Wild day at Phoenix - “over 40s” take top spots

IPGC TAGGS Independence Day/Richard Livingston’s Birthday Golf Tournament

Many a handicap took a dive after the IPGC TAGGS Independence Day/Richard Livingston’s Birthday Golf Tournament was played at Phoenix Country Club on the 4th of July.

A proud Richard Livingston, who was celebrating his birthday, which also just happens to be one of the biggest holidays in America, the day they celebrate their independence, watched as many of his students took apart the Phoenix Country Club course.

In every division, and there were 5 of them, it took at least 40 Stableford points to be in the running. Perhaps it was fitting that an American, Dan Dorothy, playing out of the rascally rabbits division, carded the most Stableford points, 48. Dan broke 100 for the first time, and did so with a vengeance. He carded a gross 90 off his soon to be diminished handicap of 30. Dan, who only plays a half dozen times a year, can say goodbye to the rabbits for a while.

Division 1 winner Yazuo Suzuki receives his trophy from birthday boy Richard Livingston

Bee Matti also demolished the course. Bee carded an amazing 45 Stableford points to win the ladies division.

The always-consistent Arthur Bailey carded 42 points to win 3rd division, whilst Kevin Fortt also had a great day, carding 40 points to win the 2nd division. Affable Yazuo Suzuki, who just missed winning the long drive with his “illegal” driver (which is actually “legal”, but his friends like to tease him about it), won the 1st division with a remarkable 41 points.

Kevin Fortt is all smiles after winning Division 2

Bill Gibson (Rabbits, 42 pts), Waineda Reed (Ladies, 42 pts) and Mark Campbell (1st Div, 40 pts) were all also in the “over 40” club, but were each relegated to second place finishes in their respective divisions. Keith Fortt (3rd Div: 39 pts) and Serge Straeten (2nd Div, 38 pts) neared the 40 point barrier in their second place finishes.

Arthur Bailey, winner of Division 3

Bob Van Mol carded a scratch 77 to win “Best Gross” honors.

Other notable stories on the day included Banjob Franklin beating all the men to win a near pin prize in division 3. Woody Underwood just missing out on the long drive (“with his 8 iron”) in the rabbits division, but nonetheless garnering a near pin prize. And Richard Livingston prot้g้ Steve Wilkins earning a near pin prize in division 3.

After a great day of golf – the weather cooperated, as although it was a little windy there was no rain – nearly all 90 of the golfers who played retired to The Haven for a sumptuous BBQ - American style with a Thai twist. To mark the occasion The Haven even had the American flag flying outside. Lamyai and the staff at The Haven did a great job “flippin the burgers” and hotdogs, an American tradition on the 4th of July.

The pretty smile of Bee Matti, Ladies Division winner. Who’s happier here, Richard on his birthday or Bee?

As always in big tournaments like these, people behind the scenes work hard to make it happen. Many thanks to Stephen Beard for putting on a great tournament and Mike Franklin who worked hard to help make the tournament and presentation ceremony go off without a hitch. Richard Livingston did a great job marshalling the course and, with Stephen, tabulating the scores. Happy Birthday Richard. Many more.

Independence Day 4th July 2001 Results

Best gross:

Bob Van Mol, 77 (after cb9 37)

Division 1:

1st: Yazuo Suzuki, 41 pts
2nd: Mark Campbell, 40 pts
3rd: Bob Van Mol, 38 pts

Division 2:

1st: Kevin Fortt, 40 pts
2nd: Serge Straeten, 38 pts
3rd: Paul Shortino, 36 pts (after cb 9 20pts)

Division 3:

1st: Arthur Bailey, 42 pts
2nd: Keith Fortt, 39 pts
3rd: Chris John, 38 pts (after cb 9 19pts)

Ladies:

1st: Bee Matti, 45 pts
2nd: Waineda Reed, 42 pts

Rabbits:

1st: Dan Dorothy, 48 pts
2nd: Bill Gibson, 42 pts

Near pins: Ocean #5 - 3rd Div: Banjob Franklin, 2nd Div: Kevin Fortt, 1st Div: Colin Beelders. Ocean #7 - 3rd Div: Steve Wilkins, 2nd Div: Alan Ollcott, 1st Div: Jim Bracket. Mountain #4 - 3rd Div: Chris John, 2nd Div: Brian Kelly, 1st Div: Ossie Viljainen. Mountain #8 - 3rd Div: Lewis Underwood, 2nd Div: Harry Riley, 1st Div: Stan Goodwin

Long drive (Ocean #9): Rabbits: Dan Dorothy, Ladies: Mam Trayling, 3rd Div: Claes Ernlund, 2nd Div: Roland Piechocki, 1st Div: Stan Goodwin

Local Pattaya boy wins first prize in Singapore sail boarding event

Ak Boonsawat, 11-year-old primary 6 student at Burapa English-Programme School of Thailand, “BEST”, recently won first place in the under 17 sail boarding contest. The event took place in Singapore on June 16th and 17th.

Ak Boonsawat won first place in the under 17 sail boarding contest in Singapore.

Thirteen other members of the Thai National team competed against teams from Singapore and Malaysia.

Ak’s accomplishment was made even more impressive as he is only 11 years old. Stewart Yates, English principal at the school, said that Ak was also doing very well in his academic development. “BEST” currently has 580 students and has the say they have the best bi-lingual curriculum in the area.

Pattaya Marathon this weekend

Thousands of athletes from Asia will be pounding the pavement this weekend when the Asia-Pattaya Marathon gets underway this Sunday, July 15.

Kenichi Kawakubo, last year’s winner crosses the finish line

The competition includes a full 42 k marathon, a 21 k half marathon and a 10 k mini-marathon. The marathon will start at 5 a.m., the half marathon at 5:30 a.m. and the mini-marathon at 6 a.m. Both men and women will compete in six different age groups, as well as an over-65 category for men and wheelchair categories.

The top prize for the men’s international category is 150,000 baht, while the top prize for the women’s category is 100,000 baht. The winners in each age group will receive trophies and all finishers will receive medals.

All of Beach Road will be blocked off for the event, and up to half the width of all other roads on the marathon, half marathon and mini-marathon routes will also be blocked off.

Charity begins at home

Or perhaps on the football field?

The 5th “International” Soccer Tournament kicks off on the 21st of this month, with 10 teams vying for the honours, but it is the kids at the Pattaya Orphanage who will be picking up the spoils.

This year the tournament is being held at the Nong Prue Stadium, being a larger venue than the orphanage soccer field where the previous events have been held. This new stadium is also safer for some of the other supporting events for the Charity Soccer Tournament.

These include displays by the Sports Flying Association who will be bringing along 20 of their Paramotors - those incredible men in their flying machines, or in this case it is rather those men in their ‘incredible’ flying machines. Most look like a kitchen chair with an engine strapped on the back of it, suspended beneath a parachute!

And there will certainly be parachutes. Pattaya’s number 1 sky-diving exponent, Patrick van der Bergh, complete with his buddies, is going to parachute into the stadium with the soccer ball clutched to his chest, so that the mayor of Pattaya, Pairat Suttithamrongsawat can make the kick-off to begin the matches.

At lunchtime, to keep the spectators entertained, the Jesters Motorcycle Club will be putting on a Big Bike show, followed by a performance by the Pattaya Orphanage kids themselves.

During the afternoon, the knock-out tournament continues until the winning teams are presented with their trophies at around 6 p.m.

To get there, the organisers have made it easy. There are free shuttle busses running from Mike’s Shopping Mall every two hours from 8 a.m. and the first one returns from the football stadium at 9.30 a.m. and then every two hours after that.

It looks like being a packed day and certainly a ‘fun’ one with a great reward at the end - much needed support to keep the ever-growing children at the orphanage in education, food and clothes. If you like football it’s worth attending for a few hours. If you like entertainment it’s worth going for a few hours. If you like helping kids, it’s certainly worth attending for a few hours! To get more details on the Charity Football day you can contact Patrick on 01-687 2410.

The Carlsberg Kids probably the best team in the world

Fitness Tips: Giving advice on traveller’s thrombosis (part 3)

by David Garred
Club Manager Dusit Resort Sports Club

Compression Hosiery

The House of Lords report recommended that people at risk of developing DVT consider wearing compression hosiery when flying. However, no advice was given with regards to the type of stocking.

Stephen Barker (consultant vascular surgeon, Middlesex Hospital, University College London Hospitals NHS trust) is developing stocking designed for travel use. He told The Journal on January 22 that they differ from currently marketed compression hosiery in two ways. The main difference is that they have a consistent pressure profile, which fits 85 percent of the population, based on 1,000 limb measurements. Second, the stockings are dark blue, a more appealing colour than many of the stockings currently available. The stockings are a below-the-knee fitting as opposed to full length. Barker said that a below-the-knee fitting was adequate for preventing travel DVT and that it was also much more practical than full-length stockings.

Barker’s stockings offer the equivalent of class I compression. He said that pharmacists could supply customers with class I below-the-knee stocking to prevent DVT on flights providing that they were properly fitted. Class II stockings gave an unnecessary amount of compression. However, he stressed the importance of making sure that existing types of stockings were properly fitted. He added that support tights, as opposed to proper compression hosiery, would not be beneficial.

Barker hoped that airlines would liaise with him over making his stockings available in aeroplanes. They had been designed with the thought that they could be available “in the back of the seat” for everyone to put on when they boarded the aeroplane. A small and large size would be available for people who fell outside the 85 percent of the population that the main stocking fitted. Barker believes that the stockings could be made available in a few months but, as yet, no airline had taken them on. He added that if they did become available for retail, pharmacies would be a place at which they could be sold.

In terms of suitability of stockings, he said that there were very few people for whom stockings would be contraindicated. People with arterial pathogenesis should not use compression hosiery. In addition, people were occasionally allergic to the components of stockings; this could be overcome by wearing a cotton inner sock.

Barker said that if pharmacists would like further advice on the use of compression hosiery for preventing travel related DVT, they could contact him at the Middlesex Hospital by telephoning his secretary (tel. 020 7813 9972).

Drug Treatment

Barker added his support to the use of pre-flight aspirin. He recommended the same dose as Mr. Scurr, saying that all adults should take half a tablet (300mg) two hours before a flight, unless they were intolerant to aspirin. One dose was sufficient for all flight durations. People with known aspirin intolerance should ask their general practitioner for advice.

People in a community such as ours spend a fair amount of time travelling, as such this is a consideration for our health. Sorry about going a bit deep but the article I stole it from a Pharmacists journal.

Keep fit and Stay Healthy.

Carpe’ Diem

Experience leads the way

PSC Golf - Three Sisters

Another fine day at Siam C.C. brought out 21 golfers for the weekly Stableford competition. Adjusted handicaps were announced before the start and more cuts than increases were noted; this group currently abounds in improving golfers. All groups had teed off before 0900 and the round proceeded at a good pace without any hold ups.

At the post-mortem held at “Caddy Shack 2” after the match it was happily announced that our most senior golfer Don Antonio came in with an excellent 44 points to claim the bragging rights for the week. In second place now that he has the hang of the new 48-inch shafted driver was Dougie Powell with 42 points. A flagging Gerry Carpenter owned the cellar position for the week; four consecutive days of golf and overly enthusiastic socializing finally took their toll.

Physician heal thyself

IPGC TAGGS Golf from The Haven

Monday 2nd July - Phoenix Golf Club (Medal)

1st: Oradee Kaesavane, 68
2nd: Brian Kelly, 70
3rd: Tehn Jones, 73
4th: Bill Hoge, 74
5th: Harry Riley, 75

On an extremely windy day when the red tees gave some advantage to the ladies, the boys and girls from the Haven tuned up for the 4th of July at Phoenix on the Mountain and Ocean courses. Unfortunately, many of them had left their instruments in the locker room.

Oradee Kaesavane won the day with a fine score of net 68. Brian the Bogeyman, who was just able to make an albatross on Ocean number 9, nonetheless finished second with a net 70.

The shot of the day went to Serge Straeten, who whilst playing the 9th Ocean, lined up his third shot to the green and put it on only to discover he had been aiming for the green of the first hole. A good shot nevertheless and poorly rewarded with the resulting 8 on the card.

Wednesday 4th July - Phoenix Golf Club

90 players enjoyed a great day’s golf and a fantastic party afterwards, accompanied with even better food at The Haven, to celebrate Independence Day and Richard Livingston’s birthday. Full results can be viewed on the back page of this issue and on the Pattaya Mail web site, www.pattayamail.com 

Friday 6th July - Century Ban Chan (Stableford)

1st: Jens Gunnarsson, 37 pts
2nd: Yazuo Suzuki, 36
3rd: Brian Kelly, 36
4th: Stephen Beard, 34

A fine day for golf was interrupted after 12 holes by a torrential downpour which swept away many contenders on the always testing Century course.

The Iceman, Jens Gunnarsson carded 37 points to win, just edging out in-form Yazuo Suzuki, who had won the 1st division two days earlier, and the Bogeyman Brian Kelly, both of whom managed only three points on the last three holes.

Jens himself had taken a dive (good job he wasn’t playing with Oradee) in the middle of his round, having been told how well he was doing, but he managed to recover a little better.

Post match at The Haven, the Doc was seen mumbling to himself, or maybe it was chanting, after having scored 23 points on the first nine, but only being able to muster eleven on the next nine. This caused much pleasure for Jimmy who was heard to comment, “Physician heal thyself”.

Richard welcomed new members Tom McCarthy from the USA and Tore Sundsby from Norway, whilst welcoming back Stefan Hoge, Patrick Scullion, Roland Piechocki and Mark Adair.

A golf talk with Dave Richardson

by Mike Franklin

This week I interviewed another of the golfing personalities of Pattaya, “How can I Help You” Dave Richardson, a seasoned Pattaya resident based at the Cafe Kronborg in Soi Diana.

MF: Dave, you are one of the longest resident and steady golfers here, where are you from originally?

DR: I’m originally from Ashland, Massachusetts - 25 miles west of Boston.

MF: Sometimes when we speak you refer to San Diego - do you have family there?

DR: Yes, I have some family there, and I was stationed there for nine years in the navy.

MF: When did you first start to play golf?

DR: I started playing in 1972.

MF: And how often do you play now?

DR: I try to play four times a week.

MF: How long have you been in Thailand?

DR: Ten and a half years.

MF: And you have been in Pattaya all that time?

DR: Yes.

MF: And have you been in the Kronborg all that time?

DR: Not all the time, we moved here in 1994 from Caesars Bar on Beach Road.

MF: You were in the US Navy - what did you actually do, and where were you stationed?

DR: In several places, Newport Rhode Island; San Diego California; Yokosaka and Sasebo in Japan. I was stationed on seven different ships, mostly destroyer and cruiser types, and had some shore duty in San Diego and Yokosaka. I worked in the Combat Information Center which coordinates the use of all electronic sensors and combat systems to defend the associated Battle Group as well as the ship itself.

MF: How many years were you doing that?

DR: I did that for twenty three years.

MF: I have always been impressed by your memory and your ability to answer any question that anyone asks. What do you put this down to, were you brilliant at school?

DR: No, not brilliant at school but there are lots of things you have to remember in the navy.

MF: Whenever a big US Navy ship is coming in such as the Nimitz or one of the large fleets like the Kitty Hawk (and support ships), you seem to know which ships, how many on board, who is commanding and loads of information. Do you have a line in, or a transmitter at home that provides all this information?

DR: No it’s all in my head!

MF: Have you ever had a Hole-in One?

DR: No, never had a hole-in-one.

MF: Close?

DR: Yes, but never had a hole-in-one.

MF: I had one once at Pattaya Country Club, and it really is a great thrill.

DR: I know, we were playing together and I was there on the tee at the Par 3 sixteenth when you holed it!

MF: You run the PSC Kronborg golf, organizing competitions two days a week, on Monday and Thursday. But it does not stop there as you look after the social golf on the other five days. How does that work?

DR: For the social golf we decide on the day where to go and leave later, at 09.30.

MF: Many people who come here do not have a car or a motor bike, so do you organize transport for them?

DR: Yes, we organize transport with mini buses or baht buses.

MF: So, anybody who comes here as visitor can come to the Kronborg, sign-up with PSC and get a full golf service, with transport organised by Dave Richardson.

DR: That is correct, yes.

MF: I see on the schedule you vary your 8 or 9 fixtures in the month covering different courses. What determines your choice of course?

DR: Well, we have to look at the condition, and some courses have put their prices up and we don’t get a good response to that. We look at all the courses and try to rotate as many of them as we can throughout the year.

MF: Nineteen courses to choose from on the Eastern Seaboard, none of them bad and most excellent. Which do you rate as the top four?

DR: Well I think Burapha, Phoenix, Treasure Hill and Bangpra.

MF: Visitors to the area for the first time, and maybe every time, seem to have a problem playing to their home handicap. Why is that?

DR: The courses are longer and you get little run with the ball. Then there’s the heat, and the nightlife affects them and sometimes the food.

MF: Probably the nightlife most of all for the newcomers. Dave, what part of the game is it most important for the keen average golfer to practice here?

DR: Some shots, like ‘bump & run’ are difficult to do here. You have to fire the ball right in. But most important is chipping and putting.

MF: The best round of golf you’ve ever had?

DR: The best round I have ever had out here is an 81 at Siam.

MF: Finally, if you had the opportunity to play with any golfer, past or present, who would it be?

DR: Jack Nicklaus

Mr. Loy in Heaven at Ban Chang

IPGC Pattaya Golf Society from the Bunker

On Friday, July 6th, the Bunker Boys travelled to Century Ban Chang for a medal competition. The day started peacefully enough and in near perfect conditions, but the entire field were to be saturated when the heavens opened later in the round. This resulted in some horrendous scores for the higher handicap players with the day’s honours being awarded to those on lower handicaps.

Tyrone Renglli and the Flying Finn, Hannu Kemilla shared second place with net 71’s, just failing to catch Mr. Loy, who fired a creditable net 69.

Nearest-the-pin awards went to Mogels, Hannu and Mr. Loy. The Bunker Banana Booby prize was awarded jointly to Clive Harris and Chris Coffey for their marvellous rounds of 133 and 130 respectively. The lessons Clive is currently having appear to be improving his game dramatically. The lucky draw was won by Clive again. The lads are online again after the webmaster’s forced absence and can be viewed at http://www.thebunkerboys.com

Updated every Friday
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

Updated by Chinnaporn Sungwanlek, assisted by Boonsiri Suansuk.
E-Mail: [email protected]