Pattaya Mail PC Classic - Royal Cliff Beach Resort International Regatta Gathers momentum

by a special correspondent

The seventh sailing of the “Pattaya Mail PC Classic - Royal Cliff Beach Resort International Regatta” will be held three weeks from now, on Saturday the 24th of February. With the announcement of the good news that Carlsberg and Coca Cola have agreed to join the Royal Cliff in sponsoring the race, it is now shaping up to be one of the Royal Varuna Yacht Club’s big events of the year.

Two ‘Opti Kids’ practice for the Pattaya Mail PC Classic - Royal Cliff Beach Resort International Regatta, which will be held three weeks from now, on Saturday February 24.

Since the inaugural race held in March 1995, the Classic has evolved, taking several different formats. This year represents the first time that the race will be held out off the Royal Cliff Beach Resort - “a good omen for the future of yacht racing,” conceded Don Mackenzie, the Royal Varuna Flag Commodore. “With the support of our neighbouring five-star resort hotel, the Royal Cliff, we can look forward to more sponsored events in the future,” added the Commodore.

The 1999 “Pattaya Mail PC Classic”

To take a look at a little of the history of the event, probably the most memorable was in 1999, when ‘maverick multihull (cata)mariners’ Simon Prattley and Suzanne Mertz stamped their authority on Royal Varuna catamaran racing with one of their first big wins.

All the auspices were good that day in March: the south-westerly blew in at 18-knots, the sky was clear and David Wales/Gilbert Leemann were there to put a professional imprimatur on the 1999 race, sailed off the Club. The ever-improving Eastern Seaboarder Simon Prattley and crew Suzanne were unbeatable in the Hobie Cat 16, finishing the course in some 54 minutes to take the overall honours and place their names for posterity on the permanent trophy. The rapidly improving Gardham team - Bob and Judy - brought their Hobie Cat 16 into second place, some minutes behind Prattley. Third were Don Mackenzie/John Turner.

Simon Prattley - always ready for a ‘Sundowner’ AND another PC Classic: preferably together.

Among the monohulls, it was business as usual, with triple PC Classic champion (1996-1998) Patrick Helms bolting home from Charlie Zbinden, Shin Suenaga and Suwan Poopoksakul, finishing second to fourth, respectively.

The 1999 event was somewhat different to previous ones and principal race officer David Wales designed what was, basically, a pursuit trial. Setting a course to take major advantage of the prevailing south-westerly, David worked out a pre-handicap, sending off the fleets at times concomitant with their ratings fixed by the international authorities in Portsmouth, UK.

Royal Varuna sailing secretary Dick van den Heuvel hopes to be sailing – and not on the committee vessel.

And David was very close to the average. He calculated the handicaps on an elapsed time of one hour for the fastest catamaran, sending the Lasers off some 12 minutes ahead of the Hobie Cats and 20 minutes ahead of the faster Nacras.

The leading cats were just a little faster than the estimated hour, due principally to the very fast reaching legs across the bay to Koh Sak and back to the eastern shore off Royal Varuna. Nevertheless, it was remarkably close and, after the first two catamarans crossed the line, it was a very even mix of multis and mono-hulls coming in. Well done, Mr Wales!

The Royal Cliff Resort International Regatta

The naming of the regatta is appropriate, for it is now an international event. Repeating their success again last year, Simon and Suzanne, two agile sailors, are determined to defend their hard-won title against an international multihull line-up of more than 15 nationalities. Simon, a New Zealander and Suzanne, a German, will be fighting off challengers like the Tasmanians David and Susan Race, Britons Bob and Judy Gardham, Denmark’s finest Peter Ole Herning, Italian Alberto Cassio, Aussie champion Gary Baguley, Switzerland’s Alex Skaria and Belgian Harry Ghoos, to mention a few.

The monohulls, likewise, as was indicative in the 1999 event, also have a strong international entry and include many Thai nationals who prefer the single-handed Laser to a multihull - at least at Royal Varuna. The first four during the 1999 regatta were German, Swiss, Japanese and Thai, respectively.

Even the Optimists have a big expatriate and Thai contingent, drawing on children from various of Bangkok and the Eastern Seaboard’s Thai and international schools.

So, preparations are proceeding smoothly for the regatta. The three class winners will be awarded wood replicas of the permanent trophy and minor placings will receive specially cast medals of great historic significance. Coca Cola is sponsoring designer polo shirts as well as, of course, copious supplies of the beverage, while Carlsberg will ensure lots of ice cold amber. The Royal Cliff Beach Resort will provide refreshments, food and the beach-side awards ceremony and, of course, the superb backdrop of the Resort for the racing, social ambience and, not the least, some photo-ops.

Further enquires (registration, timing and eligibility) should be addressed to the Pattaya Mail, tel. (038) 411-240-1; fax (038) 427-596; e-mail <[email protected]>; or Royal Varuna Yacht Club, tel. (038) 250-116; fax (038-250-115).

Charters: Hobie Cats, Lasers and Optimist dinghies are available for the event. Contact Royal Varuna for rates and conditions.

Arrangements are being made for spectators, parents and other interested parties to view the racing from the Royal Cliff foreshore.

See you at the Royal Cliff!

PSC Softball travels to Bangkok

by “Sriracha John” Epley

The Pattaya Sports Club softball team traveled to Bangkok on January 20th to participate in a one-day softball tournament hosted by the Royal Bangkok Sports Club, on the beautiful grounds of the Polo Club.

The event was conducted as a preseason competition for the Bangkok International Softball League. A total of nine teams participated, with the winner being the team from Nike International.

(Left to Right) Michael Berg, Jim Emmert, Dick Caggiano, Craig Lewis, Alan Rutsky, Jim Wright, Jim Maloney, Alan Thorne, “Sir John” McAllen, Bob Young, Jim Conant, and “Sriracha John” Epley.

An interesting format of the competition was that each batter received but a single pitch with the umpire calling it as either a strike out or a walk.

The tournament was of the double-elimination variety and when the PSC teamed faced the eventual tournament winner Nike in its first game of the day, the future did not look bright for PSC. The result was a 23 to 0 drubbing which was further aggravated when PSC’s starting shortstop, Jim Maloney, was injured and removed on just the fourth play of the game.

Eager to prove themselves worthy of competition at this level, PSC thrashed the team from Berger’s BMW in its second game of the day by the equally lopsided score of 22 to 3.

After an all-to-brief break, the PSC took to the field for its third game of the day and played valiantly before falling to Goldfinger by the score of 18 to 7.

As the main objective was to simply enjoy the day and have fun, the Pattaya team achieved that rather handily, albeit Jim’s injury detracted from its mission just a tad. The splendid locale of the competition as well as the opportunity to travel and play other teams made for a most pleasurable time.

The PSC sponsors softball games in Pattaya every Sunday afternoon, beginning at 2 p.m. at the Bang Nair School (Pattaya School #7) on Sukhumvit Road. The general public is enthusiastically invited to attend and participate as either players or spectators. Additional information regarding PSC softball can be obtained on their website at www.pattayasports.org/Page12.html and further information about the Bangkok International Softball League can be viewed at www.bangkoksoftball.com

Three Sisters wins PSC Bowling Championship

Pattaya Sports Club Friday Bowling League

After a hard fought, closely contested, yet extremely fun season, Three Sisters finished in first place and will soon be crowned PSC Bowling Champions.

The PSC Bowling League held its final round of competition on Friday, February 4. Singha Gold’s were stacking up on this last day, as there were lots of turkeys thrown (three strikes in a row).

Kran from the Cafe Kronborg probably had the best series this league has ever seen with a 617 scratch which helped in moving her team into a 3rd place finish.

The PSC Bowling chairperson, La, will schedule the ceremony/party in the very near future when trophies will be handed out as follows:

1st place Team: Three Sisters: La, Peter, Ow and Jah.

2nd place Team: Lewiinski’s: Nok, Hartmut, Somrak and Morn.

3rd place Team: Cafe Kronborg: Kran, Ken, Egon, and Lek.

Men’s high series - scratch: Jon - 581

Men’s high series - handicap; Peter - 673

Ladies high series - scratch: Kran - 617

Ladies high series - handicap: La - 678

Ladies high game - scratch: Mio - 237

Ladies high game - handicap: Nual - 253

Men’s high game - scratch: Jah - 235

Men’s high game - handicap: Ken - 255

Team sponsors will also receive awards/trophies.

PSC Bowling looks forward to seeing everyone back for the start of the new league. Any PSC member who would like to join in the fun, see La around 1:30 p.m. on Fridays at Pattaya Bowl on Second Road.

This week will be bowling for cash and a new league will start the following week.

Golf News from Mike Franklin

The Khun Anand Panyarachun Charity Invitational Golf Tournament for UNICEF at Eastern Star on Saturday 27th January went off successfully and it was a privilege to be Tournament Director for the event. UNICEF, for their projects to help underprivileged children in Thailand, benefited from the 1.2 million baht raised and Khun Anand concluded the day by announcing it will be an annual event. The full report appeared in last weeks’ Pattaya Mail. The high spot in the day for me was the opportunity to interview His Excellency at his house by the 5th Green, when he spoke about the tournament, those taking part, and the work of UNICEF in Thailand.

The golf schedules for February are up at all the PSC and IPGC venues offering all golfers the usual wide choice of courses, starting times and playing formats. February looks pretty busy, as indeed was the second half of January.

On Wednesday 17th January the final match in the recent series between Lewiinski’s/Orchid and the Haven took place at Siam Country Club. Lewiinski’s/Orchid were all over it once again and won the day by 10 points against the Haven’s 2.

This resulted in Lewiinski’s/Orchid getting the final ฝ point they needed and winning the series by six and a half points to a half. Apparently the handicap strokes for each side were roughly equal for this match, but Lewiinski’s/Orchid do have a much higher percentage of low handicap players. Hopefully in the next series the Haven will be at full strength with not so many players away.

On Friday the 19th at Phoenix Golf and Country Club, the 5th PSC Charity Classic took place. The event has already been fully reported, but is worth another mention as one of the highlights of the golfing calendar. This year’s tournament continued the tradition of being a singles team Stableford tournament with the legal use of Mulligans. The entry fee, fixed at B.2,500, entitled players to 24 Mulligans, which doubled up as Lucky Draw tickets and the chance to win from the B.300,000 value of 100 sponsored draw prizes on offer. Additionally, on the course, there were technical prizes worth over B.120,000.

The chosen charity was the new Girl’s Home at the Banglamung Street Kid’s Center with the funds raised going towards the new building.

It was a good day, and even the reduced turnout this time did not prevent the excellent sum of B.310,000 being raised, and all credit to Dennis Willett and his organising committee for achieving this. I know from experience that these events require a lot of dedication and hard work, and support from a lot of sponsors.

Shenanigans were out for a ‘Very Friendly’ to Eastern Star on Tuesday the 23rd for a pairs better ball. Paul Hartley and Sandy Mckee returned the better ball of the day, with the Lills close behind and with Ed & Mam trailing a little further back.

In fact, Paul Hartley and Sandy McKee blitzed the course to return a massive 51 Stableford points. Scores generally were good, and this again emphasizes the popularity of this format.

January was busy, and February is turning out to be no exception either. Friday the 9th is the 5th PSC Members Open, this time at Great Lake. These are well supported tournaments so it is important to always sign-up early at the PSC office in Soi Diana. There is no entry fee to join the competition.

Malcolm Clare has his 40th Birthday on the same day, with a competition at Phoenix and free food, sponsored by Malcolm, back at the Haven afterwards. So, two options that day for Malcolm’s friends.

PSC/Rosie O’Grady’s start their new ‘Rosie Gold Monthly Charity Golf Competition’ on Saturday 10th February at Century Country Club, Bang Chang. This event is to be run every second Saturday of the month. See full details in Pattaya Mail.

On Friday, February 16th, just two days after Valentines Day, is the annual Classroom Classic at Rayong Green Valley. Entry for this is B.1,200 which includes green fee, caddy fee, Thai-European buffet, nice shirt, trophies, and lucky draw ticket. Tee-off will be from 09.30 a.m. and the prize giving at Classroom 1 after the buffet at 7 p.m. The warm-up for this is the evening before on the 15th at Classroom 1.

And finally, the Irish pub, Shenanigans, has come up with a new tournament on Tuesday February 27th at Eastern Star. This one is for the Ladies – The Shenanigans International Ladies Open. A new tournament for lady golfers only.

It is an ‘Open’ tournament in the true sense of the word, so there will be no requirement to belong to any group, club or society. A handicap will be required, but we will accept non-handicapped players who will be able to play along in a special division and compete for the technical prizes. There will be two divisions for ladies with official handicaps.

There will be a lucky draw and a childcare center for ladies who can play if the little ones are looked after. Entry is B.950, and full details are published in Pattaya Mail. Prize giving for this one will be back at Shenanigans.

Ladies, put it in the diary now – Tuesday, February 27th at Eastern Star Resort. Applications for marshalling in writing please. If you would like to sponsor this event, or donate lucky draw prizes, see Kim or me at Shenanigans.

An important correction to an earlier announcement: the Rotary Club of Jomtien Pattaya feature their Charity Tournament (postponed from December 23rd,) on Saturday March 24th at the Diana Group Driving Range. Not on February 24th.

The charity project for this is called ‘Make Children Happy’ with a Beautiful Smile and Perfect Vision. The proceeds will be used to test the eyes and check the teeth of 100 underprivileged children and give them glasses and dental treatment.

It will be a well spent Saturday afternoon for a very good cause, and I will give more details in the future issues and in ‘Golf News’ on the Pattaya Mail Channel.

Entry forms will be at all the venues, and you can certainly sign-up with Richard Livingston, resident European PGA Professional, at the Diana Group Driving Range.

A reminder for new visitors or regular visitors returning - soft spikes – don’t forget them. Many of the courses are insisting you have them, and won’t let you tee-off without them.

Remember ‘News Items’ are always welcome for TV ‘Golf News’. Send them to me by e-mail to [email protected]

And lastly, I hear there are a very few life memberships on offer at Great Lake for just B.50,000. Sounds like a good deal to me, especially with green fees on the increase! Play Well.

Arnold Trophy 2001 this weekend at RVYC

The Arnold Trophy 2001 will be sailed this weekend, Saturday and Sunday, February 10 & 11 at the Royal Varuna Yacht Club.

All members of the RVYC and their invited guests, and all classes recognized by the RVYC are eligible to participate. There will be two groups of boats, helmsman/crew boats and single-handed boats.

Saturday’s briefing will be held at 13:00 with races beginning at 14:00. Sunday’s briefings will be held at 10:00 a.m., with races beginning at 11:00 a.m.

The courses will be decided by the Race Officer, Richard van den Heuvel. The helmsman/crew boat must have the same combination for each race. In the second race the crew helms. There will be a 3 hour time limit per race. Prizes will be awarded: 1 prize for every 5 boats, counted as the average per race.

Pleasure Dome win Tuesday darts championship

By virtue of an unblemished record, Pleasure Dome won the first division of the Tuesday Darts League championship. Pleasure Dome finished the season with a perfect 14-0 record.

Alex from Pleasure Dome won division one’s highest out trophy with 124. Alex, Cathy and Steve from Pleasure Dome, Bo from Cafe Kronborg, Jack and Klang from Jack’s Bar, Pong from Lazi Pig and Michelle and Pat from Mick’s all achieved perfect 180s on the season.

Ding Dong, meanwhile, rang their way to the top of the wild and crazy division two.

Id from Country House earned division two’s highest out, 130. Noy from Ding Dong, Vit, Id and Nid from Country House, Nung from Ritz and Tony from Moonshine all shot perfect 180s on the season.

Division One

	Won	Lost	Beer
Pleasure Dome Cafe Kronborg Jack’s Tippy’s Bunker Texxan Lazi Pig Mick’s	14 10 9 6 5 5 3 3	0 4 4 6 9 9 10 11	10 9 6 7 7 7 2 5

Division Two

	Won	Lost	Beer
Ding Dong Country House Ritz Londoner Mango Rose Garden Moonshine Thistle	11 11 10 8 5 4 2 1	3 2 4 6 8 9 8 11	14 7 6 6 7 5 1 6

Smugglers still looking for elusive first win

None other than big Bob

PSC Golf from the Three Sisters

Due to the American Football Superbowl game, the golfers from the Three Sisters Golf met at Siam on Tuesday the 30th. Some were in pretty poor shape due to heavy a drinking session during and after the Superbowl game. The winners laughed while the losers complained how lousy the game was.

As it was, 5 golfers broke their handicap and one other played to his handicap. John Moore was declared winner after the match, but after checking his most recent handicap, it was determined that John had come in tied for third. The one stroke difference in handicap pushed John from being first with 38 points to being tied for third at 37 on count back.

None other than big Bob Jess won the bragging rights. Bob shot a great back nine, which is actually the harder nine, with a gross 39 (22 Stableford points). Bob was hitting his drives well and played a brilliant back nine.

In second place was Brian O’Gorman with his weird swing. He looks like a twisted pretzel at the end of his swing but he gets the ball down the fairway quite a distance. Brian scored 20 points on the back nine to secure second place. Billy Fain, John Moore and Paul Kraft also shot 37 points but could not win the bragging rights. Right behind was Bob Moberg with 36 points.

In a match within the competition, Dick Devine and Billy Fain took on Herb I. and Bob Moberg. Dick and Billy quickly ran up a three hole lead but then squandered their chances as Bob and Herb were back to even by the 7th hole. The match stayed close with Billy and Dick being one up going into the 18th. As it was, the strain was too much for Billy and Dick and they collapsed on the last hole, and Bob Moberg saved the day by winning the hole.

After the match the golfers had their normal bragging session and a few beers (some had a lot and stayed for a few hours!). As usual we all had a good time and will meet again on Monday for our next informal fun competition.

Rosie Golf Monthly Charity Golf

Starting Saturday, February 10, Rosie O Grady’s will begin holding the “Rosie Gold Monthly Charity Golf” competition. The competitions will be held the second Saturday of each month throughout the year 2001. The only sponsors of these events will be the players themselves.

This month’s tournament will be held at Century Ban Chang on Friday February 10, with tee off from 9:30 a.m. The format is singles Stableford.

The registration fee is 1300 baht per person and includes green fees, caddy fees, administration costs, 550 baht in gold and cash prizes and 50 baht to a charity fund to be donated in the form of Christmas presents for the underprivileged children of Pattaya, on behalf of the players participating in these competitions. Entry fees to by paid on registration.

Handicaps will be accepted from the Pattaya Sports Club, the IPGC and any affiliated club or association providing proof of handicap can be presented on request to the competition organizers.

Five hundred fifty baht per player will be allocated in prizes - for example, 80 players will enable this event to give prizes as follows: 1st prize - 3 baht gold, 2nd prize - 2 baht gold, 3rd prize - 1 baht gold, 4 nearest the pins 1000 baht each and 1 baht of gold for the lucky draw. Prizes can vary depending on the number of players participating.

Presentations will be held at Rosie O Grady’s on Soi 7 at 6:30 p.m.

Sign up at Rosie O Grady’s on Soi 7. Registration forms will be posted on the notice board in the bar area. Tel. 361 686, fax 428 396, email [email protected], web site www.rosie-ogradys.com

Brown shoots 64 at Siam

Golf from Cafe Kronborg

Monday January 29 - Siam C.C. (stroke)

Forty-two golfers went to Siam C.C. on Monday, January 29 for a stroke play event.

Rick Evans took the A flight with a net 72, Jon Pratt finished 2nd with a net 74, Orn Lissvik came 3rd with net 74 and Svend Berthelson took 4th with net 75.

Rob Brown won B flight with a net 64, Thomas Blosse finished 2nd with a net 68, Bjorne Elderyd came 3rd with net 69 and Vic Cross took 4th with a net 72 on a count back from Doug Powell.

Near pins: #4 Paul Kraft, #8 Gunnar Nordstrom, #12 Reg Warner, and #16 Herb Schwiltermann.

Long putts: #9 Thomas Blosse, #18 Rick Evans.

Thursday February 1 - Sattahip (Stableford)

Sattahip was the venue for a Stableford match on the North and West courses.

Tom Breslin (from the Emerald Isle) took the A flight with 34 points on a count back from Ebrahim. Harry Cowling was 3rd with 33 points on count back from Dave Richardson.

John Swanson won the B flight with 36 points, Jim Boyd finished 2nd with 34 and Nigel Perry came 3rd with 32 points.

Near pins: N4 John Swanson, N7 Jim Boyd, W3 Ebrahim, W8 Charlie Burton

Twenty-three players turned out for the regular Saturday morning friendly at Siam C.C.

Big lan bags big score

IPGC Pattaya Golf Society with the Bunker

On Tuesday, 30th January, thirty-two Bunker Boys travelled to Century Golf Club, Chonburi for a medal/Stableford competition. The course was in beautiful condition and the boys were made very welcome. The cut was at 17 as more and more low handicappers are making their way to the Bunker.

There was a three-way tie in division one as Bob van Mol, playing off five, and Bill Hewitt and Keith Hector, both off 14, all shot level par 72.

In division two Jeff Rogers, with 35 points and Bill Nichol, with 36 points, were left trailing behind Big Ian Phillips who chipped and putted his way to a remarkable forty-five points! Ian had only 26 putts in his round, which is a lesson for all golfers who want to improve their score.

Nearest-the-pin awards went to Mr Loy twice, John Harris and Les Winch. Ian, your handicap next week? ...som nom na!

Keith Fortt wins Rising Sun Stableford

On Thursday, February 1, a windy day at Pattaya Country Club that made it difficult to score, Keith Fortt won the Rising Sun Stableford competition with 36 points.

Keith (where’s my shirt) Taylor finished runner-up. However, after playing the “round of his life”, he found out there was no second prize. Keep swinging.

Copyright 2001  Pattaya Mail Publishing Co.Ltd.
370/7-8 Pattaya Second Road, Pattaya City, Chonburi 20260, Thailand 
Tel.66-38 411 240-1, 413 240-1, Fax:66-38 427 596; e-mail: [email protected]