Sawangan golf course<\/p>\n
By Hidayat Jati<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Sawangan public golf course, located about two
\nhours drive outside South Jakarta, is arguably the best place for
\ngolf-agnostics to start on their way to converting to this
\nsupposedly politically-incorrect leisure activity.<\/p>\n
The Economist once wrote that many people hate golf for three
\nreasons: because it destroys the environment, it is the sport of
\nbadly dressed businessmen and corrupt public officials, and that
\nit is so addictive to converts that it creates phenomenons like
\ngolf widows.<\/p>\n
If you are persistent enough to battle through the perpetually
\nchallenging traffic of Jakarta to play the course in Bogor, West
\nJava, you will find that those three factors might not apply to
\neither Sawangan's nine hole or 18 hole courses.<\/p>\n
One immediately striking feature of Sawangan is its location.
\nIt sits on a little hill surrounded by a couple of villages with
\nwonderful view of the mountains and the villagers strolling
\naround just outside the club house.<\/p>\n
Once I was inside the 94 hectare area, I could see some of the
\nmany trees around the fields, some of the golf-greens and even a
\nriver, which is called the Bojongsari River.<\/p>\n
If you are lucky, like me, you might even hear some charming
\ndangdut music drifting from the villagers' homes just across the
\nBojongsari River.<\/p>\n
Nature-friendly<\/p>\n
"I'm always proud to introduce the place as a nature-friendly
\ngolf course which helps the surrounding community," said Manuel
\nRawung, the soft-spoken, immaculately proper director of
\nSawangan.<\/p>\n
Rawung is very proud of his course. He claimed that Sawangan
\nemploys 200 people from the nearby villages. "Golf courses are
\nvery labor intensive because they require such high
\nmaintenance," he pointed out.<\/p>\n
The par-72 layout is the only golf course in the country
\ndesigned by a local architect.<\/p>\n
While showing me photographs of Sawangan's opening ceremony in
\n1972, which was attended by President Soeharto and then Jakarta
\ngovernor Ali Sadikin, the slightly over middle age executive
\nasserted, "We never have had any problems with the local
\ncommunity."<\/p>\n
In contrast to a past controversy involving an exclusive golf
\ncourse in North Jakarta which allegedly ruined a mangrove swamp
\nor the widespread land dispute cases where villagers have lost
\ntheir land to golf course developers, Sawangan does seem to be
\nthe exception.<\/p>\n
Rawung went on to say that all of the caddies are young men
\nfrom the villages. Apparently he does not like the idea of
\nemploying young girls to carry those heavy bags.<\/p>\n
"We also give the caddies the choice of using trollies when
\nworking," he said while pointing at the waiting boys.<\/p>\n
It was late Sunday afternoon and the courses were relatively
\nvacant. Some of the caddies were just sitting around the fields
\nwhile some others, using used sticks, tried a shot at the rich
\nman's game.<\/p>\n
"You know, some of the boys have even made it onto the junior
\nnational teams," Rawung said.<\/p>\n
Infamous<\/p>\n
Unlike one might find at those multi-million rupiahs members
\nonly courses, the chance of bumping into a famous, or infamous,
\nindustrialist is quite small at Sawangan.<\/p>\n
Being one of the few public courses in the Greater Jakarta
\narea, Sawangan is frequented more by the expatriate community,
\nmostly members of the diplomatic corps, or bureaucrats from state
\nfinancial institutions<\/p>\n
Of course, judging from the press coverage of the rampant bad
\ndebt problem, the Economist's stereotype might be applicable even
\nat Sawangan these days.<\/p>\n
However, bad-debts aside, Sawangan's reasonable weekend greens
\nfee (around Rp 100,000) is still far from conspicuous and is a
\nmajor force in drawing such fidelity from Jakarta's golfers.<\/p>\n
"We spend very little on promotion," Rawung acknowledged. "Our
\nclients are very loyal."<\/p>\n
Some of them are so devoted to Sawangan that they decide to
\nhire the little cottages surrounding the courses. Some of these
\ndevotees, including former finance minister Ali Wardhana, usually
\nspend their entire weekend in these tiny houses so that they can
\nfully commit themselves to the ritual.<\/p>\n
Such addiction, of course, might not solve the golf widow
\nproblem.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/sawangan-golf-course-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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