sunburn for a long time - not even after 4 to 6 consecutive days of golf in the tropics. This must be caused by the cold freezing and dry wind together with the direct sunlight on to the skin which pakdokter took lightly because of the cold weather. Perhaps a layer of sunblock would have helped.

Datuk Khadar Merican and Datuk Azizi Yom Ahmad with

their Biwako's flight mate. Over dinner pakdokter learnt that

they had trailed the Biwako's pair at first but came back towards

the end to collect yens from their opponents. So they promised to

a rematch next January when the Biwako visits RSGC for their annual

inter-port game.

pakdokter played with Ezanee Bakar (15) and Kenji Yamashita (16)

pictured above was our flight with one of the club managers
The tee was put between the championship and regular positions today
so we played a slightly shorter course today. This was probably to
accomodate the many Biwako players who are in their 80's and 90's

this picture was taken from the tee box at hole-8 of the Biwako Course
the downhill fairway faced the Biwako Lake in the background and
beyond the mountain in the distance would be the city of Kyoto.
Kyoto is just a 15 minutes train-ride from Kusatsu, the town where our
hotel is. Kusatsu is just about 15 minutes by road to the Biwako

Ezanee chipping in at hole 9 of the Biwako Nine

pakdokter with the flight caddy

the caddy is a university student majoring in Sports Science

and Management and she is also a golfer. Her father is Osaka's

foremost gastroeneterologist who also happens to be Kenjisan's

physician. It is interesting to learn the Japanese healthcare practices

from Kenjisan. He goes for a 2-yearly gastroscopic investigation to screen for

cancer. This is probably relevant in Japan as if pakdokter remembers correctly,

gastroenterological cancers are common amongst the Japanese.

pakdokter played quite well considering pakdokter's 24 handicap.

if not for the 7 @ the 2nd hole par 3 it would have been better

pakdokter 5 putted on this fast steep down slope!

it was like playing @ the Augusta....

The Practice Round at the Biwako Country Club : The Biwako Nine

The 2nd Nine of the practice round was played at the Biwako Course. This was a more hilly Nine and being on a higher elevation - it was colder and more windy. Considering the bad start at the Mikami Course, pakdokter cme home with a better score here, returning a decent gross of 49.