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Royal Thai Navy team triumphs in the 20th Phuket King’s Cup Regatta
Going neck and neck - two
boats prepare to turn for home.
This year’s Phuket King’s Cup
Regatta witnessed another 5 days of intense racing.
By Peter Cummins,
Kata Beach, Phuket
The Royal Thai Navy has not only supported the Phuket King’s Cup Regatta
during the last 19 years, but, for the second year in succession the men
from the Sattahip Navy Base won the IRC 2 Class in a very hard-fought final.
Lt. Peera Sagultem helmed “Royal Thai Navy One”, to a convincing victory.
 Hard
to starboard - the crew on “Konka” work up a sweat.
Elsewhere, the numerous Japanese entries excelled in two classes, IRC One
and Sports Boats.
Actually, the results were a little skewed for many entries were listed as
“Thai”, but this was because of the large number of entries which were
charter boats. For example, the winner of the Racing Class, the “Formula
One” of the sea lanes, was Toby O’Connell, registered as an entry from the
UAE, but racing a chartered craft from Thailand.
A desperate struggle for “pride” of place in the Racing Class Division
developed between three-time champion Neil Pryde (1998, 2001, 2004) and
eventual 2006 winner “Dhevatara Drumstick”, with Irish entry, Paul
Winkelmann’s “Island Fling”, coming third.
The last day was perhaps a glimpse of the future, as Chinese entry “Konka
Hummingbird” sailed in a clear winner.
It was, indeed, a splendid finale to a week of intense racing as the 20th
Phuket King’s Cup Regatta came to a conclusion with the ‘Raimon Land Sprint’
drawing down a curtain on the five-day regatta, a marvelous sporting event
dedicated to HM the King’s 79th birthday and commemorating the Royal Diamond
Jubilee of the King’s accession to the Thai throne.
 Chinese
entry “Konka Hummingbird” sailed in a clear winner on the last day.
Divided into 13 classes there were entries from Australia, Austria, China,
Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, Hong Kong, Japan, Namibia,
Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Spain,
Switzerland, UAE, USA and, of course, host country Thailand.
Major King’s Cup Regatta sponsor, Raimon Land have also decided to sponsor
the Firefly 850 Class through a series of regattas taking place annually up
and down the kingdom, such as the Pang Nga Bay, the Top of the Gulf at
Jomtien Beach, the Koh Samui and the Evason Race Week regattas. This
represents a further boost from Raimon Land to the burgeoning Thai marine
sector.
Co-sponsors of the King’s Cup included the Kata Group, the ‘home’ of this
event for the past nine years; the Thai Military Bank; Chivas; Thai
Beverage; Thai Airways; Mom Tri’s Boathouse; Coutts; Sunsail; the Greater
Phuket Magazine; the Nation and the Phuket Gazette.
Meanwhile, as the 20th Phuket King’s Cup Regatta was being sailed, the Thai
yachting teams at the 15th Asian Games in Doha were also faring well. The
Vongtim brothers, Damrongsak and Sakda won gold in the Hobie Cat 16 Class
while in the juniors, Thai Optimist National Champion, Benjamas Poonpat, won
a bronze in the Optimist Class and 14-year-old Navee Thamsoontoen won a
silver in the boys’ division.
Results: 20th Phuket King’s Cup Regatta
Racing Class
1st Toby O’Connell (UAE)), “Dhevatara Drumstick”
(21);
Multihull Racing
1st Philip Day (Thai), “The Sting” (8 points)
Firefly 850 Sports Race
1st Marc Cuddenec (Thai) “Chi Machine” (10)
IRC 1
1st. Riuji Nakata (Jap), “Rythm Stick” (8)
IRC 2
1st Lt. Peera Sagultem (Thai), “Royal Thai Navy 1” (5)
Sportsboats
1st Kenichi Takahashi (Jap), “Motornet” (10);
Racing Class 2
1st Peter Dyer (UK), “Madam Butterfly” (9)
Coutts Premier Class
1st Geoff Hill (Australia), “Strewth” (10)
Sunsail One Design
1st Antonio Escribano (Spain), “Princess Athena” (5)
Bareboat Charter
1st D.Madden/Keith Blankly (UAE), “Bintang” (9)
Performance Multihull
1st Larry Pollock (USA), “Running Cloud” (6)
Ocean Rover
1st Geoff Wilson (Austr), “Calypso JJ” (5)
Classic
1st Tim Wilson (Austr), “Cordelia” |
Mountain Bikers battle it out at Bali Hai
The youngsters were the first
away as the Eastern Mountain Bike Championships came to a climax at
Pattaya’s Bali Hai Pier.
Ariyawat Nuamsawat
December 9, the multipurpose field of Pattaya’s Bali Hai Pier was the scene
for the final leg of the Eastern Mountain Bike Championships, with the HRH
Princess Sirindhorn Cup on offer to the winners.
With so much at stake, the final round in both the male and female
categories turned out to be fiercely competitive. The main interest was
focused on the A2 Male Open class where Sarawut Spornthawee (Deep Salsa MTB)
had a tremendous battle with Surajit Jirojwong (Siam Bike) for the overall
title. Despite Jirowong winning this race, it was Sarawut who had the better
score over the four legs and he was thus crowned champion for this year.
Meanwhile in the B3 Male Open, the winner was Anupas Tanyachai (Siam Bike)
whilst Pusit Pumnum (from One-2-Call Bikenet) was declared overall winner
after finishing second in this race.
Moving to the female categories and Ratchanee Petchmak took the A7 Female
Open title with the last race being won by Krittika Silapat (Siam Bike), who
placed 4th overall. The final class, the B11 Female Open, saw a victory for
Apinya Saisamorn with Sucholthika Inthanoo (Banbung Team) taking the title
with a huge points score.
Mayor Niran was on hand at the finish, along with other important
dignitaries to congratulate all the competitors and present cash prizes and
the HRH Princess Sirindhorn Cups to the winners.
Pattaya students strike gold in Bangkok
Taekwondo Tournament
Mike Franklin
Sunday December 3rd, just over one hundred Taekwondo students from
Chiangmai, Bangkok, Sriracha and Pattaya gathered together at the Honour TKD
School, (Sukhumvit 39) Bangkok, to participate in a Friendship Tournament
event affiliated with the International Taekwondo Federation, and the
International School of Martial Arts (Pattaya, Sriracha & Bangkok).
 Samantha
Franklin receives an upgrade to Brown belt.
The Tournament Director, and principal of the Honour TKD School, was
Canadian Mr. Damian Mavis, ITF 4th Dan Black belt and 4th degree
International TKD Instructor. He was assisted by a number of senior black
belt instructors, namely ITF Master, 7th Dan, Mr. Rounthwaite from New
Zealand and Chiangmai; Mr.Yamamoto, ITF 4th Dan from Japan, and Canadian Mr.
Mike Gillies, WTF 3rd Dan Black belt and Head Instructor of Ooi’s Taekwondo
schools at Sriricha and Pattaya. Finally, Thai Taekwondo Black belt Kru May,
the senior instructor at Ooi’s TKD School, Pattaya.
Seventeen students from Sriracha joined with eight students from Pattaya to
compete in the tournament, their ages ranging from six to twenty-two years
and belt degrees from junior yellow to black. Corresponding weight
differences went from 19 - 60 kilos and in height from 119 - 175 cms. So
size rather than age was an important factor, as well as the degree
standards in determining the students in a competing group.
The eight Pattaya students (3 boys and 5 girls) performed well, achieving a
total of ten medals and trophies. The tournament comprised two TKD
disciplines, technique routines known as ‘Patterns’, and ‘Sparring’.
Trophies were awarded to the ‘Patterns’ division winners, silver & bronze
medals to the runners-up.
 Mr.
Yamamoto lets go a side kick to Mr. Gillies’ head.
Gold, silver & bronze medals were awarded in the ‘Sparring’ discipline.
Gold trophies were won in the ‘Patterns’ routines by Pongkarn Srisawate (6)
Jr. Yellow, and Samantha Franklin (9) Sr. Blue, and they also won Gold
medals in their respective ‘Sparring’ divisions.
Ty Jordan Kerr (8) and his older brother Jason Randol Kerr (11), both Sr.
Green, also won Gold medals in their ‘Sparring’ divisions. Bronze medals
were won by Jonathan Fitzgerald (9), Angela Jones (10), Lucie LeFevre (12)
and Natchaa Ekwattanakul. (14)
In a subsequent Grade test, the gold medal winners have all progressed.
Ponkarn to Sr.Yellow , Samantha to Jr. Brown, Ty and Jason Kerr both to Jr.
Blue.
A great credit to TKD instructor Kru May and evidence of the keenness to
learn and progress in this Martial Art by the students at Ooi’s Taekwondo
Pattaya, a division of the International School of Martial Arts,
In a future article we will cover the range and meaning of the degrees of
ability in Taekwondo from basic Junior White to Black, the objectives of
‘defensive’ Taekwondo, and the fine principles and philosophy of this
Martial Art.
Interestingly too, training of the very young students may not be the same
for everyone as the program can be tailored to a parent’s wishes,
concentrating on certain aspects including Discipline, Fitness, Strength,
Manners and Confidence.
There is much to be gained by introducing children to a discipline that will
enhance their development.
A Martial Art such as Taekwondo will achieve that, as will a suitable
musical instrument, provided the involvement is genuinely enjoyed as that in
turn will guarantee progress and proficiency in the art.
Over one-hundred students from around the
country, ranging in age from 6-22 years, gathered for the Taekwondo
Friendship Tournament.
Ooi’s Taekwondo Sriracha & Pattaya medal
winners.
Nikree Phuttharaksa of Pattaya wins two bronzes at the Asian Games
Peter Nordhues
Nikree Phuttharaksa, Thailands most successful rower, managed to come home
with another two medals from the 15th Asian Games in Doha. She respectively
received a bronze in both the singles and the doubles rowing competitions.
 Nikree
proudly shows her two bronze medals she brought home from the Asian Games in
Doha.
An exhausted Nikree told a Pattaya Mail reporter after her return home: “It
was a tough competition. There were 13 nations paddling for the single and
11 nations for the double titles. Our coach conducted a very intensive
training in Celle, Germany, prior to the contest. He managed to prepare us
properly, and it paid off.”
Thailand’s women rowing team at Doha consisted of four sportswomen, a coach,
and their manager. They stayed a total number of ten days, using the first
few to try to adjust to the climate and different weather conditions.
“It was a new experience for us to start in a competition which takes place
just off the shores of the sea. It was cold, rainy, and windy”, Nikree said.
Although she was plagued by a cold that prevented her competing at full
strength, she was satisfied with the final outcome. “We had to battle
against some very strong teams, and still we managed to capture two
bronzes.”
China won the singles’ competition as Japan came in second. In the doubles
Japan managed to win another silver, being held off from gold by the winning
Uzbeks.
For Nikree, it was the third time she had taken part in the Asian Games. She
won her first medal at the 1998 Games in Thailand when she finished third.
She was able to top that at the 2002 Games in South Korea, earning two
silver medals.After a well deserved rest from all past endeavors, Nikree
plans to concentrate on two major events taking place next year: the World
Cup in Munich and the SEA Games which will be held in Pattaya in December.
The Beautiful Game?
by Riz Taylor
Football and more football
What does Christmas mean to you? Perhaps it conjures up
images of chestnuts roasting on an open fire, Jack Frost nipping at your
nose, or perhaps the harsh reality of rushing around shops on Christmas Eve
trying to find something for annoying in-laws or other people’s babies. But
not you, not this year. A very Merry Christmas to everyone spending their
holidays in Pattaya this time around. Have a great time, but don’t forget to
phone your mum.
For those of us away from home there’s the chance to concentrate on what
really matters, such as football. It’s an excuse to gorge yourself on a
feast of festive footy over the coming days. Stuff the moaning managers and
their complaints of fixture pile-ups and tired legs, the coming days are
thankfully still centred around the football fan, and long may that
continue.
The games come thick and fast, so get ready for a full Premiership programme
both tomorrow and on Tuesday, Boxing Day. It all kicks off tomorrow as
Fulham host West Ham United at Craven Cottage. Fulham had a decent midweek
victory over Middlesbrough on Monday, whilst West Ham turned over Manchester
United on Sunday in new manager Alan Curbishley’s first game in charge of
the club.
You wonder how much difference a manager can make to a team when he barely
knows the squad he’s been presented with and is still yet to find the
windscreen wiper controls on his club car, but how often do teams suddenly
shrug off their atrocious form when a new boss arrives? I’ve lost count how
many times we’ve seen this, and sure enough it was no surprise to see the
Hammers put a huge dent into United’s title hopes with a 1-0 win thanks to a
Nigel Reo-Coker goal, giving Curbishley a rather pleasant first day at the
new office.
United’s lead has been cut to just two points after Chelsea overcame Everton
3-2 at Goodison. The game was a thriller, but despite a couple of fantastic
goals - and incidentally has anyone else noticed the amount of amazing goals
recently - it was the antics of Jose Mourinho that stole the show.
The Portuguese manager sensationally rounded on Everton striker Andy Johnson
after the match, saying that the England striker should have been booked and
that Johnson was “dangerous” to opponents because of the way he “chased
penalties”.
Everton may sue Mourinho for the outburst, and Johnson himself said: “I
believe the incident which was highlighted by Mr Mourinho was badly
misinterpreted by him. I feel greatly disappointed that my integrity has
been unfairly questioned in this way. I hope the Chelsea manager will
retract his statement.”
This aside, Mourinho’s comment on diving had me spluttering my cornflakes.
Have we not seen man-mountain Didier Drogba throw himself to the floor at
every available opportunity since his arrival from Marseilles a couple of
years ago? And what about Arjen Robben?
It’s all very well to selectively complain about diving when it affects your
team, but as 2006 draws to a close surely it’s time that the game tackled
the enormous increase in ‘simulation’ and cracked down on it. How about
retrospective five game bans for anyone found guilty of conning the referee?
It’s hard to believe that diving is still going unpunished at the top level
when there are more cameras than spectators watching the game. More on that
next week.
I initially welcomed Mourinho’s arrival in English football as a breath of
fresh air, an opportunity to break the boring hold that Alex Ferguson and
Arsene Wenger had on the headlines, but like many others I’m getting tired
of listening to Jose’s whining.
And you’re probably tired of listening to mine, so we’ll move onto the
headlines you may have missed in the last week. Enjoy the football and a
very Merry Christmas.
Ze Germans
will be first
England will host Germany in a friendly to inaugurate the new
Wembley stadium in August next year, according to German coach Joachim Low.
That’s assuming that the project is ever finished. The building of the
all-new sparkling Wembley has been hit by setback after setback since its
inception almost six years ago.
The latest news is that the retractable roof on the stadium will take 40
minutes longer to close than originally planned. Engineering magazine ‘New
Civil Engineer’, which of course I read weekly, has discovered that initial
plans of the roof taking 15 minutes to close have had to be changed due to
safety concerns. The process will now take a whopping 56 minutes and 30
seconds. Investigators have also recommended that the roof is shut only when
the stadium is empty.
“This won’t be a problem on FA Cup final day, as we will decide in the
morning whether or not the roof will be open,” said a spokesman,
conveniently forgetting the unpredictable nature of the British weather.
The Germans were of course the last opponents in the old Wembley, a World
Cup qualifier they won by a single goal.
Pardew speaks out
“I was surprised,” Alan Pardew told Sky Sports after being fired
by West Ham. “I honestly felt the chairman was calling me in to talk about
players in the transfer window. Obviously the performance at Bolton [a 4-0
defeat in Pardew’s final match in charge] was poor and I expected to have a
conversation about that for sure. There were two options for me and he laid
it on the line.
“The work I’ve done here I expected a bit more than that with him but it’s
his decision and there is nothing I can do about that. They offered me
‘mutual consent’, which I didn’t think was right. I honestly felt I could
turn it round. I had been in worse positions than this, so I wasn’t going to
accept that.”
Pattaya City win bruising encounter with the German All Stars
MBMG International League 2006/07
Rick Bryant
Following the disappointing goalless draw in Pattaya in their previous
match it looked to be another difficult fixture this week for Pattaya
City FC against the German All Stars in Bangkok. The Germans who are
riding high in the MBMG Bangkok League are the leagues top goal scorers
and would provide a stiff challenge for the Pattaya City team, who have
themselves conceded fewer goals than any other team in the league.
Manager Alan Mulberry has a number of key players unavailable at the
moment and the reduction in the size of his first team squad would make
it difficult on a hot afternoon in Bangkok. In fact Mulberry himself was
making his first start of the season.
It was Pattaya who kicked off and started the brighter of the two sides,
quickly getting into their now familiar passing game that had eluded
them the previous Saturday. However, it was the Germans that created the
first chance of the afternoon when they were awarded a free kick on the
edge of the box, but the delivery was poor and the ball ran away
harmlessly for a goal kick.
Pattaya responded two minutes later following some neat play down the
right hand side with Daryl Mann’s ball finding Danny Stevens in space
but his cross was just in front of the advancing Mark Brittain.
On 7 mins Pattaya almost opened the scoring when the ball broke to
Alastair Paterson some 25 yards out and his low drive beat the keeper
but struck the outside of the post. This was always going to a physical
game with both sides possessing some strong players and it was no
surprise that Craig Banks was to find himself in the referee’s book for
a strong challenge only 10 minutes into the game.
Pattaya continued to enjoy the majority of possession and following a
long clearance from Brian Wilkins, Paterson was first to react playing a
delightful ball inside to Stevens but his cross was cleared by the
German defence.
Pattaya’s next chance of note came midway through the first period when
Brittain delivered a cross for Peter Springle, who was unlucky to see
his powerful header just clear the crossbar.
A further period of domination by Pattaya followed and the opening goal
of the game eventually came four minutes before the break when Brittain
picked up a loose ball, turned quickly before cutting inside and curling
a delightful shot past the keeper into the corner of the net. Another
quality finish from Brittain who is currently the league’s top goal
scorer.
With no further incidents of note both teams were glad to hear the
referee blow for halftime with Pattaya leaving the hot Patana pitch the
happier of the two sides.
Half Time – German All Stars 0 Pattaya City 1
The Germans were to get the second half underway and would be
looking to put pressure on the Pattaya side straight from the kick off,
but it was to be Pattaya that very nearly went further ahead 4 minutes
into the second period when Paterson laid the ball back to Mulberry and
his low shot from 20 yards just crept past the upright with the keeper
well beaten.
With the Pattaya defence in total control it looked unlikely that the
Germans would get back into the game, and indeed they did fall even
further behind 8 minutes into the half when a tremendous shot from
Stevens thundered against the post and came back out invitingly to
Brittain 12 yards out. He neatly controlled it and hammered the ball
back past the German keeper into the net.
The game now went through a scrappy stage with several players seeing
yellow and one of the Germans seeing red after an ugly off the ball
challenge.
With the Germans down to ten men Pattaya were in complete control but
were pegged back midway through the half when the Germans were handed a
lifeline after the referee awarded them a penalty for what looked like
an offence that took place outside the area.
The German forward stepped up and calmly sent Torn the wrong way in the
Pattaya goal to half the deficit.
15 minutes from time Pattaya put the game beyond the Germans when
Brittain won the ball in the middle of the park and fed Stevens who
dispatched the ball past the German keeper from fully 25 yards.
Pattaya continued to dominate and the German keeper did well to hold
onto a rasping free kick from Dave Brown.
With two minutes remaining the Germans were awarded another penalty when
their forward used his experience to get goal side of Jake Baker and
went down under his challenge. However, the German forward did not
manage to convert from the spot this time, putting the ball well wide of
the target.
The game was to end in controversy however when following a heavy
challenge on a German forward, the referee blew for time with the German
team reluctant to play out the final minute of the game.
On what had been at times a somewhat acrimonious affair Pattaya were
pleased to return home with all three points and a job well done.
Final Score – German All Stars 1 Pattaya City 3.
Manager Alan Mulberry was full of praise for his side at the
end of the match and singled out in particular the performances of both
Paterson and Stevens.
With the league now breaking for Christmas, Mulberry will be able to
feel satisfied with his team sitting proudly on top of the table.
Pattaya City’s next league game following the Christmas break will be a
home match at Horseshoe Point on 13th January against Bangkok United,
Kick Off 4:00pm.
Pattaya City FC have been fortunate enough to secure the sponsorship of
AGS Four Winds International Movers and Fire and Gas Pattaya
Limited for this season and would like to thank them for their
continued support.
Made-to-measure win for Parkinson
IPGC Pattaya Golf Society at the OK Corral
Tuesday, December 12, the Pattaya Golf Society visited
the exquisite course at Crystal Bay for a medal tournament over the “A”
and “B” nines.
Japanese golfer Takeshi Hakozaki enjoyed a good round posting a score of
73 net for third place whilst the day’s best gross of 77 was recorded by
David Thomas, giving him an excellent second-placed total of net 70.
A dozen or so rounds in February and March had flagged up the potential
of Andy Parkinson and his return to the UK saw him invest heavily in a
set of custom-made and fitted clubs and his game immediately improved.
On this, his first round since his return, he pulverised the course with
a spectacular round of net 68, which included a best-ever nine-hole
total of 41 for the “A” nine. Nobody thought of telling him that 21
handicappers are not supposed to do that but we are sure that the
handicapper will drop a large hint at the weekend!
Surprisingly there were no birdie “twos” and the pot was held over.
Seven handicapper John “JC” Chambers received the Booby Bevy for his
dismal efforts. His final words before leaving the OK Corral to travel
to the course were, “A quality course eh? I’m going to play some quality
golf then!” JC was “talking the talk” but it was Andy Parkinson who
“walked the walk”.
Thomas concludes weekly double
On Thursday the Pattaya Golf Society returned to beautiful
Bangpra to play their weekly medal competition. The large field that had
come to share in the coincidental celebration of member Carl Lovatt’s
birthday were divided at 20 and under and the many sponsored technical
prizes meant that even more “tasty” golf was anticipated.
In division two the “birthday boy”, Carl, took a share of third place
with Len Jones for his score of 32 points and lady golfer Mod Churaiska
took her first step on the podium with an excellent 33 points. John
Mason continued his current fine form with a flight winning score of 35
points, a scratched final hole undoing his hopes for breaking par for
the first time in a long while.
In division one Stuart Thompson, Bill Hewitt and Emiel van der Wiele all
shared the runner-up place with good returns of 34 points whilst it was
left to David Thomas to sweep the board with his level par 36 points
giving him the best gross for the day yet again. It also included the
day’s sole birdie “two” and he was delighted with the substantial
rolled-over twos pot.
The Booby Bevy was sponsored by Ray Underwood and went to Stuart
Thompson for disclosing some very suspicious clothing items in his shoes
bag.
Near Pins: Mikael Andersson, John “JC” Chambers, Bill Hewitt,
David Thomas, Stuart Thompson
Best Par-3 Points Total: Mod Churaiska (13) “Mr. Denis prize”
Best Par-5 Points Total: Andy Parkinson (11) “John Mason prize”
The Pattaya Golf Society would like to take this opportunity of wishing
all Pattaya’s golfers a Merry Christmas and a happy and hazard free New
Year. All are invited to participate in the PGS/OK Corral Annual
Scramble at Eastern Star on Friday, 29th December, and celebrate the
season in style.
Bob & Jean Claude - both first-time winners
PSC golf from the Bowling Green
Gordon Everingham and Barry Hooper
Thursday, December 7, Pattaya Country Club, Stableford
A Flight
1st Frank Kelly (17) 39pts
2nd Bob St. Aubin (11) 37pts
3rd Dave Arrowsmith (6) 36pts
4th Fergus Brennan (10) 34pts
B Flight
1st Petter Andersson (26) 41pts
2nd Gordon Everingham (25) 34pts
3rd Tewin Lamthong (25) 34pts
4th Nigel Cannon (24) 33pts
Petter Andersson and Frank Kelly both had cracking games on Thursday at
the Pattaya C.C. and both came in with nice wins. The course was in
grand shape but played long as there was a nasty wind that made sure
that shots had to be accurate.
Petter had a 7-point win over Gordon Everingham, who had an average
round for him in the B Flight while Frank managed a 2-point win over Bob
St. Aubin in the premier division.
Near Pins: Bob St.Aubin, Petter Andersson, Tewin Lamthong, Derek
Eastham.
2’s: Derek Eastham, Tewin Lamthong.
Saturday, December 9, Eastern Star C.C., Stableford
A Flight
1st Bob Rasmussen (17) 39pts
2nd Harvey Samuel (18) 36pts
3rd Derek Eastham (11) 36pts
4th Stuart Thompson (7) 34pts
B Flight
1st Jean Claude L’Heste (27) 38pts
2nd Joe Kubon (28) 35pts
3rd Somkid (Mam) Bonseim (35) 33pts
4th Andy Galvin (20) 33pts
Bob and Jean Claude both came in will nice games to win their divisions.
Both men managed to win by a comfortable 3-point cushion. The course was
in great condition and played to its usual high standards. This day
Harvey managed to get 2nd place over Derek on a count back as did Mam
for 3rd place over Andy.
Near Pins: John Merritt, Fergus Brennan, Joe Kubon (2).
2’s: Joe Kubon
Tuesday, December 12, Treasure Hill, Stableford
A Flight
1st Tom Herrington (18) 37pts
2nd Terry Morris (14) 36pts
3rd Steve Carlton (8) 35pts
4th Barry Rothberg (19) 34pts
B Flight
1st Bob Short (23) 41pts
2nd Tewin Lamthong (25) 39pts
3rd Ian Kidd (29) 37pts
4th Colin Cronin (22) 35pts
Treasure Hill was in fine condition and we all enjoyed out day out,
especially John Robertson and Ian Kidd who got their first ever birdies
on a par 3, and they were the only winners in the 2s contest. This was
special as it was a hold over from last Tuesday and made their birdies
even better. Barry Rothberg managed to place on a double count back from
Peter Harris and Andy Galvin.
Near Pins: Somkid (Mam) Bonseim, Tewin Lamthong, Stuart Thompson, Rod
Sutherland.
2’s: John Robertson, Ian Kidd.
The Golfers would like to thank Tony, Jean and staff for all the great
meals we enjoyed this week. We always look forward to our return for our
dinners and a few brews of some sort.
If any one is interested in golfing with the Bowling Green we play every
Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. We meet at Bowling Green at 7:45am for
breakfast and transportation, and new players are always made to feel
welcome. You can phone Fergus 086 056 7019 or the Bowling Green
038-720742 or send an email [email protected]
NB. The Bowling Green will be having a Christmas Dinner with all the
trimming and free wine. There is limited space available so book early.
Chas Li counts back the Medal
IPGC golf from Lewiinski’s
Sunday, December 10, Green Valley, White Tees, Monthly
Medal
A Flight
1st Chas Li (11) net 69 - Medal Winner
2nd Gary Blackburne (7) net 69 - Medal Qualifier
3rd Mark “Woody” Sherwood (3) net 70
B Flight
1st Rick Sharp (14) net 70
2nd Dave Porter (15) net 73
3rd Peter Henshaw (14) net 74
C Flight
1st Tom Breslin (19) net 73
2nd Stan Dismuke (18) net 74
3rd Charles Stedman (18) net 74
D Flight
1st Trudy Chadbourn (22) net 72
2nd Stephen Gould (20) net 74
3rd Robbie Bennett (20) net 78
Near Pins: #2: Brian Tully; #9: Joe Tynan, #12: Brian Cole; #16: Gary
Blackburne
2’s: Gary Blackburne (2), Jack Grindvold, John Chambers, John
Emmerson, Gareth Gill, Colin Davis, Peter Barathy, Trudy Chadbourne, Brain
Tully, Pierre Bietry, Brain Cole
The cream rose to the top this Medal Sunday as two A Flight players squared
off with net 69’s. Amazingly Charles Li had the better of the inward nine by
a whopping seven strokes as he scorched it a gross level par 36.
Gary who was one under on the outward side, gross, stayed red hot on the
back with two “2’s”, but saw the Medal slip away on the 18th as he tripled
with a seven and Chas took five. Notwithstanding the disappoint of losing
the crystal vase, Gary will join Chas and 18 other qualifiers, for the Gold
Medal competition currently scheduled for 14 January 2007.
Lost in the hoopla of the Medal pursuit is last week’s co-title guy, Mark
“Woody” Sherwood, who took the bronze but was the Medalist on the day with a
gross 73, net 70.
It was nice to see The Hermit, a bit of a stranger to B Flight, top it out
with a net 70. Rick who is coming off a broken wrist, will undoubtedly work
his way back down as the wrist strength returns. Rick’s 4-ball mate, Dave
Porter, came second with net 73, followed by Peter Henshaw and Adam
Schoenfeld, another of last week’s heroes, knotted at 74. You know the Luck
of the Irish thing and Adam could be heard uttering “oy vai!”
Old friend, Tom Breslin, struck C Flight gold in an early appearance for
this current winter stay. His net 73 was enough to edge Stan “The Man”
Dismuke’s and Charlie Stedman’s 74’s. Stan nipped Charlie on the homeward
nine to hold the silver.
Trudy Chadbourn, who with her husband “Chad”, are Sunday Society staples
took the junior flight with a level to par net 72. That was two in front of
Irishman Stephen Gould and the surprised, and always charming couple of
Robbie Bennett and Mol Thongkiew, both of who had net 78’s. As of the time
of this writing the Scribe was not certain whether Robbie’s claiming the
count back third caused any marital discord.
Monday, December 11, Burapha C & D - White Tees,
Stableford
1st Nigel Flanagan (12) 39 points
2nd Adam Schoenfeld (16) 38 points
3rd Pat Regan (10) 37 points
4th David Foulk (23) 36 points
2’s: John Chambers
The day started out with a bit of a hiccup as the capable golf staff’s
booking at Treasure Hill went awry. The ever nimble GM re-routed the gang to
Burapha. Well, he re-routed everybody but Les and Jean Utting. After a
gentile wire brushing the golf staff recovered.
It was a short visit by Nigel, but this victory and a trip to the TQ made
the visit all worthwhile. His 39 points held off the fast-improving (are you
reading this Peter H.?) Adam Schoefeld by a single digit. Steady Pat Regan
fit his 37 points in for a bronze. Messrs’ Foulk, John Allen and the Senator
all locked up for the fourth slot with 36 points, but David held the math
card.
Wednesday, December 13, Bangpra, White Tees, Stableford
A Flight
1st Jan Eriksen (13) 37 points
2nd Phil Mitchell (6) 36 points
3rd Bob Patterson (7) 36 points
B Flight
1st Stan Dismuke (18) 41 points
2nd Charles Sheppard (18) 38 points
3rd Norm Robinson (16) 34 points
2’s: Jan Eriksen, Phil Mitchell, Rand Reynolds, John Emmerson,
Charles Sheppard, Charles Stedman
Stan “The Man”, second on Monday, took no chances, and no prisoners, with
his 41 points. That was three more than Charlie’s fine 38 points and seven
more that a surprised NormShore.
The Quiet One, continuing to play effectively despite an every decreasing
handicap, topped the Premier lot with 37 points, just ahead of a couple of
low handicap veterans, Flipper and The Senator. Phil nicked Bob on count
back
Friday, December 15, Phoenix Ocean and Mountain - Blue or
White Tees, Stableford
Blue Flight
1st John Emmerson (8) 34 points
White A Flight
1st Klaus Shackt (9) 42 points
2nd Norm Robinson (16) 40 points
3rd Rick Sharp (14) 38 points
White B Flight
1st Uli Leuenberger (24) 41 points
2nd John Squitero (21) 38 points
3rd Mol Thongkiew (25) 36 points
Near Pins: Blue: #O7 - Jack Spencer - White: #M8 - Albert Bruce
2’s: Blue: Jack Spencer - White: Norm Robinson, Walter Baechli
A half a dozen took on the Blues at Phoenix and Old Silverback took the lot
with a modest 34 points. The rest of the good-sized field wisely stayed to
the whites.
The Volkscomputer, a bit dormant lately by his standards, put an end to any
speculation, if any there was, that his game was on the decline. His 42
points meant tough luck for NormShore and his 40 points and the awakening
Hermit with 38 points.
In B Flight, Uli Leuenberger topped it out with an excellent 41 points,
three ahead of Johnny Squitero’s 38. Mol snatched the bronze her other half
stole from her on Sunday by shooting a level to handicap 36 points.
Trevor and Dave return
IPGC golf from The Haven
Monday, December 11, Noble Place,
Stableford
1st Alan Griffiths 40pts
2nd Yasuo Suzuki 37pts c/b 20
3rd Brian Lee 37pts c/b 18
4th Brian Cole 36pts
Reading about the distress that some others suffered during the last Public
Holiday at over crowded courses, it was a delight to play on Thailand’s
Constitution Day at what used to be called Noble Place, where at a very
reasonable price, thanks to the Docs fine negotiating skills, a very
pleasant day was spent on one of the best courses in the area.
Alan Griffiths returned to form with an excellent four under to easily claim
the day’s spoils ahead of the disappointed Yasuo Suzuki, who was hoping to
add to his tour winnings on his last outing of the year, but had to be
satisfied with second in front of Brian Lee on count back.
Brian Cole filled out the last spot on the podium a further shot behind.
Kenny Moss took the second division “twos” whilst Captain Bob Heath
celebrated his last game before returning to South Herts by slipping in the
only one in the first division.
Before presenting the prizes Richard Livingston, the resident PGA teaching
professional, welcomed new members Brian and Linda Lee and welcomed back Tom
Breslin, Kenny Moss and Per Ake Andersson. He also said farewell, until
early next year to Yasuo Suzuki and Bob Heath who are both returning to
their homelands to celebrate Christmas with their families.
Wednesday December 13, Crystal Bay, Stableford
1st Takeshi Hakozaki 37pts c/b 19
2nd Dave Lee 37pts c/b 18
3rd Brian Cole 37pts c/b 17
4th Alan Griffiths 34pts
Takeshi Hakozaki took full advantage of all the member’s bounces and a large
degree of local knowledge to snatch victory from the hands of an extremely
disappointed Dave Lee, who was himself just returning from a period of
illness brought on by withdrawal symptoms from his 60 year smoking habit.
And even with the new benefit of not having to lug a heavy oxygen bottle
around and not having the mask interfere with his backswing, a zero pointer
on the seventeenth was the back breaker for Dave and he had to make do with
second by a shot on count back.
Brian Cole again continued to raise questions over his handicap level, as he
took third place in the count back with another very competitive round.
Alan Griffiths could not quite reproduce the fireworks of the previous
competition as he slipped to two-over this time out, trailing the front
runners by three.
Fred Chadwick had the only “two” in the first division and Peter Aitcheson
and Russell Exley shared the pool in the second division.
Back at The Haven, Richard welcomed back Gaute Moen, Fred Land, Fred
Chadwick and much to the delight of the players, Trevor Schirmer who was
looking tanned and extremely fit, having spent the last few weeks harvesting
12,000 acres of wheat and barley on his brother’s farm and then latterly
relaxing watching a bit of a version of what the Australians call cricket
and the British call agony.
Friday, December 15, Mountain Shadow, Pairs Scramble
1st Trevor Schirmer & B.J. Smith 45pts
2nd Norman Isherwood & Fred Chadwick 43pts
3rd Alan Howell & Mike Dinsdale 39pts
With Roar Berger unable to pair up again with Ole Stamnes and Ole unable to
find a reliable replacement, Trevor Schirmer and B.J. Smith returned to
their usual position at the top of the pecking list in the pairs scramble.
B.J. slotted in the putts whilst Trevor smashed the ball down the fairway a
prodigious distance, to underscore that the great Aussie talent of teamwork
also works on the golf course. Being good mates certainly helps as well when
things don’t go entirely to plan, when it would be so easy to scold the
offender. A word of encouragement and some questions as to parenthood can
work wonders when used in tandem with a few well-chosen phrases, but never
forgetting the object is to have fun.
Norman Isherwood and Fred Chadwick, who played with Trevor and B.J. never
quite got to terms with them from the get go, but this was due possibly to
Norman’s need to rush through the round so that he and Fred could attend a
huge cocktail party at a local auctioneers reception; the whole night being
free once credentials had been established and the production of at least
one bankers draft for 5 million. Nuff said.
Alan Howell and Mike Dinsdale took the final place on the podium with, what
was on the day a very good three-under, with most of the rest of the field
literally scrambling around on the slick and undulating greens with their
demoniac pin placings.
The “twos” competition was suspended due to the format of the day. Prior to
the prize giving Richard welcomed back Del Bailey.
Tight finish at Eastern Star
PSC golf from The Oohsa Bar
The Eastern Star Golf Course provided a stiff test for
all the golfers from Oohsa Bar on Tues December 13. Eastern Star was in very
good condition and the greens were pretty quick and the day ended with
no-one playing to their handicap. Having been well fed and watered at the
bar and with a lovely day facing us we were all fairly optimistic but our
expectations were ill founded.
The first nine holes particularly provided a lot of challenges, which some
of us failed quite miserably to deal with. Just what is it about water that
attracts golf balls anyway?
Our eventual winner was Su Murphy with 34 points, playing off a 35 h/cap,
followed in order by David Childs (33 off 20), Fred Terone (32 off 17), Rich
Murphy (31 off 18) and Geoff Wiley (30 off 8). Despite finishing fifth Geoff
had a pretty good day picking up three ‘near pin’ awards and also bagging
the longest putt on the 18th to finish off. Roger Yabsley jumped in to claim
the other ‘near pin’ award. No “twos” were scored so no free beers this
week. Sorry guys.
Back at the Oohsa Bar it was more fine food and cold beers and a good game
of killer pool finished the day off nicely.
Our next trip will be to Plutaluang on Dec 26th with brekky being served at
8am. If you would like to join us please call into the Oohsa Bar on Soi Kao
Talo or call Keith Hodges on 087 916 7171 for more information or just roll
up on the day. You will be made most welcome.
A tale of two courses
Tuesday, December 12, Eastern Star &
Green Valley, Stableford
This turned out to be a quite different day. It was a case of now you see
me, now you don’t. Originally we booked Tee times at Eastern Star but it
quickly became obvious we needed more. Eastern Star were contacted, but were
full, so it was decided that some would go to Green Valley also. Exciting
what!
 Bill
Knight (L) and Kevin Dunne (R) with Dick Warberg in the background.
At the breakfast at Bert’s, ‘volunteers’ were selected to go to Green Valley
with the scribe, whilst the main body went off to Eastern Star as planned
with another ‘volunteer’ Dick Warberg.
The group that went to Green Valley went there with certain trepidation;
would it be packed out and would we get a good run through. Well the answer
was soon revealed. We got there and booked in quickly, got to the first tee
early and it was free with the group ahead well away. Tee-off and a free run
around the whole 18 holes. It does not get much better than this, a great
course and a free run. One player took advantage of the conditions and our
good fortune to win with a great score of 43 points: this despite a strong
wind getting up.
Meanwhile, the group that went to Eastern Star confirmed to us later that
the course was packed, with many 5-balls around. The play was slow and this
was not helped by heavy rain which resulted in all the golfers getting
soaked. Despite this, the course itself was in excellent condition and all
the players said they had a fine time.
Back at Bert’s as the results were tallied, all were smiling and the split
competitions were declared a success.
At Eastern Star the A Div (0-18) winner was Vince Smyth ahead of Anders
Pederson in second and Gareth Weeks in third. In the B Div, the winner was
Bill Knight with Dick Warberg in second and Alan Hollibone in third.
Meanwhile at Green Valley the winner was the one and only Kevin Dunne.
Presentation over, thanks were given to Bert and Pu for the food, and to
Dick Warberg for stepping in to fill the gap. T.T.F.N.
Near Pins: Kevin Dunne (2), Bill Knight (2), Dick Kerr, Paul
Sharples, Rainer Helling, Tony Oakes, Perry McNeely, Mick O’Meara, Daryl
Evans
Long Put: Bill Knight
Plutaluang - Too tough!
I.P.G.C. golf with The Caddy Shack
Tuesday, December 12, Plutaluang, Medal
The navy course at Plutuluang was the venue for a Medal play competition
over the tough North and West layouts.
 Mike
Alidi fired a level par round at Century Chonburi.
This is always a difficult challenge, but after the Asian qualifying tour
was held the previous weekend, meaning longer rough, narrower fairways and
faster greens, the mere mortals from The Caddy Shack could not handle it.
Most of the players had their worst round in a very long time; Paul Butler
net 84, Damien Trante net 82, and the only player to post a reasonable score
was Steve Nowell with a net 74 to take 1st place.
Needless to say there were no “twos” on the day,
Friday, December 15, Century Chonburi, Stableford
The golfers travelled to the distant Century Chonburi for a Stableford
competition on a deserted but well maintained course. Apart for the
clubhouse facilities this venue is good value for money.
The fairways were found to be lush and the greens very fast. The lower
handicappers certainly played better with Paul Butler and Phil Mitchell both
scoring 35 points, Paul edging Phil on count back for second place. Mike
Alidi playing off his 1 handicap fired 36 points to take first place. Mike
also had the only birdie “two” to round off a perfect day at this nice and
friendly golf course.
To all those wishing to play golf from the Caddy Shack, we leave the pub at
10am for an 11am tee-off. We play on Tuesdays and Fridays and all are
welcome.
Pattaya now has an archery club
Latter day ‘Robin Hoods’ show of their bow
skills at the Pattaya Archery Club.
Pattaya’s first and only archery club was formed in February of this year
and is going from strength to strength. Founded by only three people, it now
has about a dozen members, who, apart from the founders, had no experience
of archery before joining the club. Now it has some good toxophilists
(archers) who are shooting very well indeed.
There are club members from Britain, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, America,
and Thailand and so all these languages are spoken, including French. So far
there have been no communications problems socially, or whilst coaching
archery techniques.
The club’s best shot is Kotchakorn (Nice) a diminutive Thai lady who hits
the gold almost every time she shoots. And she had never picked up a bow
until March! It is a joy to watch her shoot, she has a good style and
technique that enables her to be so accurate. Despite being such a petite
lady, she shoots the same poundage bow that some of the farang men shoot,
and that feat alone means everyone wants to outshoot her but so far no-one
has!
A number of other Thais and farangs have come along to where the club shoots
(off Siam Country Club Road) and had a go at archery and there is a Thai man
who is a good shot with his compound bow (a high-tech modern bow with pulley
wheels and sophisticated gadgets that many people associate with the Rambo
films.
Archery is called the ‘thinking man’s sport’ because it requires more mental
than physical effort. Bows come in all weights and sizes to suit every
physique and strength, so muscle power is not an issue; the ability to
concentrate, however, is a big necessity.
There are various types of bows the traditional longbow for the purists,
then there are also crossbows, compounds and recurve bows. A longbow is just
a big bent stick that shoots twigs or so our German archer with his English
Longbow and wooden arrows is often told, in jest, of course! Unlike recurve
and compound bows that have a sight to aim at the target, the longbow has no
sight at all and so is quite a challenge to shoot accurately, requiring very
different shooting and aiming techniques than those used by archers shooting
recurve or compound bows.
Crossbows seem very rare although there is a crossbow society in Scotland.
Maybe that’s the only place such weapons are shot? The shops do sell toy
ones, but who buys them and what they shoot at is difficult to ascertain.
Rambo’s bow, the compound, is becoming very popular and because they have
certain technical advantages over recurve bows they are easier to handle and
more accurate. Extremely high scores can be shot with compound bows, a
favourite for those who like high-technology.
Recurve bows are the type that are used in the Olympic Games and can be
extremely accurate in the hands of a skilled archer; although they are more
difficult to shoot than a compound bow. A recurve bow is so called because
the ends of the limbs curve in the opposite direction to the main part of
the limb.
As to the use of these bows, there are two main types of archery - target
and field. Target archery is the most popular, where the archers shoot at
targets from 20 to 90 metres range and score the arrows to see who the best
shot is. Field archery is in essence where the archers follow a course
through some woods and fields, and shoot arrows at paper pictures of animals
pinned to straw targets.
Another variant is 3-D field, where the target is a life-sized polystyrene
foam model of a deer, bear, tiger, etc. Of course real animals are not
normally hunted or shot at with a bow, except in America, where bow-hunting
is very popular.
So there is something in archery to suit everyone’s taste. Choose your bow
type and decide whether you want to shoot at targets or pictures / models of
animals.
As Pattaya Archery Club has only been running a few months it has chosen to
use recurve bows to shoot at conventional targets, the most popular form of
archery where you are competing primarily against yourself to get ‘Personal
Bests’ and develop a successful style. Later on the club will start running
competitions, but that’s for the future.
The club has an excellent range of training bows, arrows and other equipment
that all newcomers are welcome to use, and there is an experienced coach who
trains anyone who would like to have-a-go at archery. The use of the
equipment and the coaching is all free, so it costs nothing to come along
and see if archery is for you.
The club shoots on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays, beginning at
10.00 am and finishing at about noon or thereafter. Anyone is welcome to
come along and find out what it is all about. For more details visit the
club’s website at www.pattaya-archery-club.com, or telephone Eric, the
coach, on 089 535 1193
Café Kronborg take over at the top
Pattaya Sports Club Friday Bowling League
200 Bowlers – Jim, La,
Rich, Ooy, Kran, Tui, P.K., Berry, & Andy.
Café Kronborg moved into first place after they won
four points from Shenanigans. Kran rolled a 211 game, 571 series and
P.K. had a 202 game, 517 series for Café Kronborg with Somrak bowling a
512 series for Shenanigans.
Diamond Shop moved up into a four-way tie for second place as they won
three points from Mai’s Thai Restaurant. Nual bowled a 542 series for
Diamond Shop and Berry had a 222 game, 525 series for Mai’s Thai
Restaurant. Brother D, led by Konrad’s 517 series, took three points
from House of the Golden Coin knocking them out of first place.
Montana beat Three Sisters winning three points in that match. Maliny
bowled a 527 series for Montana and La had a 204 game, 522 series for
Three Sisters.
Jack & Tar won three points from VFW Post 9876 with Jim leading the way
with 266 and 203 games, 612 series and Lance bowled a 210 game, 534
series. Teuvo rolled a 531 series for Domicil and they split their match
with Cafe Ole with each team getting two points. Rich had a 213 game,
518 series and Antero a 517 series for Café Ole.
The Square Ring:
by Howie Reed
Regardless of where a boxer plies his trade, one of
the highest honors is to be elected to the International Hall of Fame in
Canastota, New York USA. Old-timers, like my good man Jeeves, will
remember Canastota as the home of Carmine Basilio (56-16-7), one of the
great boxers of the late 1940’s up until the very early 1960’s.
If there was a good welterweight or middleweight around, the “Canastota
Clouter” had a go with him. Kid Gavilan (108-30-5), Sugar Ray Robinson
(173-10-6), Ike Williams (125-24-5) and Johnny Saxton (55-9-2), all
faced the always-tough Basilio.
This year Roberto Duran heads a list of new inductees to the Hall of
Fame that includes Pernell Whitaker, artist LeRoy Neiman and WBC Head
President Dr. Jose’ Sulaiman. Too bad that many forget that Duran was
‘great’ but remember him only from his “No Mas” when he quit against
Sugar Ray Leonard.
“Your Lordship, how does one get voted into the Hall of Fame?”
Well Jeeves the inductees are elected by the members of the Boxing
Writers’ Association and a panel of international boxing historians.
“Are you a member of the Boxing Writers’ Association, Your Lordship?”
Alas, no Jeeves. And you may now carry on with your report.
“Thank you, Your Lordship. When our favorite Dapper Dave Sterwart lost
to pal Lee Maeger, the result set up a British lightweight title shot
for Maeger. It was not good news for Maeger though as he was floored in
the 12th round and lost 118-109, 118-110, 119-110 to Jonathan Thaxton.
“Your Lordship, you may be getting a chance to see Ricky Hatton live and
in person. Mr. Hatton will be fighting Juan Urango with a 17-0 record on
January 20 at the Paris Casino in Las Vegas. This will be Hatton’s first
fight in the United States and he’s really excited. He said: ‘People ask
me what motivates me, and topping the bill in Vegas is one of the things
that keeps me going. I grew up in the era of Leonard, Hearns and Hagler,
and seeing them fight in Vegas got me into boxing. The fact I am
fighting in the same city, and topping the bill in a world title fight
with my name up in lights on the Las Vegas strip is the stuff that
dreams are made of. I am living the dream, and I don’t want it to stop.’
“Finally Your Lordship I know that you like the writing of the great Joe
Koizumi from Japan. Last week he reported the fact that an ex-amateur
prospect named Kuniyuki Aizawa was impressive when he acquired the
vacant OPBF super-flyweight belt. He did this by beating Thai national
champ Petchklongphai Sor Dharnthip.
“Joe K describes the bout in a few words that paint a very vivid picture
My Lord. Writing of the winner he states: ‘Aizawa embalmed
Petchklongphai with a single vicious body shot to the solar plexus at
1:45 of the sixth round.’
“How come you can’t write like that Your Lordship? Before you answer I
want to wish all my fans a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.”
Thank you Jeeves. In answer to your question as to why I can’t write
like Joe K, it’s simple. I don’t have the talent and knowledge while he
probably doesn’t have an aid-de-camp busting his chops all the time.
Also there is an error in your report. This will not be Hatton’s first
fight in the USA. Early in his career he fought once in New York City
and then a year later in Atlantic City. He also touched gloves earlier
this year with Luis Collazo in Boston, Mass.
Juan Urango should provide a good showcase for Hatton’s appearance in
Vegas. He’s a boxer that fought initially in his home country of
Columbia, then he moved to Florida, USA where he faced boxers of dubious
abilities on a circuit not noted for developing world champions. On the
other hand once the bell rings all bets are off. Great career move for
Hatton as he also gets prime time of Yank TV.
Not a lot of box fighting action in the weeks and days leading up to
Christmas. For the lone Thai in action, Dennapa Bigshotcamp (2-8), it
hasn’t been a great festive season. He traveled to Bonnyrigg Sports Club
in Sydney to face Ranee Ganoy (21-10-2) of the Philippines. Ganroy went
through Bigshotcamp like your Teelock does the Baht. The Thai was
dropped in round 1 and then at the 45 second mark of round 4. The
referee stepped in to save “Not So” Bigshotcamp.
Well Jeeves this is what I’ve planned for us for the Christmas Holidays.
I thought maybe you’d make a little egg nog, decorate the flat with
Christmas lights and flora while I prepare a glorious holiday feast
while Christmas music fills the air.
“That would be great your Lordship but I’ve made some other plans. In
fact I have to hustle to make my flight at Suvarnabhumi for Phuket and
the Island Bar. I got an invitation from your friend Mr. Book. He made
it sound like it was going to be a fun time during the Holidays. He
wrote: ‘with Christmas looming the famed Island Lager Bar will have a
tall ginger haired Santa dispensing largesse and Phuket Lager and who
will also no doubt will be seen cavorting around the pole with a bevy of
beauties.’
“That sounded good to me, Your Lordship. After that I’ll fly into
Bangkok for Christmas Day at Bourbon Street on Washington Square where
Doug is going to have a sumptuous Gala Christmas Buffet. The main
attraction is a Butterball Cajun Deep Fried Turkey along with roast
turkey, lamp chops, meat loaf, Bar-B-Q Pork Ribs, fried shrimp not to
mentioned salads, soups and beverages. And it’s only 699 Baht. Then I’ll
rush back to meet the old-timers at the TQ for ‘Tuesday Services’. Bye,
gotta run.”
Well, how about them apples? Merry Christmas to one and all ... and good
night!
Macey throws down the gauntlet
PSC golf from The Bunker
Monday, December 11,
Treasure Hill, Stableford
Monday’s outing was to Treasure Hill, and William Macey continued his
charge for the ‘Golfer of the Month’ trophy by winning the A Flight with
a fantastic 41 points on this notoriously difficult course. In joint
second place were Charlie Gooch and Tony Scambler, both with 34 points.
 William
Macey, determined to prize the ‘Golfer of the Month’ title from Geoff
Parker.
The cut was handicap 18 and under and in the B Flight Jim Wooler almost
matched William’s score by winning with 40 points, ahead of Dougie
Landsborough on 36 points and Ray Bloom with 34 points.
Two ‘near pin’ prizes were won by Rab McDonald with the other two going
to Jim Treen and William Macey.
Wednesday, December 13,
Phoenix, Medal
A Medal comp was played at Phoenix on Wednesday and the cut
was set at handicap 15 and under. Once again William Macey played out of
his skin to win the A Flight, carding a brilliant six under par net 66.
Second place went to Eddy Graham on net 71 and in third place was
Charlie Gooch on net 74.
Brian Maddox won the B Flight with a one under par net 71 ahead of Geoff
Parker net 72 and third placed Mick Ramshaw net 80.
Only three ‘near pin’ prizes were won, two going to Paul Smith and the
other one going to Rod Stevens.
Friday, December 15,
Plutaluang, Stableford
The second Stableford comp of the week was held at the Thai
Royal Navy Course at Plutaluang. Playing on the North and West courses,
Paul Smith returned to form by winning the A Flight with 39 points. In
second place came Geoff Parker with 34 points and third place was shared
between Tony Scambler and Gordon Melia.
In the B Flight there were three golfers tied for the runner up spot;
Jim Payne, Fred Griffin and Jim Wooler all finished with 35 points but
the winner was lady golfer Thea Von Spelling who scored 38 points.
Two ‘near pin’ prizes went to Rab McDonald (again!) one went to Glen
Cunningham and one to Charlie Gooch.
New leagues get underway
Lawn Bowls from the Bowling Green, Pattaya
Barry Hooper
A new season of League Bowls has started up again at the “Bowling Green”
with the past week having the first round matches. New league organisers
are also running the show Barry, Alex and Aussie John to whom our thanks
must go out.
A new regulation has also been introduced this time where delayed
matches must be played within 7 days of the schedule supplied or points
can be lost to any team not adhering to the rule.
The Harvons take on the
Golfers in a Second Division match.
We have eight teams in the First Division and ten
teams in the Second Division, with quite a few new faces to be seen
mixed in with many regular league players
The First Division kicked off on Wednesday, December 13 with three
matches. The first game saw The Hopefuls (Tony and Paul) take on the
Ying Yangs (Alex and Jaeng) in one of the best matches to be seen at the
green for some time: close tight ends with nothing being given away
easily and only decided in the last end with the Hopefuls just shaving a
win by 2 points.
Match two had Melgram (Mel & Graham) showing the new team Shoemakers
(Terry and Jan) who have just arrived in from the UK, that their
knowledge of the local conditions was useful with a 33 to 11 win
The final game saw The Roos’s (John & Steve) against Cunning Stunts
(Keith and his old partner Wanida), and this match was also a tight
affair with Cunning Stunts finding themselves two behind with one end to
play. Not to be beaten Wanida made a three with her last wood to take a
15 to 14 win, much to the delight of her partner Keith.
One match has had to be delayed for technical reasons and will be played
shortly.
The Second Division kicked off Friday, December 15 with four out of five
matches taking place.
Match one saw The Lighter men (Eddie and Snags) square up to Panac (Alex
and a stand in partner) who took the result with a 20 to 11 win. The
second game was the Odd Couple (Brian & Arthur) up against Austar (Steve
and Nita) with the Odd Couple having the upper hand throughout and a 24
to 10 win. The third match, Gunners (Aussie John and Neng) with Neng in
her first ever league game against the Celtic Warriors (Kevin & Brendan)
had John showing his skills and very well backed up by Neng for a
convincing 27 to 10 win
In the final game, Tanjo (Tanom with Tony standing in for Joe) found
themselves facing Banita (Barry and Wanida - new name Danita) having
paired up again. This was a close fought match right up to the fifteenth
end when Danita and Barry were behind and found themselves four down
with only one wood by Danita left to play. She took courage and played a
power shot into the head to find her wood connecting well and converting
it to a three wood win. With only the one end left Tanom & Tony pulled
back just one but were beaten 17 to 14
Match 5 was played on Sunday, December 17 between Harvons (the old
stalwarts of Harvey and On) against the Golfers (our golf organiser
Fergus and his partner Stuart). This started off pretty level but
Harvons took one big scoring end and never looked back after that to
take a 21 to 11 victory.
So Melgram top Division 1 and the Gunners are atop Division 2 after the
first week, purely by having the highest shot difference. It will take a
few weeks before the division start to take any meaningful shape.
Christmas comes early for Rick
PSC golf from The Café Kronborg
Monday, December 11, Treasure Hill,
Stableford
Treasure Hill Country Club was the host to a Stableford competition in
two flights; A Flight 0 to 18 and B Flight 19 up. The course was in fine
condition, but being a ‘Holiday’ we were 10 minutes late in teeing off,
still things moved pretty well considering the number of 5-Balls on the
course.
 Dave
presents the cup to Rick Bevington.
Icelander Steindar Eidsson won the A Flight with 41 points (24 on the
front nine), Roger Strine was second with 37 points and Bill Plath came
in third on a count back from Johan Reynisson, both with 36 points.
In the B Flight the winner was ‘Swiss’ Rolf Hofman with 38 points ahead
of Patrick Browne second, J.C. Lhoste third and Dave Richardson in
fourth, all on count backs on 35 points.
Near Pin: Steindor Eidsson, Roger Strine, Leon Budd Uwe Kessler
Long Put: Cees Bosman, Henk De Bock
Thursday, December 14, Khao Kheow, Stableford
This was to be the day of the Alex Chilcott Memorial Cup,
with the competition called ‘Christmas Fayre’. First things first, and
Alex was a long time P.S.C. Golf Chairman who, to put it delicately, was
a bit of a character, but well liked and respected.
The competition was in one flight and all the players bring a Christmas
present and put it on the pile at the presentation. The winner for the
day has first pick from the pile, plus the Cup, the second the second
pick, and so on. Makes a difference. The Scribe on the day was tasked to
take the Cup to the playing venue but of course forgot. Still, we did
manage to make the presentation later at the Cafe Kronborg.
The course layout on the day was in excellent condition, but the wind
was not so charitable. This is a difficult enough golf course on any
given day, but with the wind blowing it becomes a bit of a monster. We
did manage to get 3 people to beat their handicap though. This is a
little more than I expected but nice to see the competition brought out
the best in some people.
The winner on the day was Rick Bevington with a fine 39 points. Rick
said he putted like a demon, but even so he only beat Einar Vfoft into
second on count back. In third place was Leon Budd with 38 points and
Eddie Graham was fourth on 35 points (if fourth was 35 points just think
what the other 40+ players shot).
Presentation over the players all picked their ‘Xmas presents’ and we
went back to the Kronborg so Dave could present the Cup. T.T.F.N.
Near Pin: Cees Bosman, Paul Whitnall, Ted Morris, Brian Blackford
Long Put: Einar Vfoft, Jack Merrick
Yves bounces back after downing
the ladies’ tipple
IPGC Jomtien Golf
Monday, December 11, Plutaluang,
Stableford
There were high expectations today from the Division 2 players as this
was the third outing to find a prizewinner in the “twos” competition.
Another large field set off for the North and West courses and after a
few words with the starters the previous Friday there were no hiccups or
any delays on the first tee of the back nine this time.
The Division 1 nearest the pin winners were Tom Sathrum on 3N and Fred
Duffy on 8W and in Division 2, Ben Findon won both bottles on 3W and 6N.
Back at Paweenas, Basil Foley was surprised to find he had won the
Division 2 first prize with 33 points. Bob Lathwell came in second with
32 points while Ben Findon and Miss Am tied for third place on 28
points, with a greater count back giving Ben yet another purse for the
day.
No remarkable scores were registered in Division 1, but a worthy 33
points got Paddy Wilson a third place and the ever improving John
Mcloone’s 35 points only lost on a count back to Joop Medze, who took
the pole position for the day.
Yves Bosset won the ladies tipple for his drive on the 2nd hole of the
North course, where he hit the yellow tee marker 25yds ahead and the
ball bounced back and landed between his feet at the white tee. A fond
farewell was said to Chris Holmes by all of us after his many enjoyable
games before his relocation to Columbia. We all wish you well Chris.
Wednesday, December 13, Pattaya C.C. Stableford
A slightly smaller field than usual departed for Pattaya
Country Club. It was a fresh start for the “twos” competition as there
was a triple rollover win last week. Yet again no winner in Division 2,
Dave Richards winning the pot in the premier flight with his birdie putt
on the 5th. Surprisingly there was only one winner in Division 1 for the
‘nearest the pin’ bottles, that person being Joop Medze whilst Ben
Findon and Glyn Evans took the loot in Division 2.
Yves Bosset won the Division 2 Stableford competition with 37 points and
the runner up was Les Winch two points behind. The Division 1 game was
very close with Fred Duffy’s 36 points taking second place and Jim
Connelly winning with 37 points.
With a few of our regulars joining the Eastern Star membership we will
be running a regular Friday game at this course starting on the 5th
January.
Jomtien golf is located in Paweenas Bar, Soi 5 Jomtien Beach Road and
meets every Monday and Wednesday at 9am for a 10.30 tee off time. Club
hire and transport are available from the bar. Please sign up at the bar
or contact Glyn on 086 837 5464.
Matsumoto and Richard win the Green Wood day
PSC 65th Monthly Tournament
The winners pose with
their trophies at Green Wood.
The old club name of Noble Place has now been
replaced with Green Wood and along with it major renovations have taken
place. The club has spent considerable time and money to make this a
venue a pleasure to play. The drive to the clubhouse has to be one of
the most picturesque and so off we all went with hopes and expectations
held high for the PSC Tournament.
Under the new management of Patrick we found the service to be first
class and we did not encounter any 5 or 6 balls entering into the middle
of the competition, which is always a help. Patrick informed me that his
marshals were for the high jump if they did not get the competition off
to a prompt start, and true to his word we started spot on 10:00am.
The weather on the day was fine and warm with a slight wind to catch out
the unwary. The greens as usual were extremely quick and many a tale of
woe was heard as players came in to register their scores. The day
itself was special not only as it was the 65th PSC Tournament but also
for the fact that we were playing for the annual award of the Dr. Sam’s
Trophy for the Highest Stableford points winner and also the Karl
Lisielvan Trophy for the Lowest Gross score on the day. Along with the
other prizes on show it made for a fine display.
The scores were duly recorded by Bernie and Tim and checked by Vincent
and Mike so it wasn’t too long a wait after the last 4-ball came in for
the presentation to begin. Nigel in his own inimitable MC style opened
the proceedings and then passed over to The PSC Golf Chairman Tony Oakes
who hoped that everyone had had a good day’s golf and gave a special
welcome to those players playing with PSC for the first time. He also
thanked all the sponsors and then forgot to thank his team of helpers!
Apologies to Bernie, Tim, Herbie, Nigel, Alan, Vincent and Mike - it
won’t happen again honest!
All said and done the presentation began with the lucky draw followed by
the unlucky draw and then the main prizes. Well done to all the winners
and special congratulations to the two fine gentlemen who I have had the
pleasure of partnering at one time or another for their sterling efforts
in winning the two main prizes. The main two prizes being presented by
the new PSC President Dennis Willett. Well done Matsumoto and Dick.
Our next tournament is on the 19th January at Treasure Hill and don’t
forget to book early to avoid disappointment.
May I also wish all PSC members worldwide a Merry Christmas and a Happy
New Year.
Long Drive: Robin Lennon, Richard Baronowski, Eddie Bielby, Brian
Maddox
Near Pins: A2 Dennis Willett, John Hartigan, David Foulk,
Patrick Browne; A6 Hans Collett, Simon Dutton, Eddie Bielby,
Graham Mitchell; B2 Tony Stevens, Eamon Murtagh, Mike Wing, Per
Singh Basi, Chaemram, Duangsuda; B5 Hans Collett, Mick O Mera,
Alan Pearce, Gordon Mc Knight, Pid Overgren
Long Putt A9: Mashi Kaneta, Peter Emslie
Long Putt B9: Gordon Everingham
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Results PSC 65th Monthly Tournament
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A Flight (Medal)
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B Flight (Medal) |
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1st Jeff North (10) 69 Net
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1st Frank Kelly (15) 70 Net |
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2nd John Murdoch (11) 69 Net
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2nd John King (13) 70 Net |
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3rd Vincent Smythe (11) 71 Net
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3rd Ron Birdsall (13) 71 Net |
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C Flight (Stableford)
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D Flight (Stableford) |
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1st Mike Wing (21) 38pts
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1st John Dillon (27) 37pts |
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2nd Roy Pimblett (21) 37pts
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2nd Charles Scott (32) 37pts |
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3rd Dave Richardson (21) 37pts
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3rd Brian Rought (28) 36pts |
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Ladies Flight (0-40) Stableford
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1st Ning Morris (21) 40pts
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2nd Somkid Morel (38) 34pts
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Dancing all the way at the PSC Christmas party
Mike Franklin
Pattaya Sports Club held its annual Christmas Party on Wednesday,
December 13 at the Town in Town Hotel, Pattaya. Established as the
regular venue for PSC parties the hotel and its staff lived up to
expectations once again. A lavish and attractively presented
International and Thai buffet was laid out poolside with all the
member’s favorite dishes including seafood barbeque, and carving
station. A full range of beers, spirits and wine flowed endlessly
assisted by the attentive table staff.
 Dennis
Willett, the PSC President addresses the audience.
The band set the early mood with alternate singers adding color to the
music and something must have been right, for an unprecedented number of
dancers took to the floor early on, filling the dance area to capacity.
Then the lights went up and a dance troupe of six attractive girls burst
on to the stage in shimmering white costumes to energetically entertain.
Many who had commandeered their usual tables at the back of the ballroom
maybe, at that point, wished they hadn’t and that was certainly the case
when the girls came back in skimpy black for their second set.
The stage being a mere six inches or so above floor level was an open
invitation for one of the partygoers to join the girls, and gyrate
hitherto unseen moves in their midst. His dress, unfortunately, did not
quite synergize with the shimmering white, but he did get rapturous
applause for the spontaneous effort.
 Mike
Franklin (right) grabs a word with PSC Golf Chairman Tony Oakes.
The band came back and partygoers surged back on the dance floor in even
greater numbers than before. In fact, it was so crowded that some got
lost and finished with different partners. But that is what parties are
all about and Doug Powell, PSC Party Chairman presenting his fourth
party, found a formula that produced a great evening.
When the lights went up again and the spots lit up, the girls were back,
this time in black and performing energetic routines on stage that made
the tables and members at the back even sadder than before. However, the
dancers came to the rescue by dispersing themselves freely amongst the
audience, dancing with some who really should have been sitting down and
possibly initiating a ‘wait till I get you home’ situation with the
partner.
 Unprecedented
numbers took to the dance floor at this year’s party.
All harmless fun though, but certainly a new departure for a PSC party.
Dennis Willett, PSC President, preceded the Lucky Draw with a brief
address explaining that Gerry Carpenter, elected as President at the
June AGM for a third term, had been obliged to resign through ill health
and, as the elected vice-President he had taken over. Sincere good
wishes were extended to Gerry with grateful thanks for his valued term
of office. One other important announcement he made concerned the PSC
web page that has been re-designed and updated and can be seen at
www.pattayasports.org
 John
Travolta watch out! A partygoer joins in with the dance troupe.
Then it was time for the Lucky Draw, with no sign of thousands of the
conventional raffle tickets, just entry ticket stubs resulting in a
simple, efficient draw for the range of attractive prizes on offer,
including the customary gold items. And not a single re-draw, so full
marks for that!
The band and singers came back, the bar continued serving unlimited
drinks and the dance floor, once again, filled to overload.
It was dancing all the way, giving the best indication that the 2006 PSC
Christmas Party had been a success.
The band did a great job
in setting a party atmosphere.
It wouldn’t be Christmas
without presents.
A scramble for the front
seats as the dancers appear.
Suspense hovers as the
prize draw begins.
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