Being a keen bird watcher living in the South-east Bali it is always nice to head up in the mountains to get some cool air as well as to hopefully spot a few different bird species, so I decided to book a weekend up in the mountains above Bedugul and stay at the famous Handara Golf and Resort. I am not a golfer, but I had heard about the resorts amazing views and the forests that surround the resort so it seemed like the perfect place to spend a relaxing weekend.

Driving into the resort it was obvious that I was in prime bird habitat and on the 5 minute drive from the main road I spotted a small group of pair of Ashy drongos fly over the road, a flock of Orange breasted green pigeons settle in the tree tops as well as numerous Yellow-vented and Sooty headed bulbuls, Collared kingfishers and of course the ubiquitous Spotted doves.

After checking into our room overlooking the golf course, which is spectacularly flanked by mountain rain-forest, it was evident that I would spot many more species before our two day stay was over. In the forest behind the rooms I could hear the incessant tonk of barbets and a wide range of mountain bird sounds that I just couldn’t place – it was clear that this forest was full of life!

I spent a relaxing afternoon at the resort and spotted a pair of Long-tailed shrikes hawking for insects just in front of the hotel lobby as well as a regular sightings of Whitebreasted water hens making short, hurried flights between vegetation patches – these water hens are very common in Bali and dominate scrub and water ponds from the seafront right up into the high mountains. While sitting back on my balcony in the late afternoon I was lucky enough to spot the spectacular Javan kingfisher, an endemic to Bali and Java, streak across the golf course with its turquoise blue body and bright red beak making for easy identification. Collared Kingfishers are also common on the golf course.

Just before sunset I went for a quick walk around the resort car park and with my binoculars scanned the huge trees that seem to be regularly visited by large numbers of small flower-peckers and sunbirds – while tricky to spot I could recognize the sound the clicking call of the Scarlet Headed Flower Pecker, caught glimpses of a Blood- Breasted Flower Pecker. That was enough birding for the day and after a delicious meal at the resort restaurant I went to bed early intent on being up early to meet the dawn chorus.

First light takes a while at Handara Golf and Resort as the sun needs to rise over the mountains before the first rays of sun hit the resort, so my first hour of birding was mainly just a walk along the resort road where I focused on trying to find some good spots to await some ‘bird waves’. After about 40 minutes I got lucky and a mixed flock flew into a mistletoe tree by the side of the road – I was able to observe both oriental white eyes and Javan-grey throated white eyes from just a few meters away and this was a great start to the morning. Next up, just as the sun was starting to peak over the edge of the mountains I got great view of a pair of scarlet minivet – the male is a distinctive red and black while the female is yellow and black – very easy to identify. In the same patch of roadside forest I also spotted both male and female Black-winged flycatcher shrike – these birds are quite common in the mountains of Bali and the black and white male is easy to distinguish from the ashy brown and white female.

My morning walk continues and with rays of sunshine now starting to light up the morning the bird species started to really come to life with the trees full of mixed species of sunbirds, flower peckers and white eyes. Over the next hour I spotted fulvous breasted woodpecker, grey cheeked green pigeon, orange spotted bulbul, a Flame- fronted barbet and quite a big flock of Asian glossy starling but the highlight was spotting a personal ‘lifer’ – this was a Javan whistling thrush that I spotted in a small gully on the walk back towards the main resort. I was also lucky enough to see an Indonesian Honey Eater feeding on a mistletoe tree 100 meters or so in front of the entrance to the resort.

I was back at the resort by 10am and enjoyed a breakfast and another day of relaxing and casual bird watching (sorry, I don’t play golf!) and managed to spot a few more species and heard many more in the forest that I just couldn’t identify – the really serious birder could likely do a much better job than me and I am sure there are some rare Indonesia endemics hiding away in the forests surrounding the golf course.

The next morning it was time to head back to the coast and to say goodbye to the resort but I was more than happy with the birds I had added to my ‘Bali list’ however before my next visit I am going to have to do some research as there was just so many bird songs coming out of the forest that I couldn’t identify. On my next visit I will be hoping to greatly expand my species list from the gardens and forests surrounding the Handara Golf and Resort.

Weekend Bird List from Handara Golf and Resort

• Javan whistling thrush
• Blood-breasted flower pecker
• Scarlet- headed flower pecker
• Ashy drongo
• Long-tailed shrike
• Asian glossy starling
• Scarlet minivet
• Scaly breasted munia
• Javan munia
• Olive-backed sunbird
• Black-winged flycatcher shrike
• Grey Cheeked green pigeon
• Orange Breasted green pigeon
• Oriental white eye
• Javan grey throated white eye
• Indonesian honey eater
• White-Breasted waterhen
• Fulvous Breasted Woodpecker
• Orange Spotted bulbul
• Yellow Vented bulbul
• Sooty headed bulbul
• Flame-fronted barbet
• Javan kingfisher
• Common kingfisher
• Plaintive cuckoo

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Congratulations to the winners of the Lucy Cup, Handara’s monthly medal that’s held on the first Saturday of the month. In the dry season we tee off at Lunchtime and encourage members to stay over and enjoy the famous Handara hospitality together with a bonfire and maybe a barbecue. Many thanks also to the generous sponsors whose prizes make winning that much more special.

April: Sonny Naidoo; Sponsor Queens Tandor

May: Ross Macfarlane; Sponsor St. Regis Bali Resort

June: Alain Bronner; Sponsor Lakeview Hotel & Restaurant, Kintamani

July: Ian Wedding; Sponsor The Yak

The Lucy Cup is an Open tournament and all are welcome. If you’re a scratch golfer or have never entered a tournament before, please come along and join in the fun.

Order of Merit

The Order of Merit this year has been dominated by two me n. Firstly we had runaway leader Ed Balma and more recently by Roland O’Neill. The OOM is a measure of consistency and Roland has been just that, playing in every round and coming in the top 5 in ten of the 13 rounds to date. Can anyone catch the big man? Watch this space as the season unfolds.

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Prior to the match lots of preparatory work had been done – the Hillbillies flew from Bali the day before and had a practise round + a team meeting/dinner on the eve of the match. The Lombok Kosaido team had been practising together all week and been presented with their new Club shirts. The trophies had been manufactured and (very carefully) transported to the Course, polished and displayed. The Ground Staff had been busy too – a week of frantic course tweaking had been undertaken (drop zones had been installed at all the Environmentally Sensitive areas, bunkers raked and greens cut to their lowest height of the year), Caddies & Buggies were readied and the bar stocked.

There were no last minute team changes – all participants had played in at least 4 of the round robin matches. Following team photo’s everyone teed off from the 1^st hole on a sun drenched morning- just perfect for golf.

Apart from one lop-sided rubber, all the other rubbers were extremely close – being decided with only a couple of holes left to play. What a Final – there was good luck, bad luck, missed short putts, chip in’s, fortunate & unfortunate breaks. At the end it was Lombok Kosaido who triumphed – the Scoresheet flattered them with its 5 points to 1 result but it kept their “never been beaten at home” record intact. Congratulations.

Any Final is a nerve-wracking affair and the opportunity to play in one comes about rarely. For the Hillbillies the result of the Final itself was a great disappointment. But they gave it their all, played well, but just came up short. Typically all players mingled together post-match, told their own tales of what had happened in their matches, toasted each other, cracked jokes, applauded the winners and bought each other many a drink.

The Friends of Bali Golf League Tournament will be held at Handara as planned. Unfortunately due to a scheduling clash it cannot be held next week, but will be held later in the year. An announcement will be made in due course.

Thanks to all the Clubs for their continued support, to the Pennant Captain’s who have the toughest job of all, to the players who front up each week (mostly very nervously but who love the personal challenge of Matchplay and who want to represent their Club) and to the League Committee for their belief in the League, their devotion to it and their insightful assistance.

Once again – congratulations to Lombok Kosaido – to Jay Supriadi & Shawn Brown especially. You are worthy winners.

See you next year.

Roland O’Neill

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Indeed the 2018 Order of Merit, now on the home straight looks to be a tight contest between holder Ross and Hillbillies Captain Carl Sandstrom. After a long season there are only 5 more competitions until the bar closes. Carl is quoted as saying “I see this competition as a true test of perseverance and performance over 12 months and I hope the best man wins. That’ll be me.”

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The end of September featured a long awaited Golf event, the bi-ennial challenge between the best Golfers in the United States and those of Europe. As ever, the Americans look stronger on paper but struggle to take that advantage to the fairways. Based in Paris, the course was laid out with accuracy rather than length in mind and the Americans took the bait, landing more often than not in the challenging rough. The consequent European victory was observed and celebrated by a cheerful group of Handara Golfers who took advantage of a special stay and watch offer put out by the club. As Indonesia television once again didn’t show the tournament, the option of streaming was employed, and although not 100% reliable did give us a great flavor of the amazing atmosphere over in France.

To celebrate such a fun weekend, a new chipping contest was launched. All those with the required 50,000 IDR entry fee were welcome,  and the challenge was to chip from the barbecue area to nearest the pin. Three balls, a borrowed sand wedge and a sharply downhill pitch onto a front pin made it a real challenge. Pak Aru won the money and Kindly donated his winnings to the kitty where it was promptly turned into a case of cold Bintangs. A generous gesture (thanks Aru) marked a fitting end to a super weekend.

Selamat Les Blues

AMAZING 67

On the 26th of August, Par 5 member Charlie Ryals playing off 4, shot seven under his handicap. Out in 33, back in 34 his round featured 9, yes that’s nine birdies making a course score of 67. Whilst not the course record (that’s 65) it’s the best round that’s been shot at Handara for many a year. Congratulations Charlie!!!

ROB PEETOOM GOLF TOURNAMENT

For the second year, Rob Peetoom, Bali’s most famous hair and beauty expert held his Golf Tournament at Bali Handara. A great turnout and super weather was present to see Charlie Ryals (yes, that man again) romp home in first place with a gross 72. Well done Charlie, can you give us mere mortals a chance, now and again. 
For those who need some help in the Hair & Beauty area, Rob has branches in Petitenget & Beachwalk Mall and would be delighted to help you out.

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Cliff Rees won the cup in September which was a great performance as Pak Cliff was still nursing a recently broken wrist. Well done Mr. Rees.

And last weekend Aru Santhrian had a fabulous round shooting an 88 (including a 40 on the front) which with his 14 handicap gave him a net 74, handing him the Cup. In the absence of previous holder Cliff Rees, the cup was presented by co-founder of the Tournament, Mr. Don Lucy. High honor indeed. Well done Pak Aru.

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If you’ve teed off from hole 1 recently and dragged your eyes away from the massive area of OB on your left, you won’t have failed to miss the new playground on your right. Designed with children in mind, the playground helps to make Bali Handara a more complete resort by giving the young and young at heart somewhere to expend some energy and make adventures. Well worth a look if your family includes little ones.

Handara Gate

It seems Social media is changing the face of Bali. Everywhere tourists are making selfies and posting the pictures onto the interweb. Instagram seems to be particularly popular with it’s #hashtag system. Indeed venture onto the site and enter #handaragate and you will see more than 1,000 posts featuring our club entrance. Almost all of these are from 2018 with the oldest only 26 months old. The club, in what I consider to be a master stroke, is now charging a small fee for the taking of such photos and encouraging these camera jockeys to pop up to the breeze cafe for refreshments.

This has a couple of benefits. Firstly such are the numbers of people entering, the revenue generated is significant, helping to the profitability of the club. Additionally it generates throughput for the kitchen, helping to keep the ingredients fresh and the staff busy. I also prefer the atmosphere in the cafe when there are lots of people there enjoying the beautiful view and serene ambiance. Well done Team Handara.

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Featuring a beautiful balance between the cool highlands and the warm coastal areas, the island offers visitors a unique cultural insight resulting in the nickname known to many as ‘The Island of the Gods’. There are several fantastic golf courses to choose from around the island, one of the oldest and most famous ones is at Handara Golf & Resort.

The weather for a golf getaway

The months in-between April and September is the island’s dry season. The temperature doesn’t tend to change and is usually very pleasant. Although the best time to visit Bali for a golf holiday in terms of the best possible weather is between April and September, it doesn’t mean you will be a hundred percent avoiding the rain. However, if you travel to Bali between the month of June and September, the weather can feel very dry with low humidity and cool evenings.

The specific wet season begins between October and March, but December to March is when you should be really preparing for the worst showers. Between these months, the west monsoon can bring in the very heavy rain and an increase in humidity level, which can make playing golf at the time more difficult when compared to the other times of the year.

The temperature in Bali also depends on where you are playing golf on the island. At Handara Golf & Resort, the temperature is typically cooler being located in a mountainous area. If you choose to stay with us, a jumper during the night is advised to keep you warm.

Located in the Bedugul highlands, Handara Golf & Resort is the only golf course in Bali to feature the amazing, exotic foliage the island has. Opened in the 70’s the golf course features a resort to make your stay during your golf in Bali more convenient. For more information about the room please contact us.

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It is no secret for any enthusiast to be extremely specific about their hobby, especially when it comes to golf enthusiasts. Whether it’s Golf gear, clubs, or apparel, you will need to give them something that will improve their performance on the course. Based on our experience at the pro shop at Handara Golf & Resort Bali, we have compiled a list that may give you an idea for the best gift for a golfer.

1. Simple and flattering

Instead of gifting the boring, generic golf balls, try a unique approach to personalize the golf balls to impress your golfer friend or family member. The custom-made balls will help a golfer on the course identify his or her golf ball that will diminish the worry of picking up a ball that doesn’t belong to them. When purchasing, order the recipient’s favorite type and have his or her name, or initials, printed on.

2. Jet set

Any golf enthusiast would prefer the leisure to take their golf clubs with them whenever and wherever they wanted, make their life easier and get them a golf travel bag! When purchasing, try to find out how durable the bag is and make sure it has adequate strength to keep the club’s head and handles protected. If you want to go the extra mile, a travel bag with wheels would be an ideal gift for golfers as it is more convenient to bring around.

3. Room for improvement

Golf enthusiasts enjoy reading guidebooks. Whether it’s about the world’s top golf courses or about improving one’s swing speed. These book are packed with informative topics that cover most golfing mysteries that you can’t find on the internet. Be sure to purchase a guidebook small enough to fit a golf travel bag.

If you’re feeling very festive and generous, why don’t you consider gifting your beloved friend or family member a night or two at Handara Golf & Resort Bali? This holiday season, we are bringing visitors extravagant promotions where you can enjoy an accommodation complemented by Bali’s stunning mountainside and activities to fuel your getaway. To read more about our New Year’s Eve special and Christmas Staycation, hit this link.

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Handara Golf & Resort is Bali’s oldest golf course located in the scenic north of the island. Offering excellent hotel and cottage accommodations, the resort features a magnificent setting, a great dining experience, and of course one of Asia’s best golf courses. With our team of in-house golf professionals, we aim to make your golf getaway experience a truly memorable one.

The article we have brought to you today addresses the best way to enjoy your time on the course while helping you learn the golf tips fundamentals, procedures and social conventions of this beautiful game we call beginner golf tips.

Learning to play

Before stepping onto a course, learn the basics of swing mechanics. Check with our golf department to see if a professional golf instructor is available to guide you through the basics on the driving range. At Handara Golf & Resort, we are happy to share with you our 18 holes, par 72 golf course that catches the scenery of the cool mountains with lush foliage. You will find playing at our course inspirational and refreshing; it really is the perfect place to escape the hustle and bustle.

Purchasing clubs

Start with a basic set of golf clubs, the idea behind starting off with regular ones is to replace them as you gradually improve.

Go to a retailer that allows you to test the set of clubs and try asking for a 6-iron with a variety of shaft flexes. For female golfers, don’t necessarily head straight for the flex labeled “L” (for “ladies”) just because they have the most flexible shafts. Select a flex type that feels best when you swing the club, then apply that flex type to all your clubs.

Playing golf

Consider playing your first round on a shorter par-3 course then proceed to a regulation course.

As you start your round, determine the order of play on the first tee however you’d like. Afterwards, the person whose ball remains the farthest from the hole is given the opportunity to hit next, but most importantly, it is advised to be ready as quickly as possible to avoid slowing other groups. Additionally, there may be other golfers assigned to join your group, so to be respectful, it is important to play at a reasonably quick pace. Walk briskly to your ball, assess the lie and distance of your next shot, select your club, visualize the shot, take a practice swing, then execute.

Now that you know the golf tips fundamentals for golfing, it’s time to choose your course. Naturally, we invite you to choose Handara Golf & Resort to take your golf experience to another level. Golfing in Bali is a once in a lifetime experience you can’t miss out on. Book your tee time and accommodation with us today!

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