‘The Valley’ refuses to bow to Kronborg challenge

PSC golf from The Café Kronborg

Monday, September 11, Green Valley, Stableford
So back to Green Valley for the second time in two weeks; last time the course gave us a real mauling, this time we set out to get revenge. With the cut set at 15, two flights were in operation this time, so would we win?

Bob Rasmusson, A Flight winner at Green Valley

The weather turned out to be hot and humid, and as we found out during the next few days, obviously building up for a real downpour, but fortunately not on this day. The course itself was in fine condition, with fast tricky greens and nicely cut fairways.
As the scores came in it became obvious that this was to be another day when the course won and the players had to settle for second best. In the A Flight, the winner was Bob Rasmusson with 35 points, ahead of Gene Rooney in second with 34 points and Bill Platt in third with 32 points. In the B Flight, the course won even easier, with the winner Richard Kubicki, 34 points ahead of Ebrahim in second with 33 points and Dave Richardson in third on count back over Henk De Bock, both with 29 points.
Never mind, this is a great venue and we shall be back to test it again!
Thursday, September 14, Crystal Bay
We did not even make it to the Cafe Kronborg, not having a boat to float down Soi Diana. As I got into my car, as the rain poured down, Dave Richardson phoned and said he could not get down the road and was going home, now that is it, when Dave goes home, so do we all. Tim was also nearly there, and said he waded down waist deep, only to find the Cafe Kronborg flooded out. So it was feet up time and build-up strength for the next golf day.
T.T.F.N.

Roy leads the way as Paul gets stuck on the ‘ropes’

IPGC golf from The Caddy Shack

Tuesday, September 12, Eastern Star, Medal
Tuesday was a visit to Eastern Star for a Medal competition on an overcast day with rain threatening all around.

Roy (Mr. ‘Loy’) Mitchell led the field home at Eastern Star.

The greens had been treated and cored which made putting a bit of a lottery. Paul Quadomine came third with a net 83, Dave Edwards was second with net 73 and on top of the hill was Mr. ‘Loy’, winning with a fine score of net 71.
Because of the condition of the greens, the 2’s competition was replaced with a ‘Nearest the Pin’ award with Paul picking up two and Mr. ‘Loy’ and Dave taking the others.
Big Ron played his best round ever and Paul King, remember the name? A six foot five inch contender for the British Heavyweight boxing title, Paul was playing his first round of golf ever and took a real beating on the first tee with 25 fresh air shots. If it had been a fight the referee would have stopped it to avoid unnecessary punishment. You might want to stick to boxing Paul?
Friday, September 15, The Emerald, Stableford
The last ‘working’ day of the week saw us take a trip to The Emerald for a Stableford competition on a very wet golf course.
Dave Edwards came third with 30 points, Don Francis was in second on 32 and the winner’s garland went to Ian Painter who broke par with 37 points. Near Pins went to Al McGrory, Mr. ‘Loy’ and two for Dave Buckley.
John Tatnell made his debut and was delighted with his gross 150, saying it was one of his best days out in Thailand.

A bad day at the Office?

PSC golf from Tropical Bert’s

Tuesday, September 12, Noble Place
Arriving at Bert’s early, it was with some pleasure that I was met by one of his staff with my complimentary, cooked breakfast. Normally a slice of toast does me, not being a breakfast man, but on this day I splashed out and had two.
So, full up, off we went to Noble Place, a pleasant drive, booked in and started on the A course in fine weather. All went well for some time, then we noticed the storm clouds gathering, but so what, we had played in rain before. Then the rain hit, and it poured down. Indeed at first we kept playing, after all it was only rain, but soon the whole group were soaking wet, and still it rained.
My caddie, bless her soul, tried to keep the umbrella up and keep going, but soon dropped my towel in the ankle deep water and with all my gloves wet, and a soaking towel we managed to finish the A course. But then, with the rain still belting down, the greens filling up with water, soaked to the skin, miserable, wet, cold, we remembered we still had another 9 holes to play.
Some packed it in and went for a hot shower, but after a break and in my case an emergency stop for a new hand towel, off we went onto the back nine under grey skies.
This has to be one of the most pointless nine holes I have ever played, and at times I wondered at my sanity. Even the old adage about a bad day on the golf course being better than a good day at work kept popping into my mind. Do not believe it!
It’s fair to say that when it was over and I was in a hot shower, it was the only time my brain started to work. Those who had packed in were sitting dry and comfortable in the restaurant. Still we never learn and I suppose next time we will finish the round again.
Back at Bert’s we tucked into a fine buffet before Tim got on with the presentations. On this challenging day, the winner emerged as Andy Evans, with Perry McNeely in second and John McHugh third. Suffice to say you had to finish the round to be in the places.
Just to cap off the day, it started raining so heavily outside that we could not go home. Indeed it rained for hours while we were stuck at Bert’s. I suppose there are worse places to be stuck in than a bar with cold beer. T.T.F.N.
Near Pin: Frank Pilkington, Anders Pederson, Chris Youngman, Mat McInerny
Long Put: John McHugh, Dave Hughes, Doug Jeffrey, Bob Lawrence

PGS win Matchplay Challenge

IPGC Pattaya Golf Society at the OK Corral

Rob Heath presents the trophy to winning captain Len Jones, joined by Glyn Evans and Mr. Denis

Van der Wiele
weathers the storm
Expecting the worst, weather-wise, the Pattaya Golf Society left the OK Corral on Tuesday, September 12 for a Medal round at distant Noble Place, and found it!
Three days of heavy rain had left the course sodden and during the first nine on the “A” course another storm added to the difficulties and discomfort of the large group. It would be an interesting day for the two flights, cut at eighteen and under.
Understandably scores were high and in the second flight both Tony Kitchen and Paul Scully squelched their way to net 78’s for a share of third place whilst a saturated Les Hall took second with a brave net 75. The best card of the day was that wrung out by flight winner Emiel van der Wiele, his level par net 72 barely discernable on the paper. Emiel had certainly made a meal of the conditions!
In a sopping top flight, David Thomas and John Cunningham survived the diluvial conditions, both posting net 77 for a share of second place; John declaring the day to be like any other ordinary golfing day back at home in Scotland! The biggest splash in the top flight was made by Stuart Thompson, and his gross 80 (net 74) was a fine example of aquatic skill and accuracy.
The day’s only birdie “two” was recorded on A6 by Rune Schau and the Booby Bevy could have fallen into many deserving hands but it finally found those of Harry Cowling, as his pitifully high score even outdid that of Len Jones in the Noble Place swamp. There will be better days for the PGS at this excellent course in future, that’s for sure.
PGS takes initial Pattaya - Jomtien Matchplay Challenge
After an exciting and deadlocked first round Pairs Matchplay at Eastern Star on the first day of the month, it was now the turn of the PGS to host the second leg Singles Matchplay in the initial Pattaya - Jomtien “Ryder Cup” style challenge.
The event was held at Green Valley, Friday, September 15 and the host team from the OK Corral had benefited from a free day previously, as heavy rains had washed out their fixture at Phoenix. From the start it was a very tight affair and after the first ten ties the score stood at an ominous 6 - 4 to the team from Paweena’s Bar in Jomtien, with both Paweena’s organizers, Glyn Evans and Rob Heath setting the style with fine wins.
The next two results brought more of the same as both Ben Findon and Les Hall had tense final hole wins for Paweena’s over Bill Hewitt and Ray Atkinson respectively. Eight - four to Jomtien ... dear me! In events such as this, the match is often won or lost off the course and shrewd captaincy by Len Jones had kept back in-form and potentially strong golfers for such an emergency.
Old hands Keith Hector and Harry Cowling came back to the clubhouse smiling and they were followed by an exhilarated Tony Kitchen and current PGS “Player of the Month” Ray Underwood; Ray having stretched Tony Duthie to the very last putt. Eight apiece!
It was now all down to the last two ties. Andy Haycox played out of his skin to take a win against Don Head and Kris Kritsnajootha used the last round of his visit to tease a win over the courageous Russell Benton on the final hole. The result could hardly have been closer, 10 - 8 to the Pattaya Golf Society on the day and 14 - 12 over the series.
In the opinion of all it had been a most enjoyable event with an exciting format and one which will certainly be repeated in a couple of months time. Glyn, Rob and the Paweena’s golfers are set on revenge.

Captain Bob steers for the winner’s enclosure

PSC golf from The Peacock

Monday, September 10, Khao Kheow, Stableford
Monday again, and our group gathered at The Peacock for a trip to Khao Kheow GC; a true test of golf and a firm favourite with many local golfers. A few new faces were once more present at our meeting point along with some old stalwarts, and after allocating car shares we headed for the golf club.
We were directed to courses B and C and just as we were about to tee off, the marshal told a Korean 5-ball to start ahead of us. You can imagine the comments this prompted. In the event, I must say, apart from the first hole, they were away and didn’t hold us up one bit.
The golf was enjoyable and the course, as usual, was in great condition but if I wanted to be picky, the greens were a little slow. This is not a criticism but balls straying off the fairways were hard to find in rough that was extremely difficult to extricate oneself from.
The scores, as can be expected, showed the course’s degree of difficulty and only two people from a group of 20 golfers played to their handicaps or better. Jack Spencer scored 33 points and came fifth. Nile Sheehan came fourth with 34 points and lost on count-back to Eddy Blackwell who came third. In second place with 36 points was Martin Todd but in the winner’s enclosure with 37 points was none other than our Captain Bob Philp. Bob’s been struggling a little lately and it was nice to see him hitting form on such a difficult golf course. As they say down under “good on yer mate”.
Bob Philp and Bill Macey also shared the 2’s pot. One of our regulars, Rich Murphy, picked up the free beer for bringing up the rear. Full marks for hanging on in there Rich.
Needless to say we returned to The Peacock for a great buffet and as Captain Bob said, “ a few wet and frosty ones”.
Thursday, September 14, Century Chonburi
Thursday dawned and it decided to become a wet and dismal day. I arrived at The Peacock to find just Captain Bob in attendance and by 9am, when we were due to leave, only three more people had arrived. We made the decision then not to travel out to Century Chonburi GC and made a courtesy call to let them know. After a number of phone calls to other clubs in the area, to see if they had a break in the rain clouds, four of our stalwarts made the decision to run out to Great Lakes. Yours truly decided to return home and read a book. I’ll let you know next week who made the wiser choice.
Call us on 087928 7859 if you want further details about golf with The Peacock and read the Pattaya Mail page 51 for our weekly schedules.

Triple winners in the 2-man scramble

PSC golf from The Bunker

Monday, September 11, Century Chonburi, Medal
The Bunker Boy’s played the first Medal competition of the week on Monday at Century Chonburi. The cut was 13 and under and in the A Flight Don Francis took the honours, winning with a net 74, (despite a twenty minute downpour on the back nine), ahead of John McDonald who shot a net 76 to finish runner up.

Paul Smith - one of the ‘two-man scramble’ winners at Mountain Shadow

In the B Flight Clarke Alexander left the rest of the field trailing to win by ten shots with a two under par net 70, with Fred Griffin and Phil Smith tying for the runner up spot, both finishing with net 80 apiece.
Near pin prizes went to Don Francis, Geoff Hart and two went to Brian Jacks.
Wednesday,
September 13, Mountain Shadow, Stableford
The increasingly popular monthly two-man Stableford Scramble for September was held at Mountain Shadow Golf Club on Wednesday. Each pair was playing off what was calculated to be an average of handicap 10, and this turned out to be pretty fair as there was a three-way tie for first place.
The winners were Dave Keats and John McDonald, William Macey who was paired with Clarke Alexander, and Paul Smith playing with Paul Davies, all pairs scoring 38 points.
The near pin prizes were shared between Peter Habgood, Gerry Cooney, Paul Smith and John McDonald.
Friday, September 15, Crystal Bay, Medal
Crystal Bay was the setting for the second Medal competition of the week on Friday. There were two flights again with the field split at handicap 14 and under.
Tying for runner up spot in the B Flight were Mashi Kaneta and Clarke Alexander, who both shot a net 73 but trailed behind Geoff Parker who won with a three under par net 69.
The A Flight saw the best round of the day coming from JJ Harney who shot a four under par net 68 to win. Donald Hendry was runner up with a net 71 and John McDonald came third with net 72.
JJ Harney, William Macey, Paul Smith and Tony Scambler all shared the near pin prizes.

The Simple Simon Jomtien 8-Ball Pool League

2006 Season Knockout Cup - Round 2 (September 14)

This week the Jomtien Pool League took a break from the regular competition to play the second round of the Knockout Cup. The results were as follows (home team shown first).
The winners of the Cup round plus one ‘lucky loser’ will go through to the Knockout Cup third round and the losers will go into the Knockout Cup Consolation competition. The Plate winners will go into the Plate Semi-final.
The next round of matches is scheduled for 26th October.
Knockout Cup Second Round:
Woaw’s Pub (1) 3 v 6 Man in the Moon, De Windmolen 5 v 4 Flying Dolphins, San Snack Bar 7 v 2 Lucky Bar, Simple Simon 5 v 4 Tiger Tiger Bar, Cosy Bar 7 v 2 Hide-A-Way
Knockout Cup Plate (KO Cup first round losers) 1st Round
Golden Inn 3 v 6 Woaw’s Pub (2), Good Time Bar 5 v 4 Scooby’s, Rose & Thistle 2 v 7 Blue Room, Ricci Pub 4 v 5 Take Care Bar

The Square Ring

by Howie Reed

Message reads: “My Lord. Have gone out for tea with Monkey House and the usual suspects. Following that I will be traveling to Phuket to visit your friend Mr. Brook at the Island Lager Bar. I found the pressure of doing The Square Ring last week too much. I will return to assist you next week.” Signed Jeeves. “PS: Your editor called and wants me to do a regular column.”
Ungrateful British lout!
There must be a reason that Monday is boxing day in LOS. Probably something to do with a long held tradition that goes back to the time of “Anna and the King”. On the other hand the answer may be - “This is Thailand.” Regardless, next Monday there’s a big time card at the City Hall of Nakornpathon Province. Featherweight Chonlatarn Piriyapinyo (15-0), who won the ABCO title in his 5th fight, steps in against quality but used a lot Yoddamrong Sithyodthong (45-4-1).
Yoddamrong had his 5 seconds of glory when he won the WBA Super Bantam title in February of 2002 with a UD over Yober Ortega. Three months later he got knocked “cattywampus” by Osamu Sato in 8. Yoddamrong had another chance of glory but Mahyar Monshipour sent him to the ‘Land of Nod’ in 6. This might well be a case of the young gunslinger against the ageing champion. The young guy gets a quality win while the boxer ready to ride into the sunset gets a pay day. One the other hand, strange things do occur in box fighting.
Many feel that the big fight of the weekend was Marcos Antonio Barrera (62-4) against. Rocky Juarez (25-2) for WBC Jr. Lightweight title. The fight held in Las Vegas should have been overshadowed a bit by the “twisting” that the WBC did prior to the fight. One thing about the WBC, you can always count on them to but their foot in their mouths and then explain that our “lying eyes “ were lying.
There were 2 other title fights on the card. One of which involved the WBC - Israel Vasquez (40-3) vs. Jhonny Gonzalez (33-4) for the WBC Super Bantam title. To try and head off the fiasco that followed the cancellation of Castillo-Corrales fight, the WBC loudly trumpeted that it would implement very tough pre fight weigh-ins. They “set in stone” 30 and 7 days weigh-ins.
“The WBC says it will penalize its Super Feather and Super Bantam champions Marco Antonio Barrera and Israel Vazquez respectively, along with their challengers Rocky Juarez and Johnny Gonzalez for not fulfilling the organization’s mandatory weigh-ins, 30 days and 7 days prior to this weekend’s matches in Las Vegas. Specific penalties were not disclosed.”
Those in the know met this press release with a chuckle, a giggle and a fine lager. What sent most on the floor grabbing their sides was “Specific penalties were not disclosed.” In code speak that means, “Yep we did it and we’re keeping it private. Not your business.”
Two days later came the “whoops we didn’t really mean what we said”. The World Boxing Council has updated their previous announcement in regards to fighters missing mandatory weigh-ins 30 and 7 days before their fights on Saturday night. Now the word is the only boxer to be penalized for non-compliance of WBC regulations will be Rocky Juarez.
“Juarez was the only one to violate our rules regarding weight control but not because we made mistakes in our communications, as he had already been informed. The WBC has always been very careful and respectful towards the promotions staged by Oscar De la Hoya, world champion and head of Golden Boy Promotions.”
If the WBC was a “lady that walks to music”, with those moves she would be a star in any dance emporium in Pattaya. Read between the lines and you’ll see, “Oscar can do what he damn well pleases and we had just forgotten it but were reminded of it by rule 45, subsection 9.2 paragraph s.” Boxing, gotta love it!
As many know that visit Las Vegas, sometimes the second time around it isn’t all that great. For WBC Feather challenger Rocky Juarez (24-3) that was the case.
Last May when Juarez challenged Marco Antonio Berrera (63-4) it was exciting. This time? A yawner. Anytime you read that, “it was a tactical fight from round one” you know both boxers were cautious and the pace slow. The scores indicate (117-111, 115-113,115-113) how easy Barrera won.
In other action from Las Vegas, Jorge Barrios (46-2-1) was supposed to defend his WBO Jr. Lightweight title against Joan Guzman (25-0). Didn’t happen as Barrios failed to make the weight and was stripped of his title. Guzman kept his record clean, now at 26-0, but he did so by the thinnest of margins. In round 6 Barrios lost a point for a low blow called by referee Vic Drakulich. After 12 hard fought rounds that one point would give Guzman the win. Judges Carol Castellano (114-113) and William Lerch (115-112) had it for Guzman while the “venerable one”, Bill Graham saw is for Barrios 114-113.
Israel Vasquez (41-3) got off the deck in rounds 4 and 6 to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat against Jhonny Gonzalez (33-5) Sunday morning in Las Vegas. After being dominated for the first 6 rounds Vasquez took control, dropping Gonzalez in the 7th. In the 10th Vasquez’s brutal assault led to a knockdown which led to Gonzalez’s trainer, Oscar Suarez tossing in the towel. Vasquez keeps his WBC Super title.
Former WBO Feather contender, Terdsak Jandaeng (25-2,) won the vacant WBO Asia-Pacific 126lb title. How? Well according to reports, “He landed a big left hook at Abi Metiaman’s belly, scoring a one-punch KO at 0:50 of the opening round on Friday, at the City Hall of Chumporn Province, Thailand.” Jandaeng lost in his bid for the WBO title against Juan Manuel Marquez last month at Lake Tahoe, Nevada in a fight he was never in after the referee said, “Touch ‘em up.”
Some ‘maybe’ good contests coming up next weekend: In Wetzlar, Germany, two undefeated boxers put their records on the line. IBF Middleweight champ Arthur Abarham (21-0) defends for the third time against Edison Miranda (26-0). Hard to know how good Abarham is as his defenses came against second tier Shannon Taylor and Kofi Jantuah. Miranda’s one ‘name’ opponent was Howard Eastman who he beat, but then so did Abarham. Guessing that this is another miss-match in Germany, which is par for the course.
Trust me on this one but I’m not picking on the WBC. There is one heck of a fight at The Dodge Arena in Hidalgo, Texas for some title sanctioned by the WBC. Jorge Arce (44-3-1) is a terrific boxer with power, and is currently the WBC Fly title-holder. He’s fighting Masibulele “Hawk” Makepula (28-3) who holds the WBC International Super Fly title. Funny but they aren’t fighting for either title but for a “mandatory”.
Never do you see quality like this at heavier weights. Arce hasn’t lost since 1999 when he stepped in against the great Michael Carbajal. Makepula has only 3 losses; two of those to Mzukisi Sikali and one to Irene Pacheco. Gonna be a barn burner.
Well, finally finished another classic - and without his nibs. I can serve myself a tall cold one or 20. What’s that? Someone at the door?
“Yes, nice to meet you Noi. This lady with you is? ... Oh, your mother, Toy. And the little boy? ... Right, he’s your brother. And to what do I owe the pleasure of this visit? I see, Mr. Jeeves said that maybe you would like to live here. Well he’s off with mates but should be back today in time for Tuesday at the TQ. Can you wait? Well, as you seem to have everything I don’t see why not. Why yes, I would like an Island Lager. A cigar? That would be nice. Massage? That would be spot on. Oh, just put your things in Jeeves’ former room.”

Ken shines at Eastern Star

Jomtien Golf with the I.P.G.C

Monday, September 11, Eastern Star, Stableford
Another very hot day, and with a non-existent breeze blowing it was going to be a tough challenge for the 21 players. We changed the format slightly today regarding nearest the pins and ran an open house on all four par threes. Joop Medze and Ken Lill had two each, while Ken had the only “two” of the day.
In Division 2 there were four players tied on 34 points for the prizes, but on count back Miss Noy had 21 pts and Miss Nom 19 points. Dominic Rammelt came back to the clubhouse with a smile on his face, hoping to win his first prize with us, but with 15 on the back nine, those ladies are still on top of you, so to speak.
Geoff Stubbs’s 37 points earned him second place in Division 1, while the inform Ken Lill’s 41 took the honours.
The ladies tipple was presented to a certain person, who was now leaving the bar, but that is another story. The Rich Man Poor Man’s freshly baked pizza draw for the non-prize winners was won by Alan Duckett, but as the waistline is growing by the week, there will be a double draw this Monday.
Wednesday,
September 13, Sriracha, Stableford
With the second stage of the ‘Ryder Cup’ on Friday against the OK Corral, and with numerous other tournaments this week, a smaller than normal competition took place at Sriracha. It was a fun day out with only one division. Glyn Evans scored his first 30 plus points in as many months, newcomer Rune Schaup came second with 28 and Don Head third with 26.
Friday, September 15, Green Valley, (Please see OK Corral report page 54 for details)
A big thanks to Len and Dennis and all the players from everyone at Jomtien Golf for a great evening and a very interesting and competitive tournament over the last two weeks.
Jomtien golf meets every Monday and Wednesday at Paweenas on Soi 5, Jomtien Beach Road, and departs at around 9.15pm for a 10.30 tee off time. Transport and club hire are available. Please sign up in the bar or ring Glyn on 068 373 464.

Down Under on top at the Navy

PSC golf from the Oohsa Bar

Only a small field of 10 players ventured down to Sattahip to play the North & West ‘9s’ at the Navy course. We found the course in tip-top condition following the recent rains, with well-grassed fairways, while the greens were smooth and true. Our leader Keith was having a day off from organizing, we hope to see him back on the fairways in the near future.
With the small field comes a small prize rundown with Aussies Jeff and Barry leading the way with 39 & 38 points respectively. We still had the usual technical prizes of 4 NTPs and a Long Putt. Plutaluang member Bruce Lawrence used all his local knowledge to claim North 3 & West 3, Jeff picking up West 8, while Barry grabbed North 6 & the Long Putt on West 9.
Malcolm & his staff did a bang up job upon our return, with cold drinks and some great tucker. The cook has been excelling himself, both at brekky and our après golf food, much appreciated. If you would like to join the Oohsa Bar on Tuesday for golf you would be most welcome. We meet at the bar on Soi Khao Talo at 8.00 am for breakfast, before making our way to the course at ‘9ish’. Hope to see you there.

Americans love eagles, so Tom obliged at Khao Kheowb>