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The Fours Become One
at Green Valley
The OK Corral Four-Man Team Scramble 2004
Every year, on December 30, the IPGC and the OK Corral in
particular, draw the curtain on the golfing year in Pattaya with the highly
prestigious OK Corral Four-Man Team Scramble, played this year at Green
Valley.
A full field enjoyed a course of exquisite quality which
provided a stern test for the fun-filled tournament, as the teams took on
the challenges of the water, sand, rough and splendidly paced greens.
Scramble
Winners, “The Fours”, (from left) Eddie Blackwell, “Apple”, An
Kaesavane and Klaus Schackt, with Richard Livingstone (PGA) and Roy
Mitchell, behind.
A tour of the course during the event saw the full range
of golfing emotions as high fives were matched by glum faces, broad grins by
shaking heads and back-pats by shrugged shoulders. Above all, the abiding
memory was of wide smiles! Accuracy was rewarded with Near Pin trophies and
the laurels went to John Healy, Bob Pearce (both Bunker Boys), Paul Young
and Claus Birk Thomsen, whilst sheer power was rewarded with Long Drive
prizes and the long hitting of Gerry Power (“A” Flight), Roy Thornton
(“B” Flight) and Intira Anuchon (Ladies) bore suitable success. The
major winners included the third placed “Lewiinski Smokers”, a quality
team comprising IPGC Captain Steve Mascari, Jim Munns, Joe Sebastian and
Jack Grindvold, with net 56.6, and runners-up “The Penguins”, an
Icelandic combination of strength and charm in the shape of Brynjolfur
Josteinsson, Valur Sigursson, Einar Johansson and the powerful lady golfer,
Karlotta Einarsdothir, with 54.4.
Unusually in a scramble the winning team’s lead was a
huge one shot and bore merit to the quality of “The Fours”, with
disciplined Klaus Schackt leading teammates Eddie Blackwell, and ladies An
Kaesavane and “Apple” with good humour, experience and some incredible
long putting. Thirteen birdies helped them total an astonishing score of
53.4, which was to take the day’s top honours. At the other end of the
leader board the broad smiles of “The Gallowa’s”, aka Barry Pethig,
Angus MacFarlane, Peter Fitton and Jim Wilson hid the fact that they had
received the Banana Booby for much fun-filled mediocrity.
The whole day would not have been possible had it not been for the hard
work of Denis Smith and Malee at the OK Corral, Mary Jones and Avis Hewitt
at check in and recording, Richard Livingstone as emcee and the, at times,
frustrated pairing of Roy Mitchell and Len Jones, and the entire field was
as one in recording their thanks to them for the organisation of the day,
the finest way to say goodbye to 2004.
Varuna Cup ends a year of great
yacht racing in Pattaya
By
Peter Cummins, Pattaya
In the last big regatta of an eventful year, the Royal
Varuna Yacht Club held one of its classic events, the Varuna Cup, which
appropriately for the occasion, was also one of the best attended and
promoted of the year.
Generously sponsored by Blue Wave Water Sports Asia,
BMW, Heineken Beer and the Park Chidlom, it was a weekend of close racing,
in excellent sailing conditions and the usual good camaraderie, which now
permeates the new Varuna club facilities - a showplace on the Eastern
Seaboard.
The Baguley father-son combination - Gary and Adrian -
racing their sophisticated multi-hull Hobie Tiger (spin) cleared out from
the fleet of Nacra Catamarans, to win that division from Yves Blouin/Rebe
Arbefeuille (Nacra 5.8, spin) and Kitsada/Supakit (Nacra 5.8, spin).
Ben Chandler/Quentin de Cuyper did likewise in the
Hobie Cat 16s class, winning from Hong Kong team Jimmy Shum/Joseph Shieh
and compatriots Wong Kam Chiu/Wan Kai Wing.
In the Mono-hull Class, the single-handed Lasers led
the way, with Pontep Sukarom winning from Douglas while, in a rare
appearance for both the team and the boat, Anirut Posakrishna and Kanon
brought their Fireball in third.
In the single-handed Multi-hull division, Hamish (FXOne
spin.) won from Bob Garner (Taipan 4.9 spin.) and Peter Herning (Nacra 16
Sq. spin).
Finally, in the huge Optimist entry, a little lady,
Audrey beat Pomme and an ambitious Nino who were second and third,
respectively.
Nevertheless, in spite of the huge success of the
Varuna Cup as sailors, at year’s end, it was also a time for reflection,
on the stupendous power of the sea which spared nothing and no-one in the
path of the Tsunamis in the Indian Ocean this past week.
Phuket and Koh Phi Phi, favourite sailing and cruising
areas, suffered huge damage and casualties from the onslaught.
Pattaya was well out of the destructive zone and a
total of 105 sailors on 95 craft, representing 18 multi-hulls, 22
mono-hulls and, most satisfyingly, 55 junior sailors in the now-burgeoning
Optimist fleet competed for the honours at the 2004 Varuna Cup.
Generously sponsored by Blue Wave Water Sports Asia,
BMW, Heineken Beer and the Park Chidlom, it was a weekend of close racing,
in excellent sailing conditions and the usual good camaraderie, which now
permeates the new Varuna club facilities - a showplace on the Eastern
Seaboard.
A number of Hong Kong visitors joined Royal Varuna,
Royal Thai Navy and Ocean Marina sailors in time for principal Race
Officer Dick van den Heuvel’s starting sequence on Saturday, with the
Hobie 16s first away, followed by the crewed catamarans, the single-handed
cats and the mono-hulls, principally Lasers and, perennial Enterprise
sailors, Dave Wales, crewed by Dick managed three races on Saturday, with
winds of around 12 knots, rising to about 14 knots in the early afternoon,
tapering off to about 10 at day’s end.
“A few capsizes changed the finishing order of some
classes,” noted Dick, “but that added to the fun”.
The Optimists had their own racing area and it was
interesting to note that one recently from their ranks, Oad Matturanont,
with assistants in rubber dinghies, managed the rather large field of 55
kids in their opties, with considerable authority. One race before the
lunch and two back-to-back races in the afternoon.
The great increase in interest among the juniors (under
16-year-olds), many of who come from the big international schools in
Bangkok and on the Eastern Seaboard, is good news, indeed, for the Varuna
Club seeking to add new members. The increase in Optimist sailing is
positive from two points of view: it guarantees a pool of skilled sailors
to pass into the adult ranks when the youngsters outgrow their tiny
dinghies at age 16; and it assures that their parents will become active
members, too.
On Sunday morning, according to Dick, “a depression
passed over forcing the postponement of the start to 11:30, due to the
wind - like some of the sailors - arising late”.
Nevertheless, two races were held, the second for the
multi-hulls being a long distance race around Koh Chun and Koh Krok. “It
was mid-day when they set off,” said Dick, “sailing into an
unseasonable mist, just guessing where Koh Chun could be”.
An early casualty was a Hobie Cat which capsized within
minutes and, to show that it was not a ‘fluke’, they repeated the
performance right on the finishing line.
At the prize-giving, the top-placed seniors and juniors
were awarded their hard-earned placings, while some additional rewards,
donated by BMW, were raffled, with a weekend at a resort, including
personal use of a BMW, being won by Royal Varuna Junior Sailing Secretary,
Chris Menke.
And so, Royal Varuna, with many overseas visiting
members, ‘sails’ into 2005 - many with heavy hearts as the tragic news
of the utter destruction of the Tsunami terror became worse daily.
Many Varunians, who had just come from the 2004 Phuket
King’s Cup Regatta, had cause to reflect: for the Regatta, with more
than 1,000 sailors and some 105 craft was held off the Phuket coast, in
the very eye of the destructive onslaught.
“There, but for the Grace of God, go I” was a
recurring thought of many who chose Pattaya - and Royal Varuna - over such
destinations as Phuket, for their annual pilgrimages to escape Europe’s
dreadful winters.
Have A Hobie New Year!
PSC golf from the Cafe Kronborg
Monday Dec. 27 Noble Place
Stroke
It is hard to believe that Noble Place was the last
Monday competition of the year. It was stroke play on the day, with the A
Flight 0 to 18, and the B Flight 19 and above. The course on the day was
very dry but playable, with fast greens.
 Ralf
Zwick, A flight winner with friend back at the Kronborg.
Young Karlotta Einersdottar took the A Flight with a
net 69, Valur was second with a net 70, beating Don Richardson, also net
70, on countback. Karlotta’s dad, Einar Johansson, was fourth with a
net 71 beating Steindar Eidasson and Ebrahim on countback.
Jan Lovgren took the B Flight with a net 70. Bob
Rasmussen, in second, lead a multitude of players on net 72, with Bent
Agerbo in third, Tom Breslin fourth and Barry Kerr losing out on all the
countbacks.
 James
Flanagan, B flight winner.
Near Pins: #B2 Jack Merrick; #B5 Clive Robinson; #C3
Tony Scamber; #C6 Tom Breslin.
Long Putts: #B9 Bent Agerbo; #C9 Don Richardson.
Thursday Dec. 30
Siam C.C.
Monthly
Mug - Stroke
It is appropriate that the last competition of the
year should be the Monthly Mug, that over 50 players took part and that
either The Admiral or I won. Unfortunately we did not win, sad, but
nevertheless the day turned out fine, the course was packed with
‘visitors’ and a round took over 5 1/2 hours.
Enough said of the round, it is a long time to be on a
golf course, but the fairways were dry, and the rough was hard, and the
greens were true and fast. Draw your own conclusions, some good and some
bad.
 Bent
Arerbo presented with Monthly Mug by ‘The Admiral’
Back at the Cafe Kronborg the presentation was started
90 minutes later than normal, and the results were not too bad, if not
startlingly good.
The winner of the A Flight, 0 to 18, was Ralf Zwick
with a net 68, ahead of a countback for second, with net 69, won by Derek
Brook with Tony Oakes in third. We had a countback for fourth on net 70
won by Jeff Wylie with Bill Plath just losing out.
In the B Flight, 19 upwards, the winner was James
Flanagan with a net 69, ahead of Barry Kerr on net 71, with Dave Millar
third on net 72, and Kenny Chung fourth, net 75, on countback over Herb
Schweiterman.
So to the big one and we had a first time winner when
Bent Agerbo came in to win with a net 66.
Near Pins: #4 Bob Rasmussen; #8 Charles Sheppard; #12
Jan Lovgren; #16 Kris Helgasson
Long Putts: #9 Mike Gosden; #18 Paul Kraft.
Before the presentation The PSC Charity Chairman, Bernie Tuppin, came
in to talk about the recent disaster in the South of the country. Bernie
said the proceeds of the Charity Classic in January would be donated to
the appeal, and the PSC Clubhouse would be open for those who wished to
make donations of ‘Cash & Kind’, and he would co-ordinate the
efforts, please give generously. Thank you. T.T.F.N
PSC golf from McAllister’s Bar and Grill
Friday Dec. 31,
Century Bang Chang
Stableford
Usually the last day of the year is a quiet day as the
loins are girded for a hard night ahead. However, for the strong there
was a good start, as an early start at this improving course meant, an
early return to McAllisters and a lining to the tummy for the long day
ahead. Herb in charge for the day kept all under control.
Eric,
Michael and Herb with friends.
So it was left to the big boys to carry the day as
Eric O’Brien won by a street with a fine 42 points ahead of Michael
Dige, last weeks winner with 36 points. Michael only managed two birdies
this week. Then the night started early.
A Happy New Year to all our Readers from PSC. T.T.F.N
PSC golf with The Bunker
A fine day and perfect conditions when The Boys from
The Bunker went to play Pattaya Country Club, even though it is high
season the course was almost empty for our regular Medal competition.
 Gary
Austin, Division A winner at Pattaya Country Club on December 29.
In Division A, Gary Austin returned a great six
under par net 66 to take first prize followed in second place by John
King with a two under par net 70 and third place being claimed by
Granville Swanson with a one under par net 71.
Division B also saw some superb scores with George
Redgewell and David Johnson both shooting a net 65 seven under par
with third place going to Brian Wilkins with a two under Net 70. Near
the pin prizes were won by George Redgewell, David Johnson, George May
and Gary Austin.
Eastern Star Country
Club
Eastern Star Country Club was in very good
condition on Wednesday December 29, the final round of the year
brought out a big field divided into two Divisions A and B.
In Division A, George Redgewell again rolled back
the years and returned a stableford score of 37 to win first prize,
runner up was Granville Swanson one shot behind with 36 and in third
place was Mike Lloyd with 34 Stableford points.
George’s win earned him ten points in the Golfer
of the Month competition which was enough to win the monthly trophy
pipping Mick Ramshaw at the post - well done George!
In Division B John Preddy made a welcome return to
the leader board taking first place with 34 points followed by Les
Hall with 32 points and Bob Lawrence finished third with 31 points.
Near the pin prizes were claimed by John King, Sunny Ruthsip, Kevin
Wilson and Granville Swanson.
The Bunker Boys are playing three times a week during the high
season (Monday’s, Wednesday’s and Friday’s), so if you fancy a
round of golf call into The Bunker Bar on Soi Chaiyapoon (near X-zyte
disco). To pick up a golf schedule or consult The Pattaya Mail every
week and, as usual, you can get the latest information about all other
sporting activities at The Bunker Bar by visiting our website @ www.
bunkerboysgolf.com
Paul Young is making us old
IPGC Golf From Lewiinski’s
Sunday Dec. 26
Green Valley
Stroke/Medal
1st A Flight: Steve Mascari, net 68
2nd A Flight: Phil Mitchell, net 72
3rd A Flight: Klaus Schackt, net 74
1st B Flight: Paul Young, net 63
2nd B Flight: Brian Wilkinson, net 68
3rd B Flight: Tore Elliasen, net 69
1st C Flight: Ian Rippey, net 72
2nd C Flight: Glen Perkinson, net 73
3rd C Flight: Larry Nicholas, net 75
1st D Flight: John Ginnane, net 64
2nd D Flight: Fred O’Conner, net 72
3rd D Flight: John “JtB” Dearden, net 73
Near Pins: #5 Klaus Schackt; #8 Ian Rippey; #13 &
#16 Jim Munns
Nothing subtle about this claim for the Title slot. Paul
Young, who to date, had never quite found his form in numerous vacations to
the Land of Smiles, wanted to alleviate any doubt in the Society’s mind
when he did find it. Does a gross 77, net 63, effort catch your attention?
Well it did everyone in the field as it was best on the day in a very large
field. His five-stroke margin even left B Flight’s second place holder,
Brian Wilkinson, lost for words. Or was it just too much Librium. Tidying
up the second Flight’s bronze was Tore Elliasen. All three B flight step
holders were in the 60’s on the friendly Green Valley Sunday set-up.
A skip down to D Flight provides the second best round
of the day and the name atop the card was John Ginnane. John has a well
seasoned handicap but he does “pop-up” now and again, and this day was
more of a “shoot-up” as he netted out at 64! Statisticians will start
collecting data to gauge his performance when he abstains, when he just
goes to the Shack, when he just goes to the Kennel, or when he goes to
both. From this analysis it is hoped that the field will have fair warning
when John will go off the scoring map again. Irishman Fred O’Conner had a
chance to convert baht to Euro’s with his second place finish in D. And
there was JtB, who might be Lt. Fogg if the good Capt. ever permits it,
sliding in for D Flight third.
Since there is little rhythm to this article as of yet,
we jump up to A Flight and find the president atop by four strokes, with
Flipper level to his handicap and the Volkscomputer another two back.
Ian Rippey continued the raid by the “Lads across the
street” by taking top spot in C Flight with a “nobody is going to
complain about” net 72. Glen Perkinson made it down from Bangkok in
better form now that beer cannot be sold in the roadside 7-11’s and
parlayed this novel approach into second place. I will leave it to you to
inquire with the Irish Crustacean as to how he bucked up with his punitive
handicap to take C Flight third.
A special thanks from the lads and lasses in the Society
to Bob Lindborg who sponsored four Near Pins on the day, as he has so
generously done on a prior occasion. Capt. Fogg showed his appreciation by
lining his pockets with two of them.
Monday Dec. 27
Royal Lakeside - White Tees
Stableford
1st A Flight: Michele Sancillo, 42 pts
2nd A Flight: Phil Groves, 40 pts
3rd A Flight: John Emmerson, 39 pts
4th A Flight: Jan Roger Ulriksen, 39 pts
1st B Flight: Serge Straeten, 40 pts
2nd B Flight: Ken Kutzing, 36 pts
3rd B Flight: Andreas Grunenberg, 36 pts
4th B Flight: Roger Holmes, 35 pts
Hey where’s is the ol’ Title boy today? Well before
the field could get too smug about keeping Mr. Young off the podium, it was
pointed out he had to take a rest day to let his golf shafts cool down.
So that left Michele Sancillo an opportunity to vault
atop the A Flight Podium with a magnificent 42 points, followed by Phillip
Groves and his gross 75, 40 point effort. The Golf Manager used the guile
(and the chicanery) that is required for the position to mumble some
malarkey about a count back victory over newcomer Jan Roger Ulriksen for
third in the premier Flight. The GM was kind enough to reward fourth place
in both flights, however,
Viva la France! Serge Straeten, that bon vivant of
Pattaya, amassed 40 points, to leave the count back separated duo of Ken
Kutzing and Andreas Grunenberg four points adrift. Roger Holmes won the
aforementioned 4th slot when he put the math thing on poor old Jens
Schunemann. Alas, there was not enough generosity to pay five.
Wednesday Dec. 29
Burapha - C & D - Blue or White Tees
Staleford
1st Blue A Flight: Paul Avery, 39 pts
2nd Blue A Flight: Mike Gosden, 35 pts
1st Blue B Flight: Tore Ellisen, 39 pts
2nd Blue B Flight: Paul Young, 37 pts
1st White A Flight: Joe Mooneyham, 40 pts
2nd White A Flight: Stuart McNicol, 38 pts
1st White B Flight: Harvey Samuelm, 41 pts
2nd White B Flight: Ken Kutzing, 38 pts
Near Pins: #C5 & #D8 Chas Li
An even number of players chose the Blue tees on the day
as did choose the White tees. There was no handicap demarcation, which
delineated the split, just personal preference.
Harvey Samuel had no complaints with his decision to
play the Whites as he brought home first in the B Flight and best round of
the day, in that tee group. He was followed in by Ken Kutzing’s 38
points, which is one shy of the Standard Scratch of the course. Joe
“I’m in the” Mooneyham was the top man in the A Flight of the
slightly shorter test as he went out in a sensational gross 35, 26 points,
before the cold hand of reality became his golf coach on the inward nine.
But it was still good enough to total 40 points and first in the top flight
of the shorter configuration. Stu McNicol came a’ chargin’ home but had
to settle for second.
In the Bomber Blues, top spot in A and B flight were
both copped with 39 points, the former by first time player with
Lewiinski’s, Paul Avery, and the latter by everybody’s pal, Tore
Elliasen. Mike Gosden put a count back on Monday’s winner Michele
Sancillo for A Flight second place and, yep, we haven’t forgot about him,
Paul Young’s name appeared in the same position in the Blue B. It should
not go unrecognized that Paul’s silver medal was realized despite a
self-imposed cut to 13. Such integrity and sportsmanship will get you the
Title spot every time!
All this scribe needs to do is describe some feat as
unique and the Society sets out on a maniacal quest to prove it
commonplace. I was extolling the virtues of Gerry Power garnering two pins,
then along comes Jim Munns on Sunday winning two (albeit out of four) and
then Chas Li does it today. Therefore, from this paragraph forth, this
scribe just won’t highlight such accomplishments anymore, unless, of
course, he is short on material.
Friday Dec. 31
Noble Place - A & B - White Tees
Stableford
1st A Flight: Paul Young, 40 pts
2nd A Flight: Dave Mather, 37 pts
3rd A Flight: Jim Munns, 36 points
1st B Flight: Vincent “Red” Santas, 38 pts
2nd B Flight: Mick Folan, 37 pts
3rd B Flight: Ke Jian Liu, 36 pts
Near Pins: # A2 Jim Munns; # A6 Mick
OK, so integrity and sportsmanship isn’t enough. Ya
better bring it and Paul Young certainly did. Still sporting that self
imposed handicap vasectomy to 13, Paul knocked off a best on the day 40
points making it two firsts, one a net 63, and a second in three attempts.
Bring on the new handicaps! Dave Mather led the cast of mere mortals behind
Paul in A Flight and Capt. Fogg showed his continuing comfort with his new
handicap for third. Ol’ Red didn’t have any Stableford points on his
card and after his knuckles were sufficiently abused with a ruler he
advised to just “throw his card away as his score didn’t amount to
much.” The benevolence of the Society prevailed and a primer on
stableford scoring followed and, low and behold, Ol’ Red won B Flight.
Red like many of us has few traces of the follicles from which that
nickname followed, so for today we will just consider in at as Red, as in
faced. Mick Falon and Ke Jian Liu were spread in one-point increments
behind the day’s B Flight winner.
Schwieterman is the right man
PSC golf from the Three Sisters Bar
With wisps of clouds and a chill in the air, golfers
gathered at Siam C.C. for our final golf of the year. This day was for the
monthly winner and our player of the year. The prize for winning the day
was a trophy of the Sphinx mounted on a glass base. The brass head of the
of the Sphinx was carried in from Egypt years ago by Herb Ishinaga when he
worked their. The lucky winner for the day was Herb Schwieterman coming in
with a respectable 38 points. With the fairways again over-watered the
balls did not have any run on it and it showed in the scores.
 Jim
Tully (left) holding the bag and Herbie Schwieterman (right) the winner on
last Monday.
Coming in a shot back was Mike Grunby, Phil Sharples,
Charlie Devlin and Ian Edwards. All hit 37 but could not make it past the
winner for the day. Again it was a mistake here and a mistake there that
caused the runner-ups from taking the crown for the day.
Diving into the cellar again this week was Jim Tully.
Last week Paul Donohue managed to wrest the bag away from Tully, but this
week he managed to squeak by Jim Tully who had no chance to get out of the
cellar as he stumbled and bumbled in with 15 points.
Paul tried top give Jim some competition for the bottom but surpassed him
by 7 shots. It was no contest. (Maybe next week)
Two Tops at Eastern Star
IPGC Bunker Boys at the OK Corral
On Tuesday, December 28, Eastern Star provided the ideal
opportunity for the OK Corral stalwarts to hone their golfing skills in
preparation for the highly anticipated Team Scramble held later in the week.
The course was back to its best and the challenge of a finely
planned course tested the two flights, cut at eighteen and under. In division
two the course “won” with Jan Eriksen posting a mediocre score of net 79 to
take third place, Richard Wardell faring slightly better with net 78 and the
long hitting Brian Bellis taking the day with a hard won net 75. Division one
golfers showed their class as Bob Pearce took third place with net 72 two shots
behind the joint winners, Bill Hewitt and Paul Avery. Their net 70’s bore
testimony to their concentration and skill.
Bill Hewitt and Wilf Latham shared the twos pot, whilst the
latter, who had indulged himself with a box of new balls at the start, proceeded
to deposit all of them in Eastern Star’s watery graves on the front nine, and
found later that they had been “replaced” by the dreaded Bananas. However
spirits remained high at the prospect of the fun in the annual Team Scramble
later in the week.
Pattaya Bridge Club
City hosts annual sports
day for employees
Suchada Tupchai
The Pattaya city administration, aiming to boost unity
and relations among employees, hosted their third annual in-house sports day
on December 25. Over 500 city staffers joined in the activities held at the
Nongpankhae School, south of Pattaya.
Parade as
teams presented their colors.
Teams separated into colors led by department heads and,
cheered on by team mates, competed in a variety of sporting activities
including athletics and team sports. A special football match was also held
featuring the Pattaya City Ladies versus Pattaya Administration. The match
drew a great deal of interest from spectators and the media.
However, it was the mayor himself who provided the
biggest surprise of the day arriving on a motorcycle to jump start the event
in the morning.
“Sports are an important activity to boost health and
prevent disease. It also boosts community and team spirit and provides a
better working environment for all. The benefits are also seen in the
increased cooperation between each department as well as improve management
and staff relations,” said the mayor in his opening speech.
The day’s activities proved successful as everyone enjoyed a day out in
the sun and cheering their fellow workers.
Jomtien 8-Ball Pool League Table
PSC celebrates Christmas in style
The two major social functions for Pattaya Sports Club members are always
well attended. The annual Christmas party, held at the Town in Town Hotel on
December 15 was no exception.
Members and their guests began queuing at the front door well
before the 7 p.m. opening time, and by 7:30 over 450 people had crammed in for
the festivities.
 Gert
Hansen (center), PSC social chairman presents gold to a lucky winner as La
Montgomery (right) ably assists with the prize drawing.
On offer was the excellent array of food the hotel put on, as
well as a fully stocked bar for those partial to more than a few libations.
Bjarne Nielsen and Gert Hansen were “guarding” the door
and making sure everything went smoothly as everyone settled in for the night,
especially Ken Crow, former PSC social chairman who said, “This is the best
party I’ve been to in 10 years.”
 Pick
a ticket, any ticket...
That’s how long Ken has been organizing the functions and
he was seen relaxing with a glass of wine and chatting to everyone.
Gert Hansen, the new social chairman pulled out all stops for
this year’s event, easily tagged as a highlight on the PSC calendar.
Helping out on raffle ticket sales were La Montgomery and
Kran Nielsen, and everyone eagerly awaited the lucky draw in the hope of
striking gold. Strike it they did as the draw was made in rapid succession with
a large variety of people winning prizes for the evening.
 Ken
Crow kicking back and enjoying a glass of wine: “The best party in 10
years,” said Ken.
After the main event everyone settled in to consume more
liquid refreshments, and as does happen, many, including this scribe, awoke the
next morning feeling like they’d been hit by a truck.
It was a great party, well organized and an event not to miss if you’re in
Pattaya for the next one.
Smiles on
the dance floor ... a great night had by many!
Pattaya Sports Club to assist Tsunami Appeal
The Pattaya Sports Club will this year, donate the proceeds of their annual
Charity Classic Golf Tournament to the survivors of the floods in the Southern
Provinces. This event regularly raises in excess of 400,000 baht.
Pattaya Sports Club urges its members to give their support
to this and other fundraising events to benefit survivors of this tragedy.
PSC will also make its Clubhouse available as a collection point for clothing
bedding and dry foods, these goods can be left at the clubhouse between 9 a.m.
and 6 p.m. 7 days a week.
Penrod and Lindborg win Gold
IPGC TAGGS Golf from The Haven
Friday Dec. 24
Siam Country Club
Monthly Medal
Division 1 (0-15)
1st Randall Penrod, net 69
2nd Alan Beesley, net 72
3rd Guy Billings, net 74
4th Barry Winton, net 74
Division 2 (16+)
1st Gary Austin, net 71
2nd John Lyngby, net 72
3rd Peter Emslie, net 73
4th Bob Lindborg, net 73
The final monthly medal for 2004 and the last to be held
at Siam brought out a huge field to battle it out for not only the medal,
but also for the gold & silver medals, played out by the previous
winners throughout the year. On the day it was two of the men in form that
prevailed, Randall & Gary taking the honours.
A tight finish in division 2 saw Gary edge past John with
Peter and Bob chasing hard, but a different story in division 1 where
Randall dominated the field to win by three clear shots and also take the
Gold medal leaving Terry Phur with Silver.
In division 2, Bob Lindborg took Gold and Reg Warner the
Silver. In the usual 2s competition, the pool was shared by Terry Phur and
Reg Warner, so a nice consolation for both of the silver medal winners!
Prior to the prize giving, Richard Livingston, the resident PGA professional
welcomed back Ron Coleman.
Monday Dec. 27
Century Bang Chang
Stableford
1st Michael Dige, 40 pts
2nd Mike Gosden, 36 pts
3rd Glyn Nicholas, 34 pts
As usual Century was in good condition, though some over
watering on the fairways made it a lottery on how much roll one achieved.
Nevertheless, playing on what can only be described as his home course,
Michael Dige produced another sparkling display to shoot a 72 gross and
destroy the field for a 40 point haul, leaving Mike trailing way behind,
even though he shot a great 79 gross off his 7 handicap. Thanks to a superb
20 points on the back 9, Glyn held on to complete the podium positions.
In the 2s competition, Michael Dige & Mike Gosden
shared the pool with the only 2’s of the day. Back at the Haven, Richard
Livingston, welcomed Mike Gosden & Paul Avery and said farewell to Fred
Chadwick.
Wednesday Dec. 29
Bangpakong
Riverside
Stableford
1st Gary Austin, 43 pts
2nd Volker Esser, 40 pts
3rd Randall Penrod, 39 pts
Christmas over and a large contingent set off for a long
awaited return to the beautiful Bangpakong course, which always produces
some exciting scores and destroys a few handicaps! This visit was to be no
exception and despite the windy conditions and slow play, Gary, playing his
last round for a while shot an amazing 43 points off his 19 handicap to
easily beat off a great challenge from Volker & Randall. So once again a
few handicap reductions will be in order.
Just missing out on a podium place was Barry Chadbourn
who also amassed 39 points but was pipped on countback by Randall.
In the 2s competition, the pool was won outright by
Andrew Lockhart, who will no doubt savour his moment of glory, in his first
game since returning back from Australia. Prior to the prize giving, Richard
Livingston, welcomed back Martin Grimoldby & Andrew Lockhart before
bidding farewell to Gary Austin.
PH3 - Run 1086
There ain’t no Santa Claus on the evening stage, there
ain’t no food for my horse and there ain’t no Free Willy on the open
plains, after last weeks holy grail, thank god Christmas only comes but ones
a year and that’s enough for me.
The Pattaya Hash’s great big bash, well it was last
week, what I want to know is how can a man who can’t run organize such a 2
hour ordeal in closing darkness with no escape route for kids.
The Pattaya Hash Christmas/New Years run is on it’s
way. 128 human beings hit the dirt. Old men, young men, little children, big
kids, lovely ladies and even more beautiful ladies head off in the bush.
Fourteen minutes later we are all back at the A-Site, for
a lonely man 14 minutes can be a long time. What’s going on? Last week, 2
hours of hardship, this week 14 minutes of p*ss taking? Is this for real or
am I having one of my funny dreams?
What can I say about the run? Nothing we all must have
missed the first check, lots of elephants dung but no elephants, a brothel
without girls, “I am dreaming again?”
That’s it folks, you cannot write about something
you’ve never seen, or can you?
The shortest run in Hash history, just like life, it
doesn’t last too long.
My favorite movie star VV appears with a new style head
scarf, is this the new 2005 style? Hot dog, hot dog, it’s circle time and
it’s a big one, many visitors.
Raffle time Sunflower called the lucky winners, some guy
was on the ice for swapping prizes, you can’t mess around with Sunflower,
some people never win.
Our new GM, Flying Frog calls the circle with a smile and
ices the Hares F. Dog, Kee Mah and R U Sure, what you think about the run
today, result: double down downs, for these guys. A good deed was done by
the GM; take away the Hash Sh*t from Free Willy and Hash Trash from
Arseholeo to start a new year with a clean sheet. Visitors called in, Mister
Bean (the real one?) and 2 guys and a lady, noisy people on the ice, our new
GM rules with an iron rod!
Sir Airhead gave us some religion, “Hares have a
seat” now who’s the smart ass who knows the run? Mixed reviews,
everybody did the shortcut, everybody lost and find for the first time in
life. Doctor Pinky was almost the first man in. Who’s guilty? It’s that
F. Dog! Whose singing? Nobody! Let’s have some fun, let’s ice Free Willy
and Arseholeo in the age of the computer, we never forget crime, you cannot
say Merry Christmas to someone wearing a crap Hash Christmas shirt, plenty
of them, not enough ice, get in that bucket and hurry up, let’s have a
note for a “ Satanic Christmas.” A new name for our Belgian friend
Patrick De Smet, after much consideration it’s “Lick my lada”
No More Cum takes a seat, his lovely daughter Come Yak
Yak, a bad Dad and a lovely girl who was lost and found. Everybody knows
dogs are not allowed on the Hash, double down down for the dog lover, “my
DAD left me in the woods to die” - rescue man Karamba is a hero.
Icy was iced for liking his eggs cooked in his microwave?
A simple thing to do for most people but not for Icy, he likes his exploding
egg face, just the kind of guy to cook for your parties.
Seaman Stains and VV take a seat Outstation run
organizers, double down downs.
Noisy beer truck police, let’s ice them. Sir Airhead on
the ice with some bad guys, who wants to be the baddest guy?
Sit Chicken F’er took over the circle, iced some
outstanding girls, humm good girls. It’s Old McDonalds farm who had dogs,
pigs, frog and giraffes and turkeys that like the gobble, great fun! Sir
Chicken F’Er, I am sure you missed you vocation in life, Sir. After the
Hash Hymn it’s a short drive back into town and Happy hour at Scandi’s,
thanks Pegleg for some great food and the usual service from your staff.
Special thanks to our raffle mistress Sunflower for doing
a great job also to Seaman Swallow as the beer truck driver (got a license
darling?) and big Hash, Hero Karamba for not being afraid of the dark.
So another year is just around the corner, it is going to
hit us in the face or give us a kiss, nobody knows.
We have a great new GM Flying Frog, who can give us a
positive attitude for the coming year, let’s kill the politics and the
bull sh*t and look forward to some great runs and lots of fun to all you
guys and girls that attend the PH3 every week, I hope all your dreams come
true. Government warning: “Eating Raw Turkey Meat Can Be Injurious For
Your Health!”
Okie Dokie, hope to see you all next week!
On On
Hannibal Lecter
The Square Ring
by Howie Reed
Happy 2005 to all and mark this as a red-letter day. To
this point, in this column, I have yet to “cheese anyone off”, misstate
a fact or sound utterly ridiculous. When last we met in 2004, I ended with,
“Most of all I want to thank the fighters throughout the world that carry
on the brave and noble tradition of the sport of boxing. It’s that time to
tip one or more.” One of the really great names in boxing that lives on
even though he’s gone is Eddie Futch. Whether he was training an Archie
Moore or Fred Flintstone he always taught more than hooks and jabs, faints
and waves. He taught about life with is what the sport of boxing is. I got a
note from his widow as regular reader of this column. “After reading your
column today I just wanted to let you know what you say in Sweden while
toasting. It is Skal! So, many “Skal” tonight!
Your Swedish friend, Lady Futch.” I of course took her
advice and did a lot of Skalling not only to her, 2004, which was leaving
rapidly and to my friend Stefan the Lord of Pattaya.
And then he wrote. Light heavy/super middle “Shrimp on
the Barbie Guy” Danny Green (19-1) is a darn good box fighter. He’s the
“interim WBC Super middle” champ whatever that means.
His one loss came at “super middle” to WBC Super
Middle Champ Markus Beyer (31-2) who is probably what we use to call in
“them good old days” a Cheese Champion. He fights in the friendly
confines of Germany against second rate opponents. Green and Beyer fought on
August 16, 2003. “Beyer down in rounds one and two. Green incurred point
deduction for albeit accidental head butt (WBC rules) in 2nd round. Green
worsens Beyer’s cut with intentional head butt, Beyer cannot continue and
so wins by DQ”. That DQ came in the 5th. Since then the rematch has been
in the works.
Rather than work on what a great fight their re match on
March 12 will be, we get the usual drivel about money. Whining like only
them “Have a Foster’s Mate” guy’s can. Green claims that Beyer is
trying to cheat him out of $400,000 Australian. “We agreed to a purse
split of 60/40 from the total prize money of $2.8 million,” Green said.
“Now Beyer wants to go to court to make it a 75/25 split, but the WBC has
assured me that our original agreement will stand. Beyer is already seeing a
psychologist to help him prepare for our rematch and it seems he’s trying
to play mind games with me.” Gosh that makes me want to watch the fight.
All that drama. Shut Up and Fight.
In case you missed it WBC bantamweight champion Veerapol
Nakornluang was named the best Thai professional athlete of 2004. He
received the award at the National Sports Day organized by the Sports
Authority of Thailand. Veerapol had a good 2004 defending his title three
times. Granted the opponents were not the cream of the bantam crop. That
could change in ’05 as Diego. One that ended 2004 with a bang was WBC#2
bantam Chatchai Sasakul (48-2, 31 KO’s). He had no trouble in stopping
Saithong Sriprajan with “ a vicious left hook at 2:01 of round two.”
Some may remember Chatchai as winning the WBC Fly title in 1997 when he beat
Yuri Arbachakov in 1997. Chatchai is 15-0 since he lost the title in
December of 1998 to Manny Pacquiao via a 8 round KO. Did I remember? Don’t
be silly! Of course that’s why I get the really big bucks.
As I typed somewhere at the top of this column boxing is
the sport about life. Life for Thailand is currently wrapped up in the
terrible consequences of the tsunami. Got a note about efforts in Pattaya to
assist especially the victims in Phuket where our favorite pub, The Original
Island Lager Bar, was swept out to sea. The Pattaya Expats Clubs is
suggesting three ways to held. With donations of Blood, clothes and money.
“
To donate blood, go to Banglamung Hospital located in Soi
3 of Sawangfah Road in Naklua. They are open for blood donations from
13.00-17.00 Monday to Friday.
Have to end the first of 52 great efforts for 2005 with a
little of “here we go again”. IBF jr welterweight champion Kostya Tszyu
has said “Nyet” to a “reported” $5 million+ offer to fight Ricky
“The Fraud” Hatton in Manchester. “If we choose to fight Hatton in
Manchester it will be because the deal makes sense not because we were
forced into it... The promoters must show the champion why he should fight
at four in the morning in the other guy’s backyard.” What isn’t spoken
is that the offer was probably “roughly” 5 million. Smoothed out it was
probably considerably less. WBA super lightweight king “Vicious” Vivian
Harris is ready to jump in. “Kostya did the right thing. As a fellow world
champion, he has earned his way to the top. He should be respected. I
understand completely how he feels, as Warren/Hatton showed the same
disrespect to me and my belt in negotiations earlier this year. Kostya
deserves that kind of money, and at 35 years of age, he’s paid his dues.
Let me take care of Hatton first, as we’re both 26, I have the world title
already, Hatton should fight me now and Warren should show champions some
respect, he can’t protect Hatton forever and at this rate he’s damaging
Hatton’s reputation. People are laughing at Hatton over here (USA). Kostya
is a true champion and I respect him, I’d love to fight him and I am
willing to go through Hatton first. Just get the money right, and I’ll go
right into Ricky’s backyard and fight him, I’d even fight him in his
living room, if Warren shows a little respect.” For the first time in
2005, “I’ll drink to that. Skal.”
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