The Club's Boeing 737 is currently on lease in Las Vegas, but otherwise all elements of the Mines Resort and GC are fully operational. Which is probably no more than one would expect from a development which is currently valued at about £700 million.
It is entirely Malaysian owned, which is remarkable in itself. What makes it all the more praiseworthy, however, is that the entire project was conceived and brought to fruition by Tan Sre Lee Kim Yew, who was selling stationery in Kuala Lumpur only 15 years ago.
After construction work on the course was completed in 1993, it was left for two years to mature before being opened for play. Now it is acknowledged as one of the finest courses in Asia.
The overall development contains seven elements - Golf Club, Exhibition Centre, Beach Resort, Palace of the Golden Horses, Business Park, Theme Park and Shopping Fair. And by Western standards, access is not as prohibitive as one might imagine, given the opulence of the entire development. Mind you, the prices would be way beyond the reach of all but the wealthiest Malaysians.
For instance, life membership of the club is available at £110,000 along with a monthly subscription of £50. And greenfees for the championship-standard golf course designed by Robert Trent Jones Jnr and venue for this week's World Cup, are £56 on weekdays and £70 at weekends.
All of which goes to prove that there's money in tin, even when deposits run out. For the development was once the Hong Futt Mine which began operations in 1909 and eventually ceased operations in 1982. That was when Tan Sri, who had by then moved into property development, could see the potential of sprawling, abandoned wasteland about 20 kilometres from Kuala Lumpur.
Water, as supplied by a 150-acre lake where the open-cast mine once thrived, connects all seven components. And everything is on a grand scale, including the hotel whose entrance is dominated by a spectacular sculpture of golden horses. Then there is the imposing sculpture of an eagle with outstretched wings which graces the porte cochere of the golf clubhouse.
Meanwhile, a feature of the Theme Park is a water screen movie where images are projected onto a screen of water using laser and computer technology. Indications are that we'll be hearing a lot more about the Mines after this weekend.
"Golfers are not created equal, but we'll make you better." Advertisement for Malaysia's Gary Player Academy.
In the knowledge that readers of this column would have taken a keen interest in last week's MTV Awards at The Point, I am delighted to be able to explain the absence of American Will Smith from the show. Interestingly, it had to do with golf.
We're informed that the 31- year-old actor/singer, who won the award as the best Male Singer, has been getting some tips from no less a figure than Tiger Woods. And we're also assured that he is using them to good effect while playing the title role in "The Legend of Bagger Vance", currently being shot in Georgia.
This is the movie of the fascinating book by Steven Pressfield, which deals with a mythical three-way match between Bobby Jones, Walter Hagen and Rannulph Junah, played on a links outside Savannah in 1931. The movie is being directed by Robert Redford who also takes the role of Junah, an emotionally scarred First World War veteran. His caddie, Bagger Vance, is reputed to have the secret of the perfect swing.
TOURNAMENT earnings of £610,870 this season, have lifted Padraig Harrington into the top-40 of the European Tour career money list. He has now amassed £1,492,851 since coming through the Qualifying School four years ago and by claiming 40th position, he edges compatriot Des Smyth down to 41st.
Irish figures are: 8, Darren Clarke £3,207,141; 16, Ronan Rafferty £2,171,228; 38, Eamonn Darcy £1,515,584; 40, Harrington £1,492,851; 41, Smyth £1,466,784; 46, David Feherty £1,394,422; 48, Philip Walton £1,355,732; 49, Paul McGinley £1,331,394.
SE-RI PAK, winner of the LPGA Tour Championship last weekend, seems to have no difficulty in recognising the value of money at the end of only her second season in professional ranks. And the 22-year-old South Korean has also appreciate the dangers of holidays at home.
While in Las Vegas for the Tour Championship, she lost $60 in the slot machines at The Desert Inn, but won $215,000 by beating Karrie Webb and Laura Davies in a play-off for the title. Which brought her tournament earnings for the season to $956,926. And she won't be spending any of it on English lessons.
Despite the importance of knowing the language, she has decided that classes are a waste of time. "All the time repeat . . . blah, blah, blah," she said. "I can't learn anything. I ask people how can I learn quickly and they say `No matter what, you have to keep talking.' So I just make more friends and talk to them, keeping hanging out together. More better than taking lessons. And it's free."
Meanwhile, mindful of rather unhappy experiences 12 months ago, she is resisting the temptation of a return home to South Korea. That was when she was pulled in all directions, enduring parades and all sorts of celebrations, with the result that she spent much of the holiday in hospital, suffering from exhaustion.
With A general election scheduled for Malaysia at the end of this month and the World Cup currently in progress outside Kuala Lumpur, Fauzi Omar thought it appropriate to couch his views of the political scene in rather colourful golfing terms. Omar, incidentally, is a weekly columnist in the "New Straits Times", and professes to know very little about golf.
An advocate of the status quo, he is unhappy with those who question "a political course which has been playing to a par-72 since Independence." He goes on: "No longer happy with the pin placements which favour the masters of the short game, who read the line of the undulating greens better, they want to change par configurations and introduce new sand-traps and water-hazards. They want wider fairways, less treacherous roughs and less challenging greens.
"Change is fine, but forcing it may endanger the entire course. And their way of playing the game threatens to destroy the greens with divots of intolerance, extremism and blind hatred. There is no need for wholesale changes. The old course is fine and the old pro is still on top of the game. The swing is still there, so is the drive.
"The putting may be a bit off, but it is still sensitive to the greens of priorities and needs. There is no need to throw away the entire golf set, just some of the clubs - that scarred wood, that rusty iron or that troublesome putter, for instance. And make the necessary adjustments."
He concludes: "Golf or life, good par values must be maintained to define the character of the game. Let's not lose sight of that. FORE!" Now, I wonder who would quality as scarred woods, rusty irons and troublesome putters in Leinster House?"
This day in golf history. . . On November 20th, 1931, the US Golf Association reversed its decision on the new, so-called balloon golf ball, which had proved to be very unpopular since its introduction the previous January. So, effective from January 1st 1932, players were obliged to use a ball which was the same size (1.68 inches) as the existing one, but heavier (1.62 ounces as opposed to 1.55 ounces). Two months prior to that, the USGA had decided that golfers would be permitted to remove loose impediments on putting surfaces during competitions.
TEASER: In a match between A and B, A's ball was a few inches from the hole. B conceded A's next stroke and then asked: "How many strokes did you take?" A answered, "six." B, lying five, then holed a putt for a six and assumed he had halved the hole. At that point, A told B that he (A) had actually scored five. The committee ruled that A won the hole. Was this correct?
ANSWER: Yes. The hole was over when A's putt was conceded and he had won the hole with a five. Since A corrected the error before either player played from the next tee, no penalty was involved.
