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Dave Drew atop 4
club competition
Dave Drew used his “lucky” combination of a 5 wood, 7
iron, pitching wedge and putter to win the Alternative Golf Gentlemen’s
Society 4 club competition at Pattaya Country Club on Wednesday, February
19. Dave put together ten pars for a scratch 83 off his 15 handicap, giving
him 40 Stableford points and the victory.
Brent Philip and Keith Watson finished joint second, each with 38 points.
Brent went out in 40, back in 48, including a rough 11 on the 14th, to
finish with a scratch 88 off his 14 handicap.
Keith Watson shot the “Round of the Day”. Playing off just a 4.8 handicap,
Keith shot a gross 75, going out in 39 and back in par 36. Keith started his
day with a 6 on #1 and finished his day with a 6 on #18 which turned out to
be nothing more than bookends for a truly remarkable round. Keith also
produced the shot of the day. On the par three 16th, Keith hit his 5 iron to
within 15”, then made the putt for birdie.
At the other end of the spectrum, Don Grisham, freshly back from the US, hit
his first tee shot of the day into the ditch in front of #1. Luckily, the
ball hit the stone and bounced out, but unfortunately in the wrong
direction, landing just 25 yards in front of him. His second shot was an
“air” shot, and when he brought his club back down after his follow through,
he struck the ball again, this time sending it further back towards the tee
box he was trying to escape from. This meant on hole #1, he was a mere 10
yards in front of the tee on his fourth shot, without incurring a penalty.
Jerry Lien also had a little trouble on the tee box. His tee shot from #16
landed short of the lady’s tee boxes on both 16 and 18, on the same shot.
Malcom Claire had his share of sand trap woes, highlighted by his visit to
all five bunkers surrounding #11. He then managed to 3 putt for a 12. During
his round, Malcom had every score between 4 and 12 (except 8), and still
managed to get 34 points.
Back on the positive side, rejuvenated golfer Wayne Tischbern compiled 27
Stableford points on the day - his best round in 12 years.
The next Alternative Golf Gentlemen’s Society tourna-ment will be the Hare
House Open on Friday, March 7 at Phoenix Country Club. All golfers welcome.
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Pattaya Sports Club Golf
Natural Park Resort, February 13, 1997
The ever popular Texas Scramble resulted in a keenly fought contest from a
field of 54 players. On the day, it was decided that the A and C courses
would be played, and the club would return to Cafe Kronborg for a specially
priced buffet before prize giving.
Many members maintain that Natural Park Resort is the best course on the
east coast, and it certainly lived up to its reputation being in magnificent
condition.
On this unusual Pattaya holiday, the very strong teams produced fantastic
scores, won with 56.2 by Bill Davis, Warren Hines, George Stelmark from
Newcastle Oz and their dark horse Jim Boyden from the Philippines.
A very close second on 58.4 came Ian Halfpenny, Bob Greenfield (shortly to
honeymoon in Koh Samui), noisy Morrie Whiter, and Alan Stevens on one of his
rare appearances.
John Moore, Jim Mont-gomery, and Doug Powell teamed up with Tori Elisson to
record 59.7 and come third.
Messrs. Davis, Whiter, Elisson and Moore won nearest pins. Terry Maguire and
Turman Jokke took long putts. Turman Jokke, who recently arrived from
Finland, also won the long drive.
Khao Kheow Country Club, February 17, 1997
This scenically beautiful course only improves and always
attracts a large turnout from the senior golf society in Pattaya district.
Greens were as fine as any in the region and better than most resulting in
good Stableford scores all around.
Doug Douglas, who returned to California after the tournament, took the long
drive as a going away prize. Don Richardson, Jerry Pettit, Warren Hines and
John Brandon won nearest the pins and Lars Anderson and Stan Hilyinger the
two long putts.
It was that Viking Sven Vistung again, winning A flight with 41 points. It
was the general feeling expressed by the assembled members that he should
have his handicap reduced!
Paul Kraft was second on 39 points and Peter Coombes third on 38.
B flight was won by Kris Helgasson on a well compiled 39. John Moore edged
out Alec Chilcott on count back for second, both with 38 points.
On March 3rd, the Pattaya Sports Club will have a tourney at Pattaya Country
Club with a free buffet before prize giving. Another special upcoming event
is a “Greensome Stableford” on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17 at Green Valley.
Brendon Kelly, who is donating a prize, has requested that everyone wear
something green. Entry forms are in the Cafe Kronborg, together with the
March fixture list.
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Inaugural Hare House Open March 7
Organizers and adminis-trators announced registration is
now open for what is surely to become another of Pattaya’s “Major”
tournaments, the Hare House Open, which will be held Friday, March 7, 1997,
at Phoenix Country Club.
The 1000 baht entry fee covers green fees, T-shirts, food, many trophies and
many extra prizes. All proceeds from the event will go directly back to
golfers in the form of trophies and prizes.
The tournament com-petition will be divided into two divisions, ensuring
more winners. Prizes will also be awarded for technical achieve-ments
including nearest pins and long drives.
Organizers have stressed that this is an “Open” tournament and all golfers
are welcome to participate in the fun filled event.
To register for the Hare House Open, contact Wayne Tischbern, Richard
Livingston, or Stephen Beard at the Hare House, Soi Post Office.
Splinter Golf Group
Monday, 17 Feb. - Century, Chonburi (Stableford)
A small group played this excellent long course on a cloudy and
cooler day, perfect for golf. With only one flight there were three prizes.
The honours on the day went, surprisingly, to a lady newcomer to the game
Banjob Khong-Nork, with an excellent score of 45 points. A first time
individual place win!
Runner-up, with 35 points, was Brian Imrie; and third, also with 35 points,
was Mike Franklin (Banjob’s coach), beating Brian Ewen on count back.
Wednesday, 19 Feb. - Great Lake (Stableford)
The Great Lake course was immaculately presented with probably
the best fairways in the region. It was nice, too, to see areas of the
course marked “Ground under Repair”. Winners from a field of 20 were:
A Flight: Winner, Jean Blanc, 40 points. 2nd, Tory Eliassen, 40 points (lost
on count back). 3rd, Brian Ewen, 37 points (beat Gerard Lambert on count
back).
B flight: Winner, Martin Furzer, 41 points. 2nd, Arthur Busch, 39 pts. 3rd,
Ciano Glavina, 36 pts.
Nearest pins: Mick O’Meara, Andres Erickson, Jean Blanc and Martin Furzer.
Near pin prizes were free green fees kindly donated by Great Lake.
Friday, 21 Feb. - Century, Rayong (Stableford)
A field of 17 played this challenging Faldo links course, which
has some of the best greens in the area and holes which could be mistaken
for Scotland.
A flight: Winner, Tore Eliassen, 39 points. 2nd, Tony Odlum, 38 pts.
B flight: Winner, Mike Franklin, 37 points. 2nd, Arthur Busch, 37 pts. (Lost
on count back).
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Low scores in PGS tourney
Nine players managed to break the magic 100 shot barrier
despite tough greens at Sriracha Golf Course in the weekly Pattaya Golf
Society golf tournament on Tuesday, February 18.
Tony Davies returned to the top of the leader board by shooting a scratch
97, net 3 under par 69.
Four players tied for second, each carding net 2 under par 70s. John C.C.
Gibson shot a scratch 94 off his 24 handicap to start the list. Roy
Mitchell, who is running away with this season’s P.C.C. trophy and “Golfer
of the Month” honours, shot a 92 off his 22 handicap. While Arthur Bailey
and Colin Morgan each shot 92s off their 22 handicaps to round out the 2
under par crew.
Nearest to the pins were won by Tony Davies on #8 and Alan Thomas on #17.
The Pattaya Golf Society’s end of season awards presentation party will take
place this Saturday night, March 1, 19:00 in the First House, Soi Buakao.
PSC Softball
Mike’s A’s and Alan’s Blue Sox split a double header in
Pattaya Sports Club softball action on Sunday, February 23.
In the opener, the game was tied at 3 - 3 until the fourth inning when the
A’s exploded for 6 runs. Jerry Caltex smacked a three run homer and Belgian
Patrick drove in 2 runs on a well placed triple to left center. Singles by
Kiwi Rick, John Macallen and Canadian Bill kept men in scoring position
during the big inning.
The score reversed in the second game. The Blue Sox 9 - 3 win was hotly
contested through 5 innings. The A’s infielders Montreal Robert, Dick Cagg,
Jerry Caltex and Mike Berg combined for three double plays and had the Blue
Sox shut down until the sixth inning.
The Blue Sox bats got hot with big hits by Sterling Bechtel, Alan Rutsky,
Paul Nolan and Michael. Finding the spaces between the outfielders with
solid line drives and a three run triple by Klaus decided the outcome.
All players are invited to play. Sign-in at 1:30 p.m. every Sunday at
Pattaya School No. 7 on Sukhumvit Highway just South of Greenway Golf
Driving Range and Caltex gas station. Games start at 2 p.m. Hot dogs and
cold drinks available, spectators welcome.
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Palmer’s wins Sunday Quiz in style
LElite boozers at Palmer’s Bar have managed to snatch
victory from Cheers in the Sunday trivial pursuits league. Starting the
season in modest fashion, Palmer’s made a late run in the last four weeks to
win the trophy by a clear sixteen points. In the final week, Palmer’s team
fought their way through the battles of World War Two and obscure shrubs in
South America to win the round and the competition.
Runners-up Cheers had a consistently good season, but had one very poor week
which jeopardized the attempt recovery in the final rounds. Last season’s
winners, Pleasure Dome, produce a lot of correct answers and seemed to enjoy
themselves immensely, but never quite found the flair and good luck which is
required to win.
In the season as a whole, the average weekly score across the bars was 73%,
a rise of about 8% on last season. Question setter Ann Schofield, who is
vacationing in England, sent her congratulations to Palmer’s Bar and said,
“No big changes are planned for next season, but there will be a push on
removing any ambiguous questions.” Given the resourcefulness of team members
in analyzing the wording of questions which would leave the philosopher
Wittenstein standing, it is none the less sure that successful challenges
and appeals will continue to be made.
The highest scoring round in the season was movies and TV, with comedy and
detective series better known than horror films and documentaries. Also very
good were pop music and fiction, although the age profile of the teams means
that pulp written after about 1985 is less well known. The least popular
rounds are science and nature with chemists and biologists apparently scarce
in Pattaya. Maybe they are not allowed to take early retirement.
The overwhelming majority of players continue to be British. This may be
because they have the best education system in the world, or, more likely,
because quizzing is about the one thing you can do well after a few beers.
But the wooden spoon must surely go to the Aussie who thought that the
Statute of Westminister is taller than the Statue of Liberty.
| Final Scores: |
| |
Points |
| Palmer’s |
1141 |
| Cheers |
1125 |
| Pleasure Dome |
1092 |
| Mick’s Place |
1089 |
| Rising Sun |
987 |
| Bob’s Fume Bar |
981 |
| Britannia |
966 |
| Wild Chicken |
884 |
| (but missed one match) |
The new season begins on March 2 and potential brain
surgeons need only show up at the listed bars on Sundays, just before 8:30
p.m.
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Improve your Bridge
by Barrie Kenyon
My friend and colleage, Ron Small, who also contributes to this
column, recently decided to take a bridge vacation. Surfing the world wide
web of the Internet, he quickly discovered beautiful Donegal in Ireland and
was delighted to find out about a forthcoming bridge congress there. An
e-mail message to the organizers resulted in a warm invitation to attend
from a past president of the contract bridge association of Ireland, Graham
Laird, and his charming wife Patricia.
Although Donegal borders Northern Ireland, there was a great atmosphere in
the four day event: no sign of sectarian dissent, excellent food and lots of
Irish music and dancing. The congress typified the real comradeship between
all Irish peoples. Bridge crosses man-made divides and, in leisure pursuits,
does a great deal to promote brotherhood and understanding in both parts of
the historically troubled island. The only disharmony noted between the two
Irelands was that one insisted on using bidding boxes whilst the other did
not.
Graham and his partner showed their skill in an unusual hand. After a
competitive auction, in which opponent east had shown good holdings in
hearts and clubs, they landed in three no trumps. Opponent east elected to
lead a small club and dummy north displayed:
Spades Ace, Jack, 9, 6, 4
Hearts King, 3, 2
Diamonds 6, 5
Clubs 7, 6, 5
Declarer south examined his own hand which had eighteen high card points:
Spades King
Hearts Jack, 10, 4
Diamonds Ace, King, Jack, 9, 8, 3, 2
Clubs Ace, Queen
In good natured fun, the defense offered to concede at nine tricks before
play began (which south refused) and declarer offered to claim eleven tricks
(which east refused) and the contest duly began. Declarer took the opening
club lead with his Queen, and cashed Ace and King of Diamonds which crashed
the Queen. He now proceeded to run the diamonds, followed by his singleton
King of Spades. That was nine tricks in the bag. East was squeezed to bits
and was reduced to Ace and Queen of Hearts, and Queen and a rag Spade. When
south led a small heart at trick ten, east was forced to go up with Ace.
Whether he now led a small heart or a spade, the remaining tricks were in
the bag for the declarer. A small slam had been made in practice! Everyone
adjourned to the bar for a well deserved Guinness.
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Super Sevens coming to Bira Circuit
Bira Circuit, Pattaya is set to be the venue for the
Caterham Super Sevens National Championship series, scheduled to begin in
June of this year.
The ultimate aim of this world renowned series is to
promote Thailand as a competitor in major sports events throughout the world
and to possibly assist a Thai driver into the seat of a Formula 1 race car.
Super Seven sports cars have been in continuous
production for over 35 years. Originally designed by Colin Chapman in 1957,
and known as the Lotus Super Seven, Caterham bought the rights from Lotus in
1973 and have developed the car extensively since.
The Super Seven was designed as a race car and has been, and still is, used
as the basis of a low cost training formula to assist competitors onto the
international motorsports ladder.
The Caterham Super Seven National Championship series at Bira Circuit
beginning in June will make Thailand the first South East Asian country to
host such a championship.
The most famous and successful Super Seven formula is the French based
championship “Formula Jeune” which has been running since 1967, and which
has launched the careers of such Formula 1 drivers as Jacques Lafitte,
Patrick Tombay and Jean Pierre Jabouille. In Britain, the Super Sevens have
launched the careers of drivers like Formula 1 World Champion Graham Hill,
father of current F1 Drivers Champion Damon Hill, and Derek Bell, the former
multiple World Sports Car Champion.
Super Sevens are raced extensively all over the world, both in one make type
races, such as “Formula Jeune”, and the current “K” Series racing
championship in Britain, and in mixed sports car events such as the CAMS
sports car championship in Australia and the SCCA National Championships in
America. After introduction into Europe in 1993, the model became so popular
that by 1994 it warranted its own racing series.
Super Sevens are very light in weight and inexpensive to maintain for
competitors. For the Thai National Championship, the Super Sevens will be
powered by the state-of-the-art Rover 1.6 K Series 16 valve engine producing
115 bhp at 6,000 rpm with an overall weight of around 500 kg, the power to
weight ratio being approximately that of a Formula Ford or Formula
Renault/Campus car. Handling and grip are up to junior formula car
standards. Due to these factors, the Super Seven is considered to be an
ideal training car for the aspiring racing driver.
The National Championship in Thailand will consist of 8 races over the
second half of 1997, then continue annually, under the sanction of the Royal
Automobile Association of Thailand (RAAT).
The Championship will be open only to Thai nationals who hold an RAAT issued
competition license, to ensure that it will be truly a Thai National
Championship.
From 1998 onwards, the Drivers Champion will be eligible to race a Formula
Ford series in Europe with financial assistance from sponsors. The natural
progression for a serious competitor would be 1 year in a Caterham Super
Seven series, 1 to 2 years in a European Formula Ford series (such as the
British “Star of Tomorrow” series) and then progression into either the
Japanese or one of the European F3 Championships. From F3, the natural move
for a talented race driver would be into Formula 1.
By using a one make series, the premium will be placed on the driver’s
skill. By rigidly controlling the allowed modifications to the cars, a truly
competitive and fair race will also ensure that the emphasis is on the
driver’s skills. Once the Champion-ship car has been purchased, sponsorship
from various suppliers will be arranged, again with the aim of keeping costs
to the competitors to a minimum, and thereby widening the appeal to
potential competitors, and event sponsors, who would not normally be able to
afford to go motor racing.
Similar races are held the world over and are run to an expertly devised set
of rules with sealed engines and minimal modifications to keep costs low and
guarantee close, exciting racing. This is the ideal series for both novice
and experienced competitors looking for fun motor-sport.
All races will be televised nation-wide and plans are already in the making
for related races involving the Super Sevens, such as endurance races,
sprints, hill climbs and international competitions.
The introduction of the Caterham Super Seven National Championship will put
Pattaya, Thailand squarely on the International Motor Racing scene.
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