Golf Academy introduced at Serpong Country Club

JAKARTA (JP): Jakarta's first golf academy is aimed at teaching beginners the fundamentals of the game.

"The purpose of the academy is to teach more people how to play golf and to improve their technical skills," said Jim Stanley, general manager of the Gading Raya Golf and Country Club yesterday.

The club, located at Serpong, Tangerang, was designed by Australian golf veteran Graham Marsh and, on its 85-hectare plot, also provides a special driving range, located next to the course.

About 60 students, from beginners to intermediates, can gather on the driving range, to practice their swing and stance.

Ian Gibbons, the club's director of golf told The Jakarta Post that the academy focuses on teaching families of the club's members, including their children.

"Teaching children is very important, because they will have to be the good golfers of tomorrow," he said.

Gibbons, who is a member of the PGA himself, said that golf is a new and very expensive sport here, which can only be played by a minority of people.

"It's important to open up the sport to more people," the Briton said.

"We also provide video facilities for the students because teaching golf is a very complicated and difficult job. When we teach them, we use the video to capture their golf swing in slow motion," he said.

Gibbons said that the academy, which currently has only two international-standard instructors, will design an exclusive course of lessons, consisting of five or six people only.

"If we have a big class, with more than 20 people, we have difficulties in catering to the different standards," he said.

The course, whose club house is a blend of Balinese and Javanese architecture, will be officially opened on May 12. It has about 700 members, each of whom has to pay a US$19,800 membership fee.

Marsh designed the 27-hole course to have shelters which represent traditional houses from all the country's provinces.

"The design will give a natural and traditional atmosphere to members," Stanley said.

The Gading Raya club intends to build an exclusive golf estate and condominiums within the course. This will require another 240 hectares.

PT Jakartabaru Cosmopolitan, a joint venture between the Summarecon Group and the Batik Keris Group, has invested US$35 million in the whole estate.

The club, which is under the management of CCA International, allows its members to play at 160 other courses which are also managed by CCA. (yan)