WORDS RIYADI SUPARNO PHOTOS BUKIT PANDAWA

Jakarta golfer Troy Tirtasaputra was the luckiest golfer at The Founders’ Anniversary Golf Classic organized by Bukit Pandawa Golf & Country Club in South Kuta, Bali, last weekend.

Troy shot a hole-in-one in the all par-3 championship course’s signature hole no. 13 and won a luxurious DeLaCour Promess Diver from Eurobutik Bangun Indonesia (EBI), Indonesia’s leading distributor of fine European wristwatches.

The luxury timepiece retails for S$13,800 (about US$9,700).

“This is my first hole in one. I cannot describe how happy I am,” said 34-year-old Troy, who started golfing when he was 15. He now has an 11 handicap.

“That was the best 7-iron I’ve ever hit,” said Troy. “But the coolest part is that, for the rest of my life, I’ll have a beautiful reminder of the achievement every time I look at my wrist.”

Not only that, Troy also won a flat-screen TV during the lucky draw.

“He is just a lucky guy. He has certainly been very lucky lately,” said William Surya, Troy’s golfing buddy, adding that recently Troy won a contest to represent Indonesia in an amateur golfing event in Barcelona, Spain.

Bukit Pandawa general manager Stephen Banks then asked Troy to purchase a membership at Bukit Pandawa, which Troy accepted. They both then signed the documents in front of around 80 golfers participating in the championships.

“I wanted to see more than one ace actually,” Banks said, adding that while most golf courses around the world have four par-3s, Bukit Pandawa has 18.

All the 18 holes have prizes of luxury watches, ranging from a BRM, DeLaCour, Hautlence or Dietrich timepiece from EBI.

Called the Founders’ Anniversary Golf Classic, the tournament was conceived in honor of one of Bukit Pandawa’s two founders Didi Dawis who commemorated his 42nd wedding anniversary with Farina Wijaya. The other founder is Didi’s younger brother Saiman Ernawan.

“My dad and mom have been together for 42 years, and that’s also the time they have built our businesses,” said son Triono Dawis, director of
PT Bali Ragawisata, the owner of Bukit Pandawa.

In addition, the golf tournament also celebrated two other events: the groundbreaking of an exclusive residential project, The Residences at Mandarin Oriental, Bali; and the opening of the 119-seat clubhouse restaurant, The Kul Kul.

After golf, guests gathered on the special-functions lawn for a balloon release that signified the commencement of construction of the first 20 villas sold at The Residences at Mandarin Oriental, Bali.

Later in the evening, invited guests attended the wedding anniversary as well as launching of The Kul Kul restaurant, with a five-course gourmet dinner served up by Domenico Francone, resident chef of the famed Castello Banfi Wine Estate in Tuscany.

The Kul Kul restaurant sits on the clubhouse’s spacious open-air top floor, which overlooks the course and the Indian Ocean.

Designed by Indonesian architects Antony Liu and Ferry Ridwan, the clubhouse blends with its Balinese surroundings through the implementation of local materials such as stone, wood, native grasses and water, which runs through many of the building’s spaces, including the locker rooms and the reception area.  

Bukit Pandawa successfully blends the beauty of its carefully crafted golf course with the stunning view of the Indian Ocean and the Balinese elements, put together with renown tropical garden designer Made Wijaya.

The golf course itself was conceived by Bob Moore of California-based JMP Golf Design Group, which also designed Royale Jakarta Golf Club.   

Bukit Pandawa Golf & Country Club is AccorHotels’ flagship course in Asia and represents the first phase of an unprecedented luxury resort project that will also include Mandarin Oriental-, Waldorf Astoria- and Swissotel-branded hotels.

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