JP/17/GOLF

JP/17/GOLF

A golf tournament in a cultural carnival

ID Nugroho The Jakarta Post/Surabaya

The Majapahit Golf Challenge 2005 will be the first golf tournament ever that will be held simultaneously with a cultural carnival featuring traditional art performances from various cities in East Java.

The two-day tournament will kick off on July 10 at Taman Dayu, a golf course measuring a total of some 72,000 square meters in Pandaan and will have up to 250 participants.

Golf Digest magazine has called Taman Dayu, located on the cool slopes of the Mount Arjuno area, the best golf course in Asia.

The 18-hole course has been specially designed by golfing legend Jack Nicklaus from the United States, a master in golf course design.

"We are very proud to be part of the Majapahit Golf Challenge 2005 and take part in efforts to revive the tourism industry in East Java," said Hausman of Taman Dayu management to The Jakarta Post.

The golf course is located around 70 kilometers southeast of Surabaya.

Abdul Hamid, chairman of the Indonesian Golf Association (PGI) said that the organization was determined to make this event a way to select Indonesia's best golfers.

"And it's also a way to give chances for golfers in East Java to raise their standards as they will play against golfers from other places."

Tourism officials also confidently stated that the golf competition was one of the ways to revive the tourist industry in the province as it was expected to lure foreign and domestic tourists to visit the province.

"One of our strategies is also by organizing dozens of traditional art performances from many areas in the province," said Harun, head of the provincial tourist agency.

This cultural carnival -- held inside Taman Dayu -- will feature the Gandrung Dance and Jejer from Banyuwangi, Reog Dance and Kang Potro from Ponorogo and the Mask Dance from Malang.

"East Java has thousands of types of traditional performing arts and the best four are Jejer Dance, Reog, Kang Potro and the Mask Dance," Sunarmadji, an employee of the agency, told The Jakarta Post.

East Java, which is obviously located on the eastern part of Java island and includes Madura and Bawean islands, is populated by some 34 million people, according to the 2000 population census.

The population is predominantly of Javanese and Madurese ethnic groups. Other minority ethnic groups that make up the East Java population are those of Chinese, Indian and Arabic origins.

East Java, which has 29 regencies and 9 municipalities, receives about 2 million foreign and domestic tourists every year.

This province, home to thousands of traditional tourist attractions, is actually expecting a much larger number of tourist arrivals.

The province is also noted for its beautiful natural panoramas.

Tourists also enjoy Mount Bromo and its Tengger crater, Meru Betiri in Jember and Alas Purwo as well as Alas Saluran in Banyuwangi. All these tourist sites carry with them a strong cultural legacy from the Singosari and Majapahit Kingdoms.