For busy golfers, help is only a chip away

For busy golfers, help is only a chip away

Sudibyo M. Wiradji, Contributor, Jakarta

For those businesspeople wanting to learn how to play golf but
are trapped behind an office desk, the time or place no longer
needs to be a problem. Executives working in busy Jakarta can
practice at nearby golf clubs or driving ranges after office
hours.

Golf-driving ranges or schools can be found in almost every
part of the city.

No less then 15 incredible championship golf courses are
available in the capital, with several designed by the world's
top authorities, such as Robert Trent Jr., Jack Nicklaus and
Arnold Palmer.

This number does not include the dozens of other courses out
in the surrounding areas of Tangerang, Bogor and Bekasi. With
golfing becoming increasingly popular, especially among business
and executive circles, more new driving range schools have been
set up to attract prospective players, such as the ones at Mega
Mall Pluit in North Jakarta and Kuningan in South Jakarta.

A growing interest in golf led to a boom in the golf business
in Indonesia in the 1990s, spawning driving range facilities and
short-time courses.

Strategically located driving ranges, such as the Senayan Golf
Driving Range, Prestasi Golf Driving Range in front of the
Jakarta Stock Exchange (JSX), the Pondok Indah Golf and Country
Club, Pantai Indah Kapuk Golf Course and Kemayoran Golf Course,
are busy during the afternoon with prospective golf players
playing the sport for one hour after office hours.

Other golf driving ranges and schools, such as the Kemang Golf
Driving Range, Bumi Serpong Dami Indah (BSD) Golf Course and
Gading Raya Padang Golf and Club are also popular among
executives working in surrounding buildings, including Japanese,
South Korean and Chinese expatriates.

The rates range from Rp 15,000 to Rp 25,000 (less than US$3)
for 100 balls. The Senayan Driving Range has always been packed
with golf enthusiasts after office hours, due to its convenient
and strategic location.

For 100 balls, the range charges Rp 25,000 in the afternoon
and Rp 30,000 after 3 p.m. The range also provides golf
instructors. The instructor charges Rp 75,000 per hour.

Golf schools offer course packages for beginners or those who
want to develop their skills in the sport. Students include those
from Japan, Korea and China.

The rates for packages vary, depending on the golf course.
They range from Rp 750,000 to Rp 900,000. This includes the fees
for the instructor, driving ball, playing on the course, a
program book and a t-shirt. Golf packages at a cheaper rate
usually exclude the instruction fee.

The cost for instruction is usually based on negotiations
between the player and the instructor. The going price is about
Rp 100,000 for 45 minutes.

Almost all the courses provide rental equipment. A set of
clubs can be used for Rp 80,000 and for those who wish to wear
special shoes for the game, they can rent a pair on the course
for Rp 20,000.

At Gading Raya Padang Golf and Club, you can choose which
program best suits your needs, whether you are a beginner,
intermediate or advanced player, with instructions given by a
senior golf professional, who is helped by three assistants.

"Prospective players are not only those from Indonesia but
also abroad," said the course's general manager, Simon Subiyanto.

Simon said the golf driving range has the most strategic
location in West Java. Gading Raya is situated between Bumi
Serpong Damai (BSD), Lippo Karawaci, Modern Land and Tangerang.

To take advantage of the growing interest in golf, Bumi
Serpong Damai (BSD) Golf Course will focus its programs on young
people aged six and up.

With its "Junior Activity Program" to be launched in August of
this year, BSD Golf Course wants to motivate children and
teenagers to play golf and to "encourage those that demonstrate
the talent and skill to make higher achievements in golf as a
sort of prestigious sport," said Mira Magnolia, the sale and
marketing manager of BSD Golf Course.

"The program serves as the embryo for the birth of talented
and skilled golf players who can join a competition not only at
the national level, but also the international," she said.

She said to achieve this goal, the golf course regularly holds
junior golf competitions at the domestic level. "We just held a
golf competition at the ASEAN level, and next year we plan to
hold another contest at the Asia-Pacific level," she said.

At BSD Golf Course, the rate for the public is set at Rp
250,000 per month, Rp 100,000 for members and Rp 150,000 for the
children of members. The lessons include an introduction to using
golf equipment, the facilities, how to swing, putt, follow
through on shots, pitch and so forth. "Lessons will not only
include techniques, but also golf ethics," she said.

Not all golf schools offer the same special course packages,
but they provide beginners with facilities, such as a tee box
with staff members, who, on request, are ready to provide
step-by-step guidance. "We do not have a golf clinic, but our
staff members will readily assist beginners in playing golf, such
as how to hold the club and tee off correctly. They do not start
playing real golf on the course until they learn how to tee off
well," Harry Basuki, the marketing manager of Esmeralda Golf &
Country Club.

The club is among the few that provides a putting program
because "our driving range school is part of the golf course," he
said, adding that golf driving range schools that do not belong
to a golf course have no putting equipment.

The driving range has eight holes. "With the putting program,
beginners can have the experience of playing on a real golf
course," he said.

The school does not set a price for staff members who provide
guidance to the beginners. Like other golf courses, the school
charges for the balls that players tee off with. The school
charges Rp 15,000 for 50 balls and Rp 20,000 for 100 balls.

If you do not have clubs or shoes, the course offers equipment
for rent. One set of clubs can be rented for Rp 80,000 and a pair
of shoes goes for Rp 19,000.

Facilities at Gading Raya Padang Golf & Club include golf
carts, male and female caddies, massage, saunas, a proshop,
lockers, golf rental equipment, golf pros, chauffeuring, a
restaurant, a bar, a practice green, a banquet room with a
maximum capacity of 300 guests, a VIP room, fitness, a Kids Club,
tennis and a swimming pool. Green fees are set at Rp 165,000 if
you are accompanied by a member on the weekdays and Rp 350,000 on
weekends or holidays.

You can choose the golf driving range school, depending on
where you live or work. But when you play golf on any course, no
matter what level you are at, don't forget to pay your caddy a
tip.

A caddy is always at your service during the game, not only at
the big events. There is no fixed rate for caddy service fees and
the amount depends on which golf course you play on. Caddy fees
range from Rp 15,000 to Rp 50,000, depending on which courses you
play on. The fee is usually paid directly to the caddy.