Golf Club Paramaribo

         Storytime with; Golf Club Paramaribo

Guess who is back, I know the website changed a lot. I hope you guys like it, and even though I have been gone for a while here I am with some new stories. Be sure to read the next blogger notes to find out what's new. But today it is about Golf Club Paramaribo, the famous sport that has manifested itself in Suriname for a while now. I spoke to Mr. Willem van Der Jagt and he was kind enough to teach me a little bit about the Golf Club Paramaribo. Mr. Van Der Jagt has been playing Golf for some years now, so he certainly is experienced on the matter.

A lovely view of the Golf club at the edge of Paramaribo

                                    What is Golf Club Paramaribo? 

The beautiful clubhouse and golf field.

Golf Club Paramaribo is located at the Indira Gandhi weg number 30. It's hard to miss it because while driving on the Indira Gandhi weg you will immediately notice the name board while approaching the Golf club. It is also the only golf course in Suriname and was founded on the 4th of November 1954.

Golf Club Paramaribo was founded on the 4th of November 1954.

                                             How do you play Golf?

Visiting Golf Club Paramaribo

 Mr. Willem van der Jagt was patient enough to explain to me how one plays Golf and what some golf terms mean.  "  The game is designed in such a matter that even if you have a lot of experience or little experience playing golf you can always play against each other.  To give an extreme example I could even play against Tiger Woods.  A golf field has a lot of strikes in which you can play the entire field if you play excellent golf.  Golf club Paramaribo has to be completed in 69 strikes.  That means that if you hit the ball 69 times, you played all 18 lanes the entire Golf field exists of.  If you do it in 69 strikes then it's called Par.  In other words, you hit the ball with the exact amount of strikes the field design is based on.  If you just started playing golf you shouldn't think that you can finish it in 69 strikes. In the beginning, if you are lucky you're probably going to finish it in 120/130 strikes.  After a year you might reach 110 and after two years you might be able to play the entire field in 100 strikes.  Let's say you played for a couple of years and you play the field in an average of 99 strikes.  That is 30 more than the 69 strikes the golf field is designed for.  In that case, you are playing with a handicap of 30.  If your handicap now is 30 it also means that you are allowed to strike the ball 30 times more than the person with a handicap of 0 (players who play Par/ finish the golf field 18 lanes in 69 strikes have a 0 handicap).  Now imagine that you are playing against Tiger Woods in Suriname. He has to finish the game in 69 strikes to be able to complete his handicap. So his handicap would be 0, Tiger woods plays in Suriname par 69 strikes. He has to finish the 18 lanes of the Golf club Paramaribo in 69 strikes to be able to play his handicap. Now let's say he finished the 18 lanes in 69 strikes and he played to par. Now it's your turn to play and you have a handicap of 30.  You are playing against Tiger Woods for example and you finish the 18 lanes in 97 strikes.  Because you have a handicap of 30, you are allowed to hit 30 more strikes than someone who plays par. This causes you to win the game. This is the way the handicap system works.

Golf field in Paramaribo

If you score a hole in one your name will appear on this board.

In golf, if you have a lot of experience and you are playing against someone who doesn't have a lot of experience it doesn't automatically mean that you will win the person. However now they have divided the sport into classes.  You have classes a,b, and c for men and ladies. But that has more to do with the logistics when you play in tournaments. Because the good player wants to keep playing. If he does 4 holes in 4 strikes and you need more strikes you will keep him behind.  And then the good player will have to keep waiting each time, which could cause irritation and a loss of concentration. This could negatively affect his game. Golf is a sport that requires a lot of concentration, so your mind needs to be empty at that moment. It's not easy but it's not difficult either. The more you play golf, the more you get the grip of it. It's physically and mentally intense. The plus side of golf is that it teaches you to stay focused and there are a lot of rules that you need to keep in mind.  When you start taking classes we have an introduction, you can join us with an introductory membership for $100,-, The introduction membership is a three-month package where you take up to 5 golf classes in an hour from a pro. The pro is the person who teaches the golf classes. In Suriname, there are 2 pros at the moment.  After the three months introduction membership, you can request a permanent membership at the Golf club.  When you become a member, you will have to pay a monthly contribution, and then you can just play whenever you want. We have a clubhouse, and it's the most beautiful clubhouse of all sports in Suriname."

A pair of golf clubs in the clubhouse.

                                       Golf equipment and relevant Golf terms.

"I am sure that everyone has seen a golf bag. They are often shown in different movies. A tee is a stand on which you put a golf ball so that the player can strike the ball. Everything in Golf has a name.  Some people use golf cars, which you can rent out privately. At Golf Club Paramaribo we have caddies as well ( A person who carries golfers' clubs and provides other assistance during the game). They are mostly boys from the neighborhood. The best golf players of Suriname started out as caddies because they have been involved with the sport since a young age. And they are all from the area. You pay a caddie depending on his level. Especially the professional ones playing in the A and B classes they tend to know more. And sometimes the A-class caddies tell you what you should do. The C-class caddies are still learning.  The fun part is that most of these boys really do their best to advance in the sport. There are requirements that they should meet to become a caddie. You have to go to school, be neat and polite. The boys that do good and stay mostly end up finding a job at good companies. They get to meet managers and directors of big companies on the field. If they do their best it is a good opportunity for them to step into the business world. It's a networking opportunity. They get the chance to come in contact with the people who can give them the best opportunities if they behave properly. That doesn't mean that they have to be submissive. You just need to help out and be respectful. You get paid for it, so you earn from it. People pay for your service, so if you don't want to do it then you should stay home. Because If I pay you just to roll the cart I could just end up buying a cart with a battery. I need you to help me by handing me clubs. The older you get the weaker your eye vision becomes. So if I hit the ball 250 meters away I won't know where it is.  You do get talent in seeing where the ball lands. Sometimes you see the ball falling but you don't exactly know where.  And that's what the young caddies are good at. They keep an eye on the ball for you, so they can find your ball again. These are the things for caddie's the bags are extremely heavy around 12 kg or so. I think it's a fun job, if I were younger I would love to do it myself. To find golf balls and to clean clubs when they are muddy and dirty. Now we are going to talk about clubs. You have an entire range of different clubs.  You have clubs with different names made from different materials in different sizes.Each club has a function when it comes to distance. The distance you can hit a ball will depend on your club. Golf isn't a sport that the harder you hit the further the ball will go. For example, the driver, if you are really good you can easily hit above 200 meters with a club like that. My lowest hit is 296 meters but world champions and international golfers hit around 300 and 400 meters. So you have to select your club depending on how far you which to hit the ball. You have to estimate it, there are markings alongside the course. So you can see how far you are. Nowadays we use technology as well, we have an application that you can use while playing golf around the world. It doesn't matter what golf course you are on you can still use this application to give you an indication of your distances and score it's called 18 Birdies. One thing you will always need is a Putter. You have different kinds of Putters for example; wood, iron, and driver. ( A putter is a club used in Golf, just like the ones in the above picture). Now we are going to talk about a Par 5 in Suriname, which means you are going to hit it in 5 strokes. But when I look at the distances you might have about 5 meters to go. So I grabbed my putter and I hit the last 5 meters. That means I used 4 strokes, which also means I made a birdie ( Golf term for a score of one stroke under par). If you hit it in 5 strokes then it is Par ( amount of strokes needed to complete a hole). If you finish Par 5 in 3 strokes, then it is called an Eagle ( scoring 2 under Par). That seldom happens, since I have become a member of Golfclub Paramaribo I haven't seen someone do that yet. If you finish Par 5 in 2 strokes, which is almost impossible here. You have some really good players here who can do it with the right driver. Because you can hit the ball really far with a good driver, but you need to have a lot of experience and luck for that. But if you succeed it's called an albatross ( An albatross is also called a double eagle, a score of 3 under par on a single hole). If you do it in one stroke that is the famous hole in one. But that is impossible in Par 5, you might have success with that in Par 3. Because Par 5 is too long to make a hole-in-one. You don't have any driver that can hit that far. But with a Par 3, let's say it's one of the only ones where you have a chance to make a hole-in-one. An Albatross is the most difficult one to achieve. I don't know anyone who has ever made an Albatross. Even worldwide I have barely heard of it. But I did have the honor of recently earning my first hole-in-one. Some people play golf for 20-30 years and never hit a hole-in-one.  When you hit a hole in one, your name gets to appear on the wall on a copper nameplate. That has been a tradition since the beginning of the Golf club Paramaribo."

A professional Surinamese Golfer showing us the ropes.

After my conversation with Mr. Van Der Jagt, I have gotten an interest in the sport. It definitely seems like a good way to learn how to focus.  So I will certainly try it out for myself as well and let you guys know how that went. But for anyone interested in becoming a caddie or simply enjoying the sport itself, feel free to drop by at the Gulf Club. The people are warm and friendly and happy to share information. That way if you wish to learn more, you can talk directly to the people who are experienced with this fun sport. And you will also have a fun excuse to enjoy the amazing scenery. Visiting Golf Club Paramaribo feels more like a walk-in relaxing and peaceful nature. The sound of the birds singing in the background completes the picture.