The Jakarta Post - Weekender

But if your husband, wife, boss or colleague loves to hit that white, yellow or pink ball every chance they get, you may want to know why the attraction is so strong, particularly here in Indonesia.

There are several powerful reasons.

At its most basic, it's a love of sport, pure and simple. The game that developed in Scotland in the 15th century takes tremendous skill and concentration to be successful at. Think Olympic triathlete combined with Mensa member, and you have Tiger Woods.

There's the serenity of being on some of the nicest landscapes in the world. You can be strolling beside a sparkling freshwater stream in the middle of a Dubai desert, or watching the waves crash on the shoreline from the slopes of an extinct Hawaiian volcano.

In Indonesia, there's more. Call it the Pleasure Factor.

Let me say that I'm by no means a golf nut who watches every televised tournament or buys all the magazines. But I can tell you that I have enjoyed golfing here more than I’ve ever enjoyed the game.

Take my recent outing at a private course (that allows non-members on weekdays) just 20 minutes from my West Jakarta office. The round cost me only one-fifth what it would in Japan at $45. An es cincau lychee was waiting for me on the patio overlooking the gorgeous final hole.

And a beautiful clubhouse worker was more than eager to help me clean up my gear.

"May I blow you?" offered the uniformed woman, who probably didn't notice my startled look as she directed a nozzle of pressurized air at the grass and dirt on my shoes.

There are more than 100 international-standard courses in this country, with an estimated 150,000 recreational golfers. That works out to 1,500 people per course. By comparison, Scotland has a per course average of 9,300 people. So you can understand why golfers here feel like they can take the time to eat boiled eggs between holes.

"From the courses to cost to clubhouse facilities, it's hard to beat playing golf in Indonesia," says Jakarta architect Paul Tan.

Of Golf Digest's top 100 golf courses in the world, Bali's Nirwana Golf Club was listed at number 95. Others are diamonds in the rough, such as Bogor's Klub Golf Bogor Raya and the Jakarta Golf Club in Rawamangun.

There have been attempts to utilize this quality through a national professional tour, but nothing's materialized.

So the game in which you spend five hours stroking your stress away is wide open for us double-bogey amateurs.

At just about every course there's no shortage of assistance as soon as you step out from your car. There's someone to take your bag from the vehicle, someone to carry it to the starting area and someone to sit and tee up your balls at the driving range if you like.

You almost expect a designated driver for your cart.

And then there are the caddies.

In Japan, you're assigned no-nonsense obasan (aunty) types who work the entire foursome. In Singapore, you get old men, some with teeth. In the U.S., you get a magazine with a picture of a caddy if you're lucky.

But here you get young, athletic and pretty women handling the bags at certain courses in the greater Jakarta area.

"It started about eight years ago when clubs began to change caddies from men to women. And they were just regular girls at first," said Tan, who tries to play twice a week. "Actually we were quite surprised at first, because it's really hard work. Players would talk about it, and they would want to come back and see these girls."

"It's to compete with Thailand and the Philippines," says Stanley Okahara, a retired businessman who has lived in Indonesia for more than 30 years.

"In those places, a guy can have more than one caddy - one to hold the bag and one to hold the umbrella.

Yes, they are beautiful and amiable but, Tan added, they have the most important quality of a caddie: they know their golf.

"They are trained very well, and you can tell. They know the course and the rules," said Tan.

They certainly do. In my very enjoyable afternoon, my score was definitely helped by my caddie Nita's club suggestions, putting line guidance and layout knowledge.

So maybe now you understand a bit better why everyone from the club pro to the weekend duffer enjoys heading to the course. Tee time is a good time here.

And the golf is fun, too.

Hawaii native Dalton Tanonaka is the co-anchor of Metro TV’s Indonesia Now program, seen on Friday nights at 7:30 p.m. He can be reached at dalton@metrotvnews.com.

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