Gandranata Blog: Thank You CIMB Niaga!

Jakarta, April 30 - Asian Development Tour's George Gandranata hopes to raise local cheers when he takes on the Asian Tour stars and Major champions Ernie Els and Darren Clarke at the CIMB Niaga Indonesian Masters. In this latest blog, he talks about handling the pressure and promoting golf tourism in Indonesia.

By George Gandranata

The course is in terrific shape. The roughs are high. The course is playing tighter so I think it will be an interesting week. This is one of the best, maybe the best, golf course in Indonesia. Hopefully it will be a fun week for me.

I’ve played in all the Asian Development Tour (ADT) events so far. I learned a lot from there and my game has improved from last year. I understand how professional golf is different compared to amateur golf now. I feel like I have a good chance to play well here.

The course is long and obviously it doesn’t suit my game because I hit it short and straight. But I’m going to rely on my short game. Those are the two aspects of my game that is my strength. I hope that I play well this week. Your goal is always to play as good as you can.

It means a lot to play at home. I’m thankful these guys (Ernie Els and Darren Clarke) are here. They will help expose golf in Indonesia to the world. They will show that Indonesia is a golfing destination and that we have fantastic courses here. It will be good for the game and everyone.

By having tournaments like this, the game of golf will grow and there will be more professional events because sponsors will be willing to come and say ‘Hey this is a good emerging market.’

Hopefully the golf fans will come out this week and support the local and star players. As a player, I’m glad and happy that CIMB Niaga and the Asian Tour worked together to invite these guys and make this tournament into a world class event.

Pressure is always there whenever you play professional golf. The hardest pressure usually comes from yourself. I learnt from my rookie year that pressure is pressure so whatever you do, it will always be there. My goal this week is to do as well as I can. A top-10 will be a great goal for me. I’m going to play one shot at a time then we will see how it goes.