On Saturday, December 4^th, we went golfing at Ria Bintan, a top notch course located on the island of Bintan, Indonesia (http://www.riabintan.com/). This is an annual outing, and I was part of a group of twelve people playing the course. I got to meet some great people, all working and living in Singapore, who herald from all over the world.

The trip to Bintan is by fast boat. This is a 100 ft long catamaran boat capable of making around 40 knots and carrying 250 people on two decks. The trip took about an hour. On the way out, there were fairly strong swells, and several of the people on the boat got quite green, some even got sick. On the way back, we crossed the path of a couple of large container ships. At 40 knots, this literally lifted us into the air 5 or more feet. The boat then came swooping back down into the trough of the next wave, three or four times on one side of the ship and then again on the other. There were many “Eeee Yows!” on board the boat.

As you can see, the seating is 12 across in air conditioned comfort. Most of the people in the picture were part of the golf group. I took the pictures of the craft itself from the dock.

Click on any picture to see a larger image.

The golf course is reached by s short bus ride from the ferry terminal. Upon arrival we were escorted to the clubhouse to change for golf. Pictures of the entrance and the clubhouse facilities are below. The gent standing next to me, Sean Davidson, is a “kiwi”, and was a great golf mate for the day.

The course itself is absolutely beautiful, set amongst mature forests and along the coast of the South China sea. There are two 18 hole courses, the Ocean course and the Forest course. We played the ocean course. The shots below are looking down onto the putting green from the clubhouse, and a view of the view at the first hole.

The “old pro” at the second tee, and a view of the third hole fairway.

Standing at the 7^th hole, ocean course, then a series of ocean views from the green at the 8^th hole, including a picture of John Maloch. The water is the South China Sea.

A view of the ninth green as we approach the ninth tee, then a view from the tee, A real water shot. There must be quite a few golf balls in the ocean.

A view from the ninth green back to the tee and an ocean view. John is putting and Steve Crisp (in the hat) is looking on.

Course hazard. We didn’t see any monkeys on this day… then again, we weren’t playing the Forest course. Finally, a group photo at the clubhouse afterwards.

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