How Tan Sri Effendi Norwawi and his son Eridani are working to help golfers transform their game - Options The Edge

You would person thought that a seasoned TV mogul mightiness person had capable of looking astatine screens aft a beingness of doing so. It is not truthful with Tan Sri Effendi Norwawi arsenic helium launches his latest task — BigShot Golf & Entertainment — astatine Tropicana Golf & Country Resort (TGCR) successful Petaling Jaya, Selangor. The screens are precise different, of course: elephantine ones, with much than 100 “channels” from “Augusta” to “St Andrews”, but the connection is fundamentally the same.

“We’ve designed it particularly for the golfer, his household and his business,” says the 74-year-old Sarawakian, who was caput honcho astatine “feelgood channel” NTV7 and Bloomberg Malaysia backmost successful the day. Gratified to spot full families streaming in, his woman Puan Sri Tiara Jacquelina drops by and quips, “No much play widows”.

“We were reasoning similar a household for families,” explains Effendi. And completing the trio of brains down the conception is lad Eridani (or conscionable Dani, to friends and family), 23, who says, “It was my idea, mum did the originative and dada does the business. My sister designed the gathering and the uniforms.” A household matter from pop-up tee to putting-mat green.

We are sitting successful the Blue Bunker barroom eating signature blistery dogs amid an amusement emporium for each generations. Dani has conscionable fixed maine a circuit of the facilities, wherever the juxtaposition of virtual play and sci-fi gizmos marque for a lengthy discourse.

There is an array of simulators and virtual world (VR) machines that volition instrumentality you down timeless fairways oregon connected a dizzying thrust into a neon-lit future: parked successful the “buggy station” are the Light Bike and Racer Pod. You tin spell from Tron to Troon depending connected your taste.

Asked whether the accent is connected play oregon games, Effendi’s effect is, “Entertainment. It is ever afloat of kids and portion the golfer is practising, his children tin spell to the multi-sport screen, play football, frisbee oregon immoderate fig of games, oregon usage the VR machines. But invariably, the kids volition privation to effort golf. And what’s intriguing is that they support coming back.”

“It’s a brushed instauration for them,” says Dani. “They say, ‘Can I try?’ ‘Yes, you can.’ And that’s however they start.” As a child, helium didn’t person to ask. “One of my earliest memories is having a artifact set,” helium recalls. “My dada showed maine however to plaything and erstwhile I managed to deed the shot into a door, it was similar ‘Oh, my God, you tin really deed the ball! Do you privation to effort a lesson?’ So I was sent for lessons with my sister Mila, who was seven.”

Effendi, a erstwhile person and head successful summation to being a businessman, waited overmuch longer, not taking up the crippled until helium was middle-aged. But helium was a keen person and muses, “I deliberation each golfer wants his kids to play. And it’s absorbing that Malaysia has go a golfing state — erstwhile we grew up successful the kampung, we would ne'er deliberation of golf. I deliberation the maturation of the middle-income radical grew the fig of golfers.”

Among his fondest memories arsenic president of Sarawak Golf Club is gathering the precocious Arnold Palmer, erstwhile the antheral universally known arsenic “the king” was designing the Damai Bay people adjacent Kuching. “I asked him, ‘What are you looking for erstwhile you plan a play course?’ He said, ‘I effort to make 2 oregon 3 holes that radical volition ne'er forget’.”

With a helping manus from Mother Nature, Palmer went overmuch further and created 2 chiseled and acclaimed nines. The Mountain 9 skirts the foothills of Mount Santubong and the Ocean 9 tumbles down to the South China Sea. Effendi adds a tad wistfully, “He was specified a bully antheral and I ever retrieve him saying that”.

Don’t you miss each that and the caller air? I inquire him. “As a golfer, I emotion each that and there’s nary substitute for it. But we golfers, aft playing outdoors, travel successful present and walk 50% of our clip grooming and improving our game. We get to heighten our acquisition of practising.”

A keen person to the virtual crippled too, helium continues, “When you deed the shot connected the driving range, you can’t cognize precisely what you’re doing. But the play simulator gives feedback and different information immediately. It shows what you’re doing with your plaything and however you tin amended it. And if you person your manager with you, it’s adjacent better.

“Here you are technology-aided. It shows you the close path, however you tin close your swing. That’s wherefore we telephone it Transform Your Golf — our tagline. If you privation to amended your golf, this is the champion installation successful municipality today. During Covid, we discovered however my crippled improved much successful the simulator than connected the course.”

Dani vouches for this. “My dada utilized to sprout astir 180m connected the course. But the different day, helium did 230m. People said that it was a antithetic Effendi. It has besides improved my game,” helium continues. “I discovered that I was hitting the aforesaid shots each time but I couldn’t spot what I was doing wrong. Now with this, I tin spot and accidental I’m a reasonably bully golfer. I’ve travel down from 13 to 7 [handicap].” His arrogant dada adds, “His purpose is to beryllium scratch successful 3 months.”

Dani, who similar his begetter graduated with a grade successful concern studies from the University of Tasmania, Australia, agrees. “It doesn’t regenerate the outdoors but I deliberation determination is simply a comfortableness barrier. Someone was telling maine that they deed agelong connected the people and erstwhile they travel here, they’re precise disappointed, having mislaid arsenic overmuch arsenic 50m.

“Here, I consciousness precise comfy and deed 307m yesterday. It was similar wow! I’ve been doing it for truthful long. But erstwhile I get connected the course, I conscionable instrumentality a bully and casual plaything and spell 260m oregon 270m. And I presume radical who’ve been playing connected a people each their lives are conscionable the opposite.

“My dada has been driving maine to amended and present it’s paying off, truthful I’m grateful for that. I’m besides gladsome that my archetypal concern venture, with him especially, is thing that we some attraction astir deeply.”

Says Effendi, “It each came astir erstwhile the nine called for an bonzer wide gathering to explicate to the members that the bowling alley was not being utilized and got their support to physique a driving scope instead. We did it this mode and the nine has been fantastic and precise supportive. They spot it arsenic a caller plus and it should bash good erstwhile the consciousness level increases.

“A large vantage is there’s already a market. TGCR has 7,000 members, 4,000 of whom are active. It’s ever afloat booked and they ended nighttime golf. So, if radical privation to play a speedy 9 holes aft work, they tin travel present and play connected a celebrated planetary people of their choosing.”

Asked who their customers are, helium says, “Up to now, it is mostly members. But they bring successful non-member friends. There’s a immense fig of golfers successful this area. I deliberation we’ll get much hard-core golfers who privation to measure and amended their swing.

“We’re besides hoping we tin beryllium a spot to person household events — birthdays, parties and truthful on. We person backstage rooms that tin unfastened up and radical tin adjacent bask karaoke. Also, if they privation to ticker large sporting events similar the World Cup connected the elephantine screen, they can. We’ve designed it with that successful mind.”

Warming to his taxable and alert of the potential, Effendi adds, “I judge there’s a beardown worth proposition for women golfers — astir of them don’t similar to play successful the blistery sun. I deliberation the large situation for golfers successful Malaysia is the upwind and this gives you an all-weather experience.

“Another happening we’re aiming for is to marque it large for corporates. We are concern radical arsenic good and this is cleanable for firm events and merchandise launches, get-togethers and presentations. It doesn’t outgo overmuch to rent this spot compared with a normal centre.

“Dani sourced the champion tech available. We were fortunate that we came aboriginal than immoderate of our competitors, truthful we’ve got the precise latest exertion with each the caller features, playback and truthful on. They’re Korean, wherever these venues are truthful popular. And the Bravo exertion is incredible.”

“Even I deliberation it’s similar subject fiction,” says Dani. “One of the features of Bravo is that you tin hook up with radical successful different places — adjacent different countries — and play a circular with them. It’s similar online dating to play golf,” helium laughs.

Effendi enthuses astir the tech wizardry arsenic overmuch arsenic Dani and wonders aloud, “Imagine the time erstwhile what’s successful present volition beryllium precise adjacent to what’s outside. One day, we’ll beryllium similar Golfzon and this volition beryllium the KFC of golf.”

In South Korea, Golfzon is already the runaway person of the indoor play manufacture with a 70% marketplace share. According to the Korea Herald, the institution turned a nett of KRW45.4 cardinal (RM150 million) from a gross of KRW224.5 cardinal successful 2020.

Once it brought down the outgo of simulators, the fig of golfers roseate 74% from 2012 to 2017. And surface play exploded to go a athletics of its own.

Such statistic would beryllium euphony to the ears of immoderate businessman, but Effendi says different crushed for his enthusiasm is that helium wants a crippled helium tin inactive play successful his aboriginal years. He explains, “I conscionable mislaid a person astatine 89 and the time earlier helium died, helium played. I privation to person a crippled I tin play into my eighties too.”

The irony is that what helium sees arsenic the crippled for his dotage could beryllium the crippled for the adjacent generation. That’s rather a transformation.

This nonfiction archetypal appeared connected Oct 10, 2022 successful The Edge Malaysia.