Ebrahim, Brown, Polizzotto and Morrison win at Green Valley

The Inaugural Bunker Four-Man Team Scramble

Ebrahim, Rob Brown, Frank Polizzotto and Bob Morrison became the winning team in the inaugural Bunker Four-Man Team Scramble played at Green Valley on Friday, May 25. The fearsome foursome holed 11 birdies on the day to finish with an amazing net 54.4.

The top three finishing teams in the inaugural Bunker Four-Man Team Scramble: first place Ebrahim, Rob Brown, Frank Polizzotto and Bob Morrison (front), second place (back left) Wilf Latham, Paul Butler, Roy Mitchell and Jaz (not shown), and third place (back right) Stephen Beard, An Kaesavane, Bob van Mol and Klaus Schackt.

Bunker host Roy “Tiger” Mitchell, who sportingly admitted that deep down he hoped he wouldn’t win his own tournament, and his team of Paul Butler, Wilf Latham and Keeratika (Jaz), who did what they could to “spoil” their captain’s hopes, carded an equally amazing net 56.9 to finish in second place.

The team of Klaus Schackt, Bob van Mol, An Kaesavane and Stephen Beard finished with a net 57.6, a score that would have been good enough to win this event on any other day, but on this day were relegated to 3rd place.

History will record Friday’s event as the first Bunker-organised Pattaya “major” but in the minds of all the participants it will go down as a very successful and enjoyable day.

Many weeks of hard work, frustration and smiles bore fruit at the beautifully prepared Green Valley course as eighty-eight golfers took to the tees in search of the Bunker Team Scramble Championship.

The day began with the IPGC captain, Stan Fry, driving off at the first tee and ended some six and a half hours later with Malcolm Scullion putting out on the distant ninth (their eighteenth). In between came the usual mix of skill, luck, frustration and delight and, around the course, punctuating the birdsong, could be heard muffled cheers, sighs and, yes, oaths.

Memorable events were the scorching long drives of the likes of Steve Mascari and the graceful, amazing Keeratika (Jaz) and the single putting of the eventual winners.

Further down the field one group were delayed putting on the old ninth because an infant snake was making its serpentine way across the green, oblivious to the drama unfolding elsewhere.

Pins were being peppered, pitch shots were disappearing into holes, caddies were being sent in fruitless searches for balls and fruitful searches for Carlsberg, anecdotes were being swapped and previous good and bad luck tales were being recalled. Such is this fascinating game and such was the quality of the golf that only eleven shots covered the whole field at the end of the day.

Back in Soi Chaiyapoon the suckling pig was sizzling as the band of players returned for the awards presentation.

The Bunker wishes to thank the officials of the IPGC for all their invaluable help in the organisation of the event, Khun Nirand and the management team of Green Valley Golf Club for the superb facilities, Mary and Derek for their work at registration, Bob Palmer for the catering, and Lek and all the girls back at the Bunker for their hard work attending to the guests afterwards. Many thanks, too, to the sponsors who donated prizes, including Lewiinski’s-Orchid, The Haven, Thai-Ger Line, the Diana Driving Range, Green Valley and Sri Racha Golf Clubs, Khun John’s Restaurant, Fawlty Towers Restaurant, Pattaya Sports Supply, and Shenanigans.

Finally, the biggest thank-you goes to the players themselves, who helped to make the day such an enjoyable success. Here’s to the next one!

Final Results:

1st: Ebrahim, Rob Brown, Frank Polizzotto, Bob Morrison, net 54.4
2nd: Roy Mitchell, Paul Butler, Wilf Latham, Keeratika (Jaz), net 56.9
3rd: Klaus Schackt, Bob van Mol, An Kaesavane, Stephen Beard, net 57.6

Near pins: #2 Mon Mili, #9 Bob Morrison, #12 Rob Brown and #16 George Jackson

Long drives: Division One Steve Mascari, Division Two Peter Renggli, Division Three Claes Ernlund, Ladies Keeratika Lohakoon.

Thailand first Asian country to win Asia Pacific Laser Championship

In the Olympic single-handed sailing class, the International Laser, the Asia Pacific Championship was won by Morten Jakobsen of Royal Varuna Yacht Club in Pattaya, after an exciting seventh and final race in which 5 sailors had the chance to win the title.

This year’s regatta took place in India between the 12th and 19th of May, on the Hussein Sagar, an 400 year old lake in the middle of the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad.

The Asia Pacific Laser Championship is a world class event and the title has been won by participants from Australia and New Zealand without fail the past 18 times the event has been run since the beginning in 1975. With Morten’s victory, Thailand became the first Asian country to claim this title.

This year the regatta was also a qualifying event for the World Championship, so Morten won a place to compete in that event, which will be held in Ireland in August. The Masters Worlds, for sailors over 35 years of age, will be held at the same location and Morten also plans to participate in this event, assuming adequate funding can be secured.

Morten won the series on the basis of having accumulated the fewest penalty points. The winning score for the 7 races was 3-2-2-6-6-4-4 for an overall score of 21 penalty points (discarding the worst score). This was adequate to beat all other participants including a very competitive Indian who finished off his series with three race wins. Second and third place finishers both had 22 penalty points, and hence a closer finish could hardly have been imagined.

The sailing conditions on the lake were extremely challenging, and almost all participants had at least one double-digit score in their series. The difficult conditions required the sailors to be highly aware of imminent changes in wind direction and strength. Ordinarily sailors use compasses to guide them, but a deck mounted crystal ball would have been much more useful at this event! Lacking this essential tool, Morten had success by regularly standing up in the boat while sailing, as this helped to get a better overview of the course, and help foresee the next developments.

The other Thai participant, Neil Semple, also a member of the Royal Varuna Yacht Club, had a more uneven series, but was often seen at the front of the fleet.

In a true show of sportsmanship, together with Richard Scarr from Australia, Morten took advantage of the rest day in the middle of the event to hold a workshop on Laser sailing for all interested parties. The two coaches for the day felt that this was a good way to repay the Indian sailors for their help and kindness during the regatta, and others must have seen this as being a good idea, since most Indian participants attended.

Following this event Mr Singh Santi, a member of the International Jury, said to a major Indian newspaper, “Jakobsen sailed clean and fair and epitomized the best in the sport, exemplary of which was the workshop he conducted on the rest day”.

Paul Elvstroem, a world famous sailor, once said: “Winning is nothing if you do not have the respect of your competitors”. At least at this event, Morten can be sure that he also had the respect of the jury.

Morten Jakobsen has made Thailand his home since 1997, and is married to Dr. Ranee Esichaikul from Sukothai Thammathirat Open University, whom he met while both were foreign students in Scotland. He has been a member of the Royal Varuna Yacht Club for 3 years, and has won numerous regattas there, together with at least one Thai national title and several runner-up positions. Originally he learned sailing as a teenager and was a member of the Scottish Single-handed National Squad while studying in Glasgow.

Morten’s preparation for the Asia Pacific Championship included attending one-on-one coaching sessions held by K. Verasit who has recently won the 2001 Thai National Championship in the Laser and participated in the Sydney Olympic Games. Morten attributes the advice received from K. Verasit as being one of the most important factors in his recent success, and recommends others to learn more from this experienced sailor who teaches sailing in the Royal Varuna Yacht Club at weekends by appointment.

Panties do us Proud in Indochina Cup!

By Titanic the Water Girl & Chief Dogsbody

The Pattaya Panties ladies rugby touch team, sponsored by Global Silverhawk/Santa Fe, recently travelled to Vientiane to participate in the Indochina Rugby Tournament held on Saturday 26th May.

Captain Leah after her third try

Teams from Saigon, Bangkok, Hanoi, and the beautiful hometown of Vientiane all entered the tournament.

The Panties squad, although lacking several of their strong players, felt reasonably confident. Although Master tactician Coach Steve was away in Brunei on yet another fashion shoot, all was not lost as Barry the Water Carrier had scribbled down some hot tips for Loopy Leah, the tour captain.

The ladies realised they were in for a tough competition when the Saigon Boas and Vientiane Buffaloes all went home early Friday night in preparation for the games on Saturday.

Panties and Keiko the mascot

Although the Panties weren’t used to the huge amount of sleep and early curfew, they courageously headed off to the National Stadium bright and early Saturday morning. Riding high on their Bangkok 7’s victory they were ready for anything!

The first game of the day was against the so far undefeated Saigon Boa’s. With excellent defending by Blocky the Boss and Lisa Love, and some great sequences of team play, the first try was scored by Pin-up Pennock, who broke through the Boa’s defence and stormed 30 yards to the try line. This was followed by a fantastic break through by Captain Leah which clinched the game 2 - 0.

The second game was played straight after the first. The Panties only had a few minutes to regain their breath, stretch and have a few sips of Evian before they were back on the pitch playing the Corsettes. The girls summoned their strength and stamina and faced the fresh legs of the opposition. A little tiredness set in as the sun beat down, but Captain Leah made another great breakaway through the defence of the Corsettes scoring the first try of the game. Great moving forward by Free Fall Diver and Ceri Crumpet culminated in another great try by Pin-Up but it was disallowed at it was off the pitch. No amount of eye fluttering would change the ref’s mind. The Panties won the game 1-0.

Preparing for the final

After several doughnuts and a bit of a sit down, the Panties braced themselves for the third game. This was against the Sweet Soul Sisters. The Panties began with two chief supporters and water girls, but by now, the whole stadium were cheering loudly for our home team. Again, great defending by both excellent teams but Mighty McCormack made a great break through to score the first try of the game. More tight defending by Sassy Setsuko and Lisa Love made it increasingly more difficult for the Sweet Soul Sisters’ forwards. Hot-on-the-heals of Mighty’s try came Captain Leah’s third try of the tournament with yet another excellent break through. The Panties won 2-0.

Since the Panties and the Vientiane Buffaloes had won all their games, it was clear that these two superb teams would be in the final. So both teams had a rest and began to brace themselves for a tough game.

Just before the final, as the Panties were stretching and warming up Captain Leah drunk some murky ash tray water by accident! The girls all held their breath - would this affect their star player’s performance?

The teams walked on to the pitch to an electric atmosphere and thunderous cheering. Chief supporter Keiko had plenty of water ready as the whistle blew for the final game. Both sides defended exceptionally well and it looked as if it would be a draw but one of the Buffaloes charged through the Panties’ defence to score the only try against them in the whole tournament. A hard fought match, which the Panties were unlucky to lose.

The Panties would like to thank Barry for his well meaning and very worthy advise (which was followed to the letter!), Global Silverhawk/Santa Fe and Pattaya’s favourite Pin-Up Pennock, Social Captain, for organising the tour.

Panties are always looking for new members. If you’re interested please contact Pin-Up Pennock on [email protected]

The next chance for the Panties to show their sporting prowess is in the upcoming tours in Bangkok and Hanoi. Watch this space!

Electronics put kybosh on kilted Coulthard

Schumi romps in

The Monaco Grand Prix could be summed up in one word - Boring. With title contender and pole sitter David Coulthard being relegated to the rear of the field after his McLaren Mercedes refused to start for the parade lap, the race then turned into a high speed parade with Ferrari drivers Schumacher and Barichello winning easily from Eddie Irvine in the Jaguar.

Jean Alesi in a Prost made it all the way up to 5th before having to pit 9 laps from the finish. (Photo Courtesy of Planet-F1 and Bothwell Photographics)

When Coulthard’s car refused to move (the third time in three meetings that this has happened to a McLaren) a collective groan could be heard from millions of Scottish F1 enthusiasts all over the world. All chances of a wheel-to-wheel dice between the first and second place men in the championship disappeared as the fire went out in the McLaren Mercedes engine.

When the red lights went out, Michael Schumacher powered into a lead he never looked like losing. Behind him, Hakkinen in the second McLaren Mercedes was making no impression, while Barichello was keeping the BMW Williams cars of Ralf Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya safely behind him. That order stood till lap 3 when Montoya tried moving the barriers with his rear wheel. The barrier won.

By now, the world at large was waiting for Coulthard to come storming through from the rear of the grid. In a car that was a full four seconds a lap quicker than Bernoldi in the Arrows, the kilted killer appeared more like a girl in a gymslip as he made several ineffectual attempts at passing the youngster in front of him.

The other McLaren was faring no better and by lap 14 Hakkinen’s race was run as the car was not responding properly through a “technical problem”, announced the dour Ron Dennis. Fortunately we were spared the almost mandatory footage of Erja the Ice Maiden.

30 laps later, Coulthard finally passed Bernoldi when the Arrows headed for the pits. Hardly the mark of the master! By lap 50, Trulli in the Jordan Honda had the engine turn into a hand grenade, Frentzen in the other Jordan won a wall and Fisichella in the Benetton got the same piece of fence twice, the final time permanently.

Eight laps later Ralf Schumacher’s BMW Williams called enough and the seriously depleted field fizzled on behind Michael Schumacher for the run to the finish. Irvine in the Jaguar had inherited 3rd, with Villeneuve in the BAR some five seconds behind him. The only “battler” was Crazy Jean Alesi in the pig of a Prost, who was still there and up to 5th with Coulthard now 6th (and still yet to actually “pass” anything on the track).

The procession dragged on to the chequered flag with the two Ferrari’s up the pointed end and the only change was when Alesi was forced to pit nine laps from the end, elevating Coulthard to 5th and relegating the Prost to 6th.

Schumacher deserved the result, making it his 5th at Monaco and his 48th career GP win. The Championship now stands at M. Schumacher Ferrari 52, Coulthard McLaren 40, Barichello Ferrari 24, R. Schumacher Williams 12, Heidfeld Sauber 8, Trulli Jordan 7, Villeneuve BAR 7, Frentzen Jordan 6, Montoya Williams 6, Panis BAR 5, Irvine Jaguar 4, Raikkonen Sauber 4, M. Hakkinen McLaren 4.

The next meeting is the Canadian GP in Montreal on June 10th.

Three Sisters remain on top

PSC Golf from the Cafe Kronborg

Monday May 21 - Sattahip (Stableford)

Rob Brown continued his winning ways taking 1st place with 42 points, followed by Ebrahim in 2nd with 37 points, Philippe Berra 3rd with 29 and John Albrecht 4th with 27.

Thursday My 24 - Khao Kheow (Stableford)

Rob Walters from the US Air Force took the A flight with 33 points, followed by Philippe Berra in 2nd with 32 and Fred Marshall 3rd with 30 points.

Pete Galle took the B flight with 36 points, Toy Theobald finished 2nd with 36 on a count back, Jim Boyd placed third with 32 points.

Schackt, Vogeler win, Little dons the bridesmaid gear, again

IPGC TAGGS golf from The Haven

Monday 21st May - Phoenix G.C. (Medal Stroke)

1st: Klaus Schackt, 68
2nd: Dave Johnson, 70
3rd: Bob Van Mol, 77

Klaus Schackt continues his recent run of good form, winning the TAGGS medal/stroke play competition at Phoenix on May 21.

Klaus managed to edge out Dave Johnson, with Bob Van Mol lagging in third. Bob thought that, as he had won twice previously, a score of around 77 would be good enough, but the conditions were much better this week and he is now a little wiser.

Wednesday 23rd May - Phoenix (Stableford)

1st: Michel Vogeler, 39 pts (cb9 24)
2nd: Jimmy Little, 39 pts (cb9 17)
3rd: Stefan Hoge, 38 pts

First time winner Michel Vogeler, whose first love before he came to Thailand was tennis, is now getting to grips with the smaller, stationary ball and looks as if he will start figuring regularly on the leader board. He has still to get used to not being able to play his strong backhand as many times.

Jimmy Little was again a bridesmaid and did not even have the chance to take the honours from Harry, who is visiting England for a few days.

Stefan Hoge almost reached the top on his last outing before returning to work for a month.

Richard Livingston welcomed new members Fred Streeter and Darrell Paull from Australia, and also the return of big Jens Gunnarsson from Iceland.

On Friday 25th May, everybody played in the Bunker Scramble.

Bionic athletic star takes the glory in super style

PSC Three Sisters Monday golf

First time winner Alan Pearce stormed the course at Siam C. C. on Monday May 21 to win the Three Sisters Golf weekly tournament with a creditable 45 Stableford points considering the blot (0) on hole 18. Alan, a former British star athlete, now sports two Titanium knees, a Titanium driver and an odd assortment of friends.

In second place with a respectable 40 points came the scourge of the caddy shack, Kentucky U superstar Billy Fain, a remarkable performance if you consider the lack of talent at the caddy shack these days.

Notable scores were posted by the 3-century group, who have a combined age of over 300 years (John Moore, Don Antonio, Jim Tully and Rolly). Each shot their handicap or better.

Not everyone was so fortunate, however, as Don Ratcliffe was forced into retirement when his golf cart expired at hole #8 and his heel quit within a few yards. Bill Thompson showed some of his recent form with a couple of nice birdies but seemed to have suffered a wee bit of jet-lag from the 40 hour return from Kazakhstan and the warm reception at home. It was later noted that Bill asked his neighbor to take care of the dogs while he was away; sadly, they were still there when he returned.

Records tumbled, as Jerry Lien assumed the sole right to Singh Gold consumption quantity leader while Bob Moberg came from two superb rounds to be humiliated with what he described as “the worst *”*”* I’ve played in years.” Our resident lefty showed true form with wonderful shots into the water and trees interspersed with an occasional fairway hit, then off into the trees or the water or sand traps again.

Herbie is off to Hawaii to strangle his tax man and investment advisor, which should only take a couple of weeks, so we can expect to see him back in early June to take over the reins from the temporary convener Dene Mundy (scores will be audited by this former head of Price Waterhouse Thailand).

George does the Hippy Hippy Shake Shake to tame Treasure Hills

Mascari & Matti ditched

Monday May 21 - Treasure Hills (stroke)

1st: George Jackson, net 68
2nd: Steve Mascari, net 69
3rd: Steve Donovan, net 70

On a fine and sunny day at Treasure Hills, 17 golfers set out to play stroke play.

Although George Jackson had to wait for his playing partners Steve Mascari and Ray Matti, who were stuck in a ditch not far from the course (they eventually got pulled out and got to the course), he managed to score a very good net 68 to win the day.

Other golf from I.P.G.C. Lewiinski’s/Orchid G.S. results:

Sunday May 20 - Green Valley (Stableford)

A flight

1st: Steve Mascari, 40 pts.
2nd: Stan Fry, 38 pts.
3rd: Mike Morris, 35 pts.

B flight

1st: Bob Lindborg, 38 pts.
2nd: Stefan Hoge, 34 pts.
Terry Summers, 34 pts.

Near pins: #2 Steve Ross, #9 Kaew Somkid, and #12 Stefan Hoge

Wed May 23 - Century Ban Chang (Stableford)

A flight

1st: John Hurst, 40 pts.
2nd: George Jackson, 39 pts.

B flight

1st: Jim Boyd, 40 pts.
2nd: Steve Ross, 34 pts.

The Square Ring

by Howie Reed

The prestigious World Boxing Council will be invading Pattaya Beach for their annual Convention December 2 through the 8th. This will be at least the third WBC Annual Meeting in the Land of Smiles. The WBC had its convention in Chiang Mai in 1994. A couple of years prior to the Chiang Mai meeting, the convention was in Bangkok. The WBC has nine Continental Federations that represent 161 countries, which usually results in 500 to 600 hundred conventioneers.

The exact agenda hasn’t been set yet, but there are daily general assembly meetings that are open to the public and press where mandatory world title defenses, ratings, and other issues are discussed and voted on. Last year this portion of the convention actually provided some real entertainment. The founder and still president of the WBC is Dr. Jose’ Sulaiman. A source who asked that his name not be used called him a “benevolent dictator”. With great emotion Dr. Sulaiman announced, with a hint of a tear in the eye, that he “Would not stand for re election as President. I’m sure there are those out there that can do a better job than I have done.” The next day, one of the delegates from Thailand asked for the floor. With great flourish, and maybe a hint of a tear, implored Dr. Sulaiman to, “Reconsider his decision of the previous day and allow us to elect you as president again.” President Sulaiman will preside over this year’s meeting.

The decision to bring the convention to Pattaya was made at what could only be called the last minute. In a press release from the WBC the name Pattaya is explained. Well sort of. “In the 13th century, what is now Pattaya was the resting place for the battle forces of the great King Nari during his campaign against the Burmese invaders and, from that short stay, Pattaya derives its name. Pattaya’s growth into a vibrant seaside resort city has taken place in the last 40 years.” Beats the hell out of me.

One of the highlights of the convention will be the attendance of many of the WBC World Champions. It can argued, with a lot of credibility, that the WBC roster of champions is second to none. Among them are Hasim Rahman, Roy Jones Jr., Sugar Shane Mosley, Floyd Mayweather Jr., Eric Morales and two Thais, Veraphel Sahaprem (Bantam) and Pongsaklek Wonhenglcam (Fly). This list will become even more impressive after Felix Trinidad beats Bernard Hopkins (September 15 at MSG) and Oscar DeLaHoya beats Javier Castillejo (June 23 in Las Vegas). No convention site in Pattaya has yet been selected.

The WBC at its annual NABF Convention announced awards for the year 2000. WBC Boxer of the Year - Shane Mosley. WBC Boxer of the Year - Honorable Mention - Lennox Lewis. WBC Fight of the Year - Shane Mosley vs. Oscar De La Hoya. WBC Fight of the Year - Honorable Mention - Jose Luis Castillo vs. Stevie Johnston. WBC Most Dramatic Fight of the Year - Erik Morales vs. Marco Antonio Barrera.

Updated every Friday
Copyright 2001  Pattaya Mail Publishing Co.Ltd.
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Updated by Chinnaporn Sungwanlek, assisted by Boonsiri Suansuk.
E-Mail: [email protected]