The Tide & Tee June 2022 Issue

THE

TIDE & TEE

GOLF AND NATURE IN HARMONY

ECDC/TT/06/2022-02

CONTENTS

• 2 - TABLE OF REFERENCE
• 3 - HARRIS ABDULLAH

General Manager, e Els Club Desaru Coast
• 4 - TROON WOMEN’S GOLF MONTH
• 5 - TCHHEALELLESNCGLEUB20P2A2RTNERSHIP
• 6 -TIP OF THE MONTH

by Assistant Golf Professional
• 7 - AN EXPERIENCE BEYOND GOLF
• 8 - SUSTAINABILITY UPDATE
• 9 - PROMOTIONS

TABLE OF REFERENCE

VALLEY COURSE AVAILABILITY
FACILITY ur - Sun, 8.00am – 5.00pm
(Last Tee O , 2.00pm)
Sports and Recreation
ur - Sun, 8.00am - 5.00pm
Golf
ur - Sun, 7.30am – 6pm
Golf Shop (Last Order 5.30pm)
Dining Outlets

Lembah Restaurant

OCEAN COURSE AVAILABILITY
FACILITY
Daily, 7.30am – dusk
Sports and Recreation Daily, 7.00am – 6.00pm
Golf Daily, 8.00am – 6.00pm
Daily, 8.00am – 5.00pm
Golf Shop
Practice Facilities Daily, 6.30am – 8pm
FootGolf & Academy Course (Last Order 7.30pm)
Dining Outlets Temporarily Closed

Big Easy Bar & Restaurant

261 Bar & Restaurant

2

Harris Abdullah

General Manager, e Els Club Desaru Coast
As international travel resumes, the multi-award-winning e
Els Club Desaru Coast’s new General Manager Harris Abdullah
is gearing up to welcome golfers from around the world to grace
its stunning fairways and abundant wildlife again.
Harris Abdullah new General Manager at e Els Club Desaru
Coast A familiar face among regular golfers at e Els Club
Desaru Coast, Harris Abdullah, who recently succeeded Steven

ielke, is known for his amicable and hospitable disposition.
Harris’ stellar career has been one of consistent high-quality
performance in the golf industry; earning him the stamp of
approval to become the obvious choice for the top position of
General Manager.
His appointment as General Manager at e Els Club Desaru
Coast is set to drive greater value to this Troon Golf-managed
facility to continue drawing enthusiastic golfers to Desaru Coast
via a combination of strategies. Diving into action, Harris’
immediate task is to ensure business scalability with the
reopening of the international borders while his mid and
long-term goals comprise customer-centricity and sustainable
development.
General Manager of e Els Club Desaru Coast; Harris
Abdullah said, “We’ve been receiving many enquiries lately from
travellers on gol ng at e Els Club Desaru Coast. We believe
many more regular travellers to Malaysia are eager to resume
their golf outing in Desaru again.”
Harris; 46 joined e Els Club Desaru Coast as a pioneer team
member in 2016 with more than 23 years of experience in a
semi-private club and resort. He was greatly involved since the
club’s pre-opening where he worked with the ownership to
establish the 2 stately clubhouses, the 27-hole Ocean Course,
18-hole Valley Course and e Els Performance Golf Academy
with complete facilities. Harris was also instrumental in the
implementation of standards that are aligned to Troon Golf ’s
policy every step of the way.
Harris began his career in 1996 at Cherry Hills Golf Club in
California, USA where he learned the ropes of golf operations.
A year later, he returned to Malaysia to join Pulai Springs Resort
in Johor; followed by a 15-year stint at Ria Bintan Golf Club &
Resort in Riau, Indonesia where his last position was Resort
Manager. He successfully directed several major tournaments at
amateur and professional level. Many of these events have
provided rst hand collaboration opportunities with
international golf brands such as the Asian Tour.

3

Troon celebrates “Troon Women’s Golf Month” throughout June at hundreds of Troon-managed facilities around the world.
Every Wednesday during the month of June, e Els Club Desaru Coast - Ocean Course will o er ladies with an exclusive golf
experience for only RM185 per person. In addition, pay only RM70 for 45 minutes of golf lesson that utilizes Hi-tech facilities at
the Els Performance Golf Academy.

4

e Els Club Partnership Challenge 2022

You are cordially invited to a round of great golf and friendly competition at e Els Club Partnership Challenge 2022.
e Els Club Partnership Challenge 2022 will be played as 18 hole Strokeplay Partnership at the Valley Course on Sunday,

31 July 2022. is golf challenge is open to all amateur Men & Women golfers with valid WHS handicaps (maximum combined
team handicap 40 and below). A 20% reduction will apply to players with declared handicaps.
Players are required to register in pairs with an entrance fee of RM750 (for 2 persons). Rate is inclusive of green fee, shared golf cart
usage, insurance, interesting goodies, prizes and lunch.
Limited to 40-pair slots only.
Register now at [email protected].

5

TIP OF THE MONTH

by Assistant Golf Professional Zafran Abdullah
ere are four main aspects to improve a driver.

Posture
Posture is normally measured by how you address the golf ball.
Posture is a very important fundamental which a lot of golfers
overlook and don’t give a lot of consideration. It can definitely
help to eliminate the big scores by putting the golf ball playable
during your round of golf.
Good posture is very important, not only because it’ll ease the
strain on your back and allow you to play pain-free longer, but
it’ll also help you play better golf. e thing about posture is that
it’s super easy to achieve. It requires very little effort but provides
you with a significant amount of stability. All you have to do is
remember to position yourself correctly.

e best way to improve your driver, which is believed to be the
most important factor of driver, is angle of attack.
Angle of attack
Angle of attack is definitely the most important factor to hitting
your driver better. Making sure you get the right angle of attack on the driver, will ensure you get the correct launch angle
when driving and also will make sure that the ball will gain distance and consistency. e right angle of attack for the driver
needs to have a positive angle of attack to help launch the ball off the tee and into the air.
Alignment
A decent alignment comes from a good foundation and basic technique and skill set in terms of driving consistently. When a
lot of people think about the word of ‘’alignment’’ then think it’s synonymous with ‘’aim’’. While aim is part of alignment, it
doesn’t give us the whole story. We’ll discuss the aiming part of alignment here in a bit but for now, alignment provides a
comfortable foundation on which to build your swing. For example, if the player positions himself at the wrong side of the
target line, he will end up slicing or pulling the shot by swinging in the wrong direction. A very useful tip to be very aware of
is aim when driving.
Strike
Strike is more on the centre of clubface to get consistency and distance control. If you hit on the heel or toe you will see some
hape such as push slice or pull hook and increase the spin rate. e best thing that you can do and try is use the foot spray on
club face when you are at range to see your strike.

6

AN EXPERIENCE BEYOND GOLF

Golf courses are more than just a place to play golf, they provide valuable
habitat for a wide variety of flora and fauna. Many golf courses are working hard
to protect the environment and allow us to enjoy nature in action during our round.
In this issue, our featured wildlife is a bird that resides within e Els Club Desaru
Coast – the Oriental Honey-buzzard. Oriental Honey-buzzard (Pernis ptilorhynchus)
is a bird of prey in the Accipitridae family, which also includes many other diurnal
raptors such as kites, eagles, and harriers.
It has a long tail and a short head crest with brown on the upper part and paler
below. A dark throat stripe is present. Unusually for a large bird of prey, the sexes can
be distinguished. e male has a blue-grey head, while the female's head is brown and
slightly larger and darker than the male. e male has a black tail with a white band.
Breeds in southwest and northeast China through east Asia to Japan, this population
migrates south to Southeast Asia. It is a specialist feeder, living mainly on the larvae of
social bees and wasps, and eating bits of comb and honey; it takes other small insects’
prey such as cicadas.

is species has an extremely large range and hence does not approach the thresholds
for Vulnerable under the range size criterion of the IUCN Red List.
Seeing wildlife is one of the greatest joys of golf. Pay attention to the environment
while golfing and you’ll encounter magnificent findings around you. It is truly an
experience beyond golf.

ORIENTAL HONEY-BUZZARD
Photo by @tomreynoldswildlife

7

Sustainability Update: Fertility Management

Continuing with the sustainability theme introduced in our previous newsletter, this month we would like to touch upon another
important area of our environmental management of the golf course – the use of fertilizers.
Given the low mowing heights common on golf courses (as compared to a normal home lawn), and the wear and tear that both
golfers and maintenance equipment create on the turfgrass, regular fertilization is an essential practice in maintaining both
playability and presentation. at said, it would be well known and widely understood that indiscriminate use of fertilizers
(especially around water bodies) can lead to adverse environmental outcomes (algal blooms, groundwater contamination etc.). So
what are some of the key practices followed at e Els Club Desaru Coast to mitigate such risks?
Firstly, our primary working principle is to apply ‘a little and often’. at is, rather than making more periodic applications at
high rates, our approach is to ‘spoon-feed’ the turfgrass with very low rates of fertilization per hectare on shorter intervals
(weekly, bi-weekly or monthly). is way the nutrients carried in the fertilizer are delivered to the plant only at the rate in which
they are consumed by the plant, avoiding the build-up of any longer lasting residuals within the soil. is approach also reduces
the potential impact of any (unintended) mishaps that might occur.
Secondly, the golf club’s fertilizer program places a much greater emphasis on the application of liquid fertilizers applied to the leaf
of the grass, as opposed to granular fertilization. Granular fertilizers must be irrigated into the soil pro le so that they are then
taken by the grass via its root system. is method would not only increase our consumption of irrigation water, but also heighten
both the short and long-term risks for contamination of soil and water systems. Liquid applications that are foliar absorbed avoid
these risks, and allow us to apply at even lower rates and degrees of concentration.
Our use of granular fertilization is restricted to very select times of the year; when we know the chance of heavy rainfall is at its
lowest, and on those occasions when we have already opened up the soil pro le in advance (e.g., golf course aeration and
renovations). At such times, we know we will be able to quickly incorporate such products directly into the soil (avoiding risk of
surface run-o and movement towards water bodies) and ensure a quick uptake by the turfgrass roots.
February will also be the month where the agronomy team carries out its rst round of golf course renovations for the year, and
we will be sharing some more details and explanation of those practices in the next newsletter.

6
8

RM581from per month
Golf cart & daily insurance included!

+6019 323 2842

to purchase your Privilege Pass Now

*Price above is based on Individual Privilege Pass RM6969. Couple RM12314, Family RM18975,
Corporate RM24625. 355 days per year, for Ocean and Valley Courses, no monthly fees, advanced booking required,

access to Academy Course and practise facilities, Troon Advantage rates, additional savings on guest rate, lessons,
F&B, golf shop merchandise and many more. T&Cs apply.

elsclubmalaysia.com 9

From RM215 to RM275
per person

• Golf Fee • Shared golf cart • Daily insurance for 18 holes

BOOK ONLINE NOW!
at elsclubmalaysia.com
or by Troon App

* is promotion is valid until 31 December 2022
* is promotion is valid on Weekdays only (Monday - Friday)
*Rates shown above are inclusive of 6% SST *Subject to availability

*Terms & Conditions apply

THE ELS CLUB DESARU COAST
GOLF LESSON PACKAGES

ZAFRAN ABDULLAH - Assistant Golf Pro

• RM308 (per person) • RM500 (Group/Family)

One (1) individual lesson per hour 3-5 persons per lesson

• RM1,500 (per person) • RM2,550
(Couple Development Lesson)
Five (5) individual lesson
Individual lesson ( Five (5) lessons per person)
• RM800 (per person)

9 Holes playing lesson on course

Package Includes :
• Access to the Academy Course and practice facilities • Golf equipment is provided

BOOK NOW AT
[email protected]

or call +6 (019) 707 5031

THE ELS CLUB DESARU COAST - OCEAN COURSE

NO 4, JALAN DANAU, DESARU COAST, 81930 DESARU, JOHOR

T. +6 (07) 878 0000 W. elsclubmalaysia.com 79

FaHtAhPPeYr’s
DAY

20% OFF

*With any ala carte meal in a single receipt

EVERY SATURDAY & SUNDAY 8
From 8.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m.

*With any adult meal purchase

*No further discount will be applicable
* is promotion is valid at Lembah Restaurant, Valley Course only

and for kids below 6 years old
*Image shown is for illustration purpose only
*Terms & Conditions apply