The Other Raffles 

For much of the year Raffles is a pretty low key affair. Mostly a small, closeknit bunch of regulars fronting up for their once, twice or thrice weekly hit. We get the occasional visitor (always welcome) and most weeks a few not-so-regular members on their annual trek to Bali. A Board member steps up and convenes these games, but it’s always on a very manageable scale.

But that’s only one side of Raffles. Our current active membership hovers around 550 and more than a quarter of our members are about to descend on Bali and participate in Golf Week 2019.

This year Golf Week covers all 5 courses currently open in Bali, 11 rounds of golf, including our Club Championships, individual and team competitions over 11 days. For Golf Week 2019 we have approximately 1,200 rounds booked thus far – double the size of last year’s event and a far cry from the “other” Raffles!

An event of this size requires a lot of organisation and Raffles Tournament Organising Committee has been working overtime to ensure this year’s Golf Week runs as smoothly as possible. Golf Week simply wouldn’t happen without the Committee members giving up significant amounts of their time and effort. The best way participants can assist those organising the various events during Golf Week is to make sure everyone turns up early for each event – no less than one hour prior to tee-off. A word of warning – traffic in Bali at present is even more chaotic than normal due to extensive roadworks on many of the roads to and from the various courses.

This year will be our first Golf Week where all members will be playing with a valid GolfLink handicap. On occasions in years past members have questioned the validity of Raffles’ handicapping system when trying to combine members with different handicap sources for fair competitions – especially during Golf Week. We are confident having all Raffles members now under the one handicapping system will make for fairer competitions; it also sets us up going forward as the World Handicapping System comes into being over the coming 12 months.

I look forward to meeting as many members as possible during Golf Week 2019, handing out the numerous prizes and trophies on offer during the 11 days to the happy winners, and crowning the 2019 Club Champions at the end of the 36 hole stroke event.

Good golfing

Mike Barber