After a two-year interruption of the traditional KLOGS Away Tours, Cambodia was the first ASEAN country to allow unrestricted entry for vaccinated tourists. The KLOGS committee therefore took the decision to select Phnom Penh as the May Away 2022 Tour destination. Nine KLOGS members signed up for the tour. In addition we welcomed two guests: Chris Miller and Brian Appleby. The official AirAsia tour flight from Kuala Lumpur arrived on time in Phnom Penh and everybody checked into the Lux Hotel.
There was a fair amount of whinging about the hotel, which quickly subsided when the strategic location advantages became apparent. Since the AirAsia flight from KL arrived in the early afternoon there was plenty of time for first-time tour members to get acquainted with the area surrounding the hotel, such as the Tonle Sap Riverside.
The group met for pre-dinner drinks at what was to become the “local” and then dispersed to various locations near the hotel.
Weather apps predicted a total washout for the whole tour. Klaus spoke to a higher authority and we had 3 ½ days of splendid sunshine and even some cooling wind.
1st Day – Monthly Medal Garden City Golf Club – Phnom Penh
Garden City is one of the premier courses in Phnom Penh. It has been a favourite venue for previous KLOGS tours. Since it is a relatively new golf course there is still very little shade. The course was in good condition with undulating greens. Opinions ranged from “difficulty” for high handicappers to “relatively easy” for low handicappers.
The F&B prices seem to have been increased dramatically at Garden City. After a short bus ride we adjourned to the riverside Titanic restaurant with acceptable food and reasonable beer price. El Pres officially welcomed the guests, Chris Miller and Brian Appleby. Robert Bellavance won the monthly medal.
The day 1 monthly medal results are:
El Pres then awarded of the novelty prizes
NTP 1: Brian 23m NTP 2: Sigi 9m NTP 3: Paul 11.9m NTP 4: no one
Lowest Gross: Geoff 83 Last birdie: none
COTD Nominations:
(a) El Pres for delaying the first flight tee-off while practising on the driving range
(b) Iain for over-looking his caddy standing right behind him
(c) Some other nominations such as running a passport through a washing machine pre-tour.
Through skilful manoeuvring El Pres managed to shift the focus on Iain who was surprisingly voted COTD.
2nd – Day Two-Day Competition Vattanac Golf Resort East Course
The Faldo designed East Course has two prominent features, magnificent scale replicas of the world-renowned Angkor Wat as well as other Siem Reap temples and an abundance of bunkers. Thankfully, we played off the white tees. The bunkers added a degree of difficulty. The caddy performance was a bit of hit and miss. Although opinions varied most enjoyed a well-maintained golf course, actually voted best golf course in Cambodia 2020.
The day two was the first leg of the customary 2-day competition to determine the tour champion with handicaps adjusted as per KLOGS rules.
Winner on the day was El Pres with 84 and 38 points.
The full results of the competition can be seen in the 2-day summary.
NTP 1: Sigi (5.2m) NTP 2: Klaus (18.10m)
Last Birdie: none
Nominations:
Robert: Assuming that the 2-day Tour Champion competition was over
El Pres: For generously offering other flights cold beer only to guzzle it himself
Robert: For only paying his caddy $10 when the tip should be a minimum $15
COTD: Robert
Following day 1 it was decided to have lunch at a Khmer restaurant, suggested by the tour guide and not at the club. No Western food was available. The offered food was hardly edible. Thankfully beer was available.
The horse and jockey draw was done on the bus.
In the evening El Pres, Iain and Klaus did a recce to select and book a restaurant for the customary 4th day KLOGS dinner. The mission was to find a restaurant with good food, nice ambience and reasonably priced.
The Bistrot de la Poste on Street 102 met all conditions. Thank you Stuart Doust, a frequent KLOGS tourist in Phnom Penh, for the recommendation.
3rd Day Two-Day Competition Vattanac Golf Resort West Course
The West Course is the second Sir Nick Faldo designed championship course with undulating fairways and Paspalum greens. The Dragon Lake, located in the center of the course, created some challenges on the way to the greens. To ease the pain, the committee decided that we play off the white tees. The consensus was that the West course played well and is the most beautiful. Tony Morris was the bandit of the day with a gross score of 84 and an outrageous 46 points, Paul came 2nd and 3rd was Geoff Mclaws. Tony Lynch managed to get on one NTP green.
As can be seen below Tony Morris won the prestigious Tour Champion trophy with an aggregate score over the two days of 78 points. The full scores of the 2 –day competition are as follows:
El Pres presented the Tour Champion trophy to Tony Morris, who at the start had to furiously re-calculate his formulae since El Pres changed the tees from blue to white.
Tony also did a stellar job as fines master, especially on the first day with a quiz about the tour rules. No one escaped his watchful eye. Our Finance Minister Stan was pleased with the collection including honesty jugs.
The horse & jokey 1st prize went to the two Tony’ pairing. Klaus came through for 9th place prize carrying Robert as jockey.
COTD Nominations:
Robert: For whinging the whole morning about others handicaps
Robert: After 4 days not knowing where our “local” meeting place was
El Pres: Making a valiant attempt to stay awake on the bus
COTD: Robert
We had a snack and some beers at the club and the made our way back to the hotel.
The Tour dinner, attended by 9, was held at the Bistro de la Poste a mere 5-minute tuk tuk ride from the hotel. All agreed that the food was excellent and reasonably priced. El Pres was not well, but still stayed for the duration.
As an aside, the 11 bottles of Baileys were already consumed on the day 3. Replenishment had to be arranged for next day’s bus rides. That too was finished on the way to the golf course. See also “Late Breaking News” last page.
4th Day – Money Game Garden City Golf Club
The money game was played off the blue tees. As on the first day the course was in good condition with the green fringes a bit soft.
The money game was played with three / four players in a KLOGS adapted scramble format. All teams played off scratch.
The money game had to be abandoned on hole 12 due to a massive thunderstorm. All of us assembled at the drinks hut on hole 12. The storm was so bad that we had the take refuge in the toilet, a first for KLOGS. One of the nearby palm trees snapped and fell on a buggy.
Brian “the Gash” Appleby slipped on the floor of the drinks hut and had a jagged cut on the back of his head. Temporary first aid was applied.
After about an hour we made our way back to the clubhouse only to find the lower floor under water. Hot showers were appreciated. Tony Morris also ended up on his arse due to the slippery floor.
Chris took Brain to a clinic to have his wound stitched up. Brain then continued joining the later evening’s festivities. What a trooper!
We eventually got on the bus for the prize giving at the Titanic restaurant.
After dinner El Pres announced the results of the money game:
El Pres then opened the floor for COTD nominations.
- Klaus for not managing to secure good weather right to the end.
- El Pres intended to bring along a fine bottle of scotch, which he then left in his room
- Sigi playing a game on his phone to avoid talking to anyone
- Iain for spilling beer on El Pres.’s presentation table
- Iain for the rules regarding the scramble
- El Pres for claiming to hit a 180m shot but ending up behind Tony M’s topped 150m shot.
El Pres narrowly won the COTD cup.
Due to multiple COTD awards Robert had the honour of being voted COTT.
In closing the tour El Pres thanked all participants and wished all a safe trip home.
The group gave a toast of thanks to the committee for their hard work in organising the tour.
Late breaking news
Stan realising that the extra 3 bottles of Baileys donated by Klaus had already been consumed, bought another 3 bottles on the last night. He handed them over to the local “tour guide” to be put on the bus in the morning. The moron thought this was a gift and took them home. El Pres quickly fixed this and bought another 3 bottles. Appropriate action will be taken with the Malaysian tour travel agency.
Sponsors
Our sponsors are a main reason that we can play at good golf courses and award members with trophies, attractive prizes as well as “KLOGS” signature golf balls. In order to show our appreciation we encourage members to support our sponsors.
Golf Balls
Special thanks to Sigi Maierbrugger who procured the golf balls for 2021-2022
Wines
Ricardo – Fuiza Wines for Home Games.
On behalf of the KLOGS committee, the tour scribe extends a big thank you to Stan and others for contributing the photographs.