Billion Dollar football

It’s a return to league action across Europe this weekend after a double whammy of international fixtures so rudely interrupted our domestic bliss.
What’s in store this week then? Well another round of Premier League fixtures await, with Everton hosting Manchester United and the impressive Blackburn Rovers facing the ultimate test away at Chelsea. The obvious glamour tie of the weekend is Wigan Athletic against Fulham, but the game you expect to stand out this weekend must be the North London derby.
Surely now is crunch time for struggling Spurs, who continually fall over against the big four that they’re so desperate to topple. Defeat at home to rivals Arsenal might prove a bridge too far for the itchy trigger fingers in the Tottenham boardroom, and although I’ve been backing Martin Jol - primarily because he’s such a nice guy, admittedly - you’d have to fear for his safety as Spurs, who have spent big this summer to challenge their rivals, go into the game in fourteenth place and still without a win. Derby doesn’t count.
But then Spurs aren’t the only big spenders this summer. A survey by Deloitte Sports Group revealed this week that Premier League transfer spending has rocketed, with clubs spending over 530 million pounds on new talent in order to keep up with the neighbours. Led by Manchester United (51 million), Liverpool (50), Tottenham (40) and Sunderland (35), clubs have brought in over a billion dollars worth of footballers over the last few months.
“This summer’s transfer spending by English clubs has beaten all previous records, but as Premier League clubs will receive around 300 million pounds of extra broadcast payments during the 2007/08 season the increase in transfer spending is not a surprise,” said Paul Rawnsley, a director in Deloitte’s Sports Business Group.
Not a surprise perhaps and that billion dollar figure doesn’t account for transfer fees received and the fact that a billion dollars isn’t worth quite what it once was, but it’s still a billion dollars on footballers.
It’s a significant surge - twelve clubs spent over 20 million pounds in the summer, up from just three last year - and I’m wondering when exactly the bubble will burst and the Premier League will come crashing down on itself. It can’t be far away. With everyone getting in on the act there are going to be a few tears in a few boardrooms in the not too distant future. But then who cares about these mega-rich billionaires anyway? If they want to blow their cash on overrated footballers, who are we to stop them?
Yet even in the era of spending big for success there are more enjoyable ways of parting with your cash than shelling out on football players, as I’m sure Pattaya residents will agree. Compare the sour-faced Roman Abramovic with Newcastle’s Mike Ashley as an example. Whilst the Russian continues to shell out fortunes for players his manager doesn’t want, Ashley is finding his way into the supporters’ hearts up in Newcastle. A few weeks ago the new Toon owner opened his wallet in a local nightspot called Blu Bambu. Initially refused entry because he was wearing a Newcastle shirt, the 25th richest man in Britain was eventually ushered in by red-faced staff and immediately celebrated by ordering everyone inside a drink. The eventual bill came to around 2,500 pounds (around 165,000 baht) and there was still enough left over to tip the barman another 500 pounds.
Personally I can think of better places in which to ring the bell and tip the staff, but that’s my business. What impressed me was Ashley’s desire to get involved with the real fans, and although buying everyone a drink could be seen as a desperate act of a rich man trying to gain some popularity it’s certainly a good start. Top flight spending may have gone through the roof, but at least someone’s having some fun whilst doing it. Mine’s a pint.
Real football
And yet outside of the Premier League there is, I am reliably informed, a whole world of football out there. I happened upon a post on a website by someone identifying themselves only as “Dazza” last week, and liked it so much I thought I’d post it here for your benefit. Enjoy.
“You’d think that but I think you’d be surprised at the response. Our vacation to the lower reaches of the football league has actually ignited a lot of fans’ enthusiasm in football again. When your club has been screwed over by mercenaries, non- tryers and a succession of idiotic chairman your love for the game begins to disappear.
The standard of football may not be anywhere near as good as the Premiership but that alone doesn’t tell the full story. The Premiership is predictable, the stadiums are plastic, the atmosphere at games is nearly non existent at most grounds, match tickets are ridiculously expensive, badge kissing players ponce around before moving on for larger bank balances, you stand up to cheer and you’re shouted back down by Mr and Ms Smith and their seven kids, but at the end of it all you think the world would end if you got relegated, you cry when it happens and mope your way though the preseason.
“Then the season starts and you travel to packed-out stadiums, the away end is allocated 4 and 5 thousand tickets, the atmosphere is fantastic, the banter between the fans is both loud and comic. Players playing for the jersey, 16 teams in with a chance of glory whether it’s promotion, playoffs or avoiding relegation.
“And then you realise what’s been missing the past 10 years, you realise that Sky has in fact ruined football.
“When most of us started supporting and playing this game it was about football, not rich benefactors and bank accounts. While you can never escape that fact, as all Leeds fans have found out, you can enjoy football again as it used to be.
“The Football League has everything that brought me to love football in the first place, our first eleven are honest, decent pros now who see it as an honour to wear the white of Leeds United, they are playing for the shirt and so far we are reaping the rewards. Our club is united. It’s been a long, long time since I could say that. Elland Road hasn’t seen the kind of passion we saw after the final whistle on Saturday since the days of Gordon Strachan, Vinnie Jones and Lee Chapman in our last promotion campaign from the old 2nd division in 1990.
“It’s refreshing having witnessed under-performing mercenaries for the past 7 years.”
United!
The answer to last week’s little teaser asking who has played for the most clubs called United during their careers was firstly Peter Beardsley, who turned out for Carlisle, Manchester, Newcastle and Hartlepool, whilst the runaway winner was Imre Varadi who wore the colours of Sheffield, Newcastle, Leeds, Rotherham, Scunthorpe and Oxford United during the seventies and eighties.
Moving in
mysterious ways
Jay Jay Okocha has joined Hull City, and insists that God sent him there.
The former Bolton and Nigeria captain, 34, turned down several of Hull’s Championship rivals to join Phil Brown’s men on a ten-month deal, which the player may also extend by another year.
“I always ask God if it is his will, and if so, then let it be,” said Okocha of his move back to England from Qatar Sports Club. “Whatever comes out of it I will accept it. That’s the message I got and that’s why I’m here at Hull. My faith comes before anything. It has also taught me to respect and admire people for what they are and who they are. I pray a lot and it has helped me throughout my whole career to stay calm and focused.”
Offside
Brazilian lineswoman Ana Paula Oliveira has no regrets about posing nude for Playboy magazine, even if it has meant not being selected for a game since.
However the 29-year-old, who has taken to refereeing amateur games, was still hoping to be given the chance to the return to the touchline at top-flight matches. “I want to make it clear that I have no regrets, on the contrary I have a strong personality,” she told Brazilian television before taking charge of a game in the small town of Maracai, around 450km west of Sao Paulo.
“Everywhere I go, I get a lot of support from the public and people tell me that if I persist, I will get another chance.”

Cooney: the man in form

PSC golf from The Bunker

Monday, September 3, Bangpra, Medal
Playing medal format at Bangpra on Monday, ‘The Bunker Boys’ had a first time winner in Richard Scobie, who won with a one-under par net 71. In second place was Geoff Parker who pipped August’s golfer of the month William Macey on a count back, both shooting level par net 72’s.

William Macey was The Bunker ‘golfer of the month’ for August.
Geoff Parker made it a very profitable day by winning two of the ‘near pin’ prizes, the other two going to Paul Smith and “Scobie”.
Wednesday, September 5,Greenwood,Stableford
With a big field playing the ever-popular Greenwood course, which is great value for money, the cut was set at Handicap 15 and under on Wednesday.
Playing a stableford round we had some very close scores in both flights; Geoff Hart winning the B Flight with 38 points, one ahead of Raleigh Gosney in second whilst a further point behind was Geoff Parker in third.
The scores were pretty close in the A Flight too where Gerry Cooney won with 38 points also and Mashi Kaneta got second spot on a count back over Jim Treen, both players with 36 points.
Paul Smith, playing off Handicap 6, demonstrated his accuracy by winning three ‘near pin’ prizes, the other one going to Duncan Lee who made a rare guest appearance.
Friday, September 7, Plutaluang, Medal
Another big field played a medal comp at the Royal Thai Navy Course on Friday, with the cut being set at Handicap 14 and under.
In the B Flight Peter Habgood had a fine round to win with a one-over par net 73. Roger Privet, finding himself in the B Flight for a change, got second place with a net 74 and Geoff Parker was third with net 76.
Gerry Cooney showed his win on Wednesday wasn’t a fluke by winning the A Flight again, shooting a one-under par net 71, while Paul Smith came second with a level par net 72 and Alan Freeman playing off scratch was third with a one over par net 73.
‘Near pins’ were shared between Eddie Martin, Paul Smith, Bryan Rought and Peter Habgood.

Ron triumphs off the ‘Tiger Tees’

Phoenix Golf Members Group.

Wednesday, September 5,Stableford
Today saw the welcome return of two of our previous guests; Barry James visiting for a couple of weeks recorded a respectable 29 points off his U.K. handicap of 5, and another very welcome guest, Garry Clarke, came in for his bi-annual visit from Holland and once again donated two lovely Blue Delft’s china houses, full of Bols Gin. These will go towards the grand draw at our annual dinner/presentation night late in November.
The winner today after a long bad spell, with a splendid 42 points was Mike Gerrard. This was achieved playing off the Phoenix domestic handicap of 20. However we are revising the handicap system this week and Mike will be manually cut to 16.
In second place was Geoff Bowers with 41 points, playing off 13. We are sure Geoff will suffer the same fate as M.G. and be cut 2 shots.
Technical awards went to Ron Bridge, Mike Gerrard, Terry O’Conner (2)
Friday, September 7, ‘Tiger Tees’ Stableford
Tiger tees day at Phoenix and that means Blue for the men and White for the ladies: strange to note that there were no ladies present today. The usual hardy players were in attendance though, on a cloudy, but dry day.
The Mountain course is closed at the moment for preparation work for the coming high season, so it was the Lakes and Ocean nines for the guys.
The winner, with a superb knock of 41 points playing off 11, was Ron Bridge. He will know what this means. Big Ron will also get the chop down to 9 Handicap.
Coming in second behind Ron was Terry Turner with 36 points.
The 2’s prize was not won and it will be carried forward to next week.
Sunday, September 9, Stableford
A lovely cool day today and three new visitors to our Sunday outing: Trey Vedoza, Finn Pedersen and Conny Klarqvist.
The best score in was from Mayo Deane who took the champers, and Uli Leuenberger coming in second took the wine.
Uli is celebrating his 70th birthday this coming Saturday and was going to host a special golf day with many trophies and then treat everyone to a party afterwards. But bearing in mind the part of the year that is not so busy, Uli has decided to postpone his bash until November 18 and celebrate his day in line with our annual dinner/presentation night. He has donated 11 beautiful trophies for the golf event for that day and we have reserved 15 tee times for 60 players: All will be by invitation only!
So in the meantime we all wish Uli a very happy birthday. (Still walking the course and playing very well).
The next notable date will be the Monthly Medal on Wednesday, September 26.

Graham bags a brace

PSC golf from The Café Kronborg

Monday, September 3, Khao Kheow, Stableford
The A & B Nines at Khao Kheow Country Club were to be the challenge for a stableford competition in two flights; A Flight 0 to 18 and B Flight 19-upwards.

Graham Buckingham was a two-time B Flight winner in the week.
The course is now charging High Season prices after 9am on Mondays and Thursdays, even though the condition is less than satisfactory. The fairways had long grass, bunkers were not raked and the C course greens had been cored and sanded for the third time this year.
Carl Hutter won the A Flight with 39 points ahead of Marty Allred in second with 36 points and Bill Plath in third with 31 points. In the B Flight the winner was Graham Buckingham on a count back from Trevor Loersch in second, both 35 points, with Henry O’Brien in third with 34 points.
Thursday, September 6, Bangpra, Stableford
The beautiful and well-manicured Bangpra layout was host to a stableford competition in two flights, with the cut at Handicap 19. The course on the day was in fine condition, with just some fairway re-sodding on the 18th hole. As always we had good food and service back in the clubhouse.
Dave Richardson won the A Flight with a fine 40 points ahead of Bill Plath in second with 35 points and Elias Magnuson, back in the fold, in third with 34 points. In the B Flight the winner was Graham Buckingham with 37 points ahead of Wayne Koch in second with 32 points on a count back over Henry O’Brien in third. T.T.F.N.

‘Curly’ goes one better at Emerald

I.P.G.C. golf from the Caddyshack

Tuesday, September 4, Greenwood, Stableford
Our first outing of the week and the golfers from The Caddyshack played a stableford competition at Greenwood golf course. Its a bit of a journey to get there but its all worthwhile as the course is in great condition and very popular with our players.

Tuesday’s winners: Chris Platten, Dave Strang and Dean Rae.

The conditions on the day were perfect which resulted in some very good scores.
In third place was Dean Rae with a net par round 36 points, second was Chris Platten (Curly) with a one-under par 37 points, but way ahead with his best round to date was Dave Strang with a spectacular 43 points. Back at the Caddyshack Dave rang the bell and celebrated his win with everyone.
Meanwhile there was still the prize of the 2’s to sort out and with five winners - Dean Rae, Alistair Templeton, Kitau Takimoto and Mike Alidi (2) - it was decided that a lucky draw would take the pot, and Mike Alidi was the happy recipient.
Friday, September 7, The Emerald, Medal
The venue for today was The Emerald and we got some good feedback from all the golfers - the course condition was reported as excellent and the organization very good, considering two other societies had booked there the staff handled it very well.
It was a classic battle for first place between Clive Bruce and Chris Platten (Curly), both shooting very nice rounds of 3-under par, which on this course with the tricky pin positions was quality golf. But there had to be a winner and Curly pipped Clive on the count back.
In third place with the lowest gross of the day was Mike Alidi with a fantastic gross 71 and 37 points; Mike also had a birdie ‘2’ and shared the pot with Bev Ewens.
All in all it was a very pleasant and successful day’s golf with all the golfers coming back to The Caddyshack and participating in a celebration drink and the Friday in house quiz.
Note: Any golfers wishing to play with our group, please turn up at The Caddyshack or ring Keith for details on 081 377 0607.

Chris triumphs by one at Burapha

PSC golf from Tropical Berts

Tuesday’s winners: Chris Youngman (left) and Dick Warberg (right) with Pu.

Tuesday, September 4, Burapha, Stableford
It was very quiet early on in the morning with, the ‘leader’ away’, but with Dick Warberg valiantly stepping into the gap all went smoothly.
Burapha was also very quiet with much work taking place on the course and the fairways were a bit bare, however the A & B Nines were still a pleasure to play, with the greens running swiftly
Back at Bert’s the results were declared and Chris Youngman came through to win with a fine 42 points, but only one ahead of that warrior Dick Warberg in second. T.T.F.N.

The Square Ring: by Howie Reed

Well Jeeves this is another nice mess you’ve got us into. Two weeks ago you had an “exclusive report” that tickets for Ricky Hatton-Floyd Mayweather jr. would be on sale September 4 in the ‘mother land.’
A regular reader of the Square Ring, as opposed to the irregular readers, called the Pattaya Mail to say, “Nay, nay.” He pointed out that the Ricky Hatton’s Web site says tickets will go on sale September 17, and no price mentioned. Either the Web site is correct, somewhat correct, or not. What is clear is that tickets for this event, at least in England, have been handled with all the care and logic of a bull in a china shop. There is another thing that’s plain - there are lying Web sites out there that are offering tickets. Buyer beware - or be broke and mad!
Just as mad was Ricky Hatton when he found out that only 3,900 tickets had been allocated to his fans in the UK. In June it was estimated that 13,000 traveled for the Castillo fight. One report had Hatton initially asking for 10,000 tickets with 13,000 fans having already booked travel arrangements. The host venue, the MGM “Maybe Not So” Grand, gets the most tickets, a third or about 5,000 tickets. They’ll set those aside for “high rollers”.
Ricky’s dad Ray Hatton said, “I have never seen Ricky more gutted than this. We are trying to swap some of the more expensive tickets to get more tickets for Ricky’s fans.”
It’s easy to sympathize with Hatton fans but Ricky has no one to blame but himself. His promoter, in this case his father, should have and probably did know about the ticket distribution. It’s always easy to take care of “number 1” and later cry for everyone else and act “gutted”.
Yes Jeeves, what is it?
‘Your Lordship, I have a communiqué from my pal “The Chairman of the Boards” Mr. John Lowe regarding instructions for acquiring tickets. It states: “Tickets in the UK will be sold via postal ballot. The first stage of the priority ballot is open to fans who have attended previous fights of Ricky, in the USA. Only 2 tickets will be given per application with 55% of those in the as yet undetermined top price range. For those that have already booked their travel, there will be closed circuit at the venue which can be purchased in advance.” What do you think, Your Lordship?’
Well Jeeves, if I was Ricky Hatton I would tell the little scumbag Floyd Mayweather jr. that the fight’s off unless I got 10,000 tickets or the fight be moved to the UK. Make no mistake, without Hatton, Mayweather jr. couldn’t sell out a phone box.
Next Thursday there’ll be a heck of a fight on tap at Bangplama School in Suphanburi Province. Napapol Kiettisakchokchai at 47-2 will meet the undefeated Saenghiran Lookbanyai (20-0) with the winner becoming the WBC mandatory challenger for champ Rafael Marquez.
Kiettisakchokchai has the better resume but Lookbanyai, with15 KO’s from 20 wins (albeit against weaker opposition) is on the rise. Kiettisakchokchai had a WBC title shot but came up short against Oscar Larios in 2003 at the historic Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles. Since then he’s run off 20 wins with 19 KO’s. Impressive.
Oscar Larios, you may remember, failed in an attempt to win the vacant WBC feather title when he was knocked out in 10 by Jorge Linares on the undercard of Hopkins-Wright. The KO sent Larios to the hospital when bleeding in the brain was discovered. He’s out of the hospital now but his boxing career is probably over. Kiettisakchokchai - Lookbanyai could be a ‘barnburner’.
With Jeeves out of town last week for the Grand Opening of the “new and improved” Island Lager Bar in Patong, one of Pattaya Mail’s own reporters covered the fight at the Pattaya School on August 27. In last week’s Mail he wrote, “Tabtim Daeng was in top form knocking out the Indonesian challenger Gun Teenular in the fourth round to retain his PABA-WBA Championship at the temporary boxing ring set up at Pattaya School No 2. Tabtim Daeng had been due to fight Timer Zylirchov, who unfortunately was injured during training. The bouts were changed so that his next opponent was due to be Eric Barcelona, the Filipino vice-champion. When the authorities checked the records, however, this match was deemed inappropriate and it was decided to take on Gun Teenular, the bantamweight champion from Indonesia as the contender instead.”
‘Your Lordship, nowhere does it list the record of the two boxers mentioned, there’s no weight class, and what the heck is a “vice-champion?”’
Jeeves has a point - so in true Paul Harvey fashion “here’s the rest of the story.”
Tabtim Daeng is 20-1, Gun Teenular is 5-7, and they were fighting for the PABA Bantam title. What record did Eric Barcelona “vice champion” have when the authorities checked the records and deemed the match inappropriate? Oh yes, he was 38-12. Got to protect that Thai champion. Now a confession, I have no flipping idea what the hell a “vice champion” is but I’m sending Jeeves out to inquire about same at some of the dance palaces in Pattaya.
Meanwhile, WBO #1 super-fly Pramuansak Posuwan (39-1-1) continues on his road back. His career took a sever detour back in late 2005 when WBO champ Fernando Montiel eked out a 116-112, 114-112 (twice) decision. Eked? 114-112 is only one round difference. One round the other way and it’s a majority draw.
With Posuwan’s decision over Indonesian champion Nouldy Manakane (11-7-1) that’s 10 on the trot and retention of the WBO Asia-Pacific 115lb crown. In the fight held at the office of Nongchang District in Uthaithani, the 38-year old Thai led from the opening bell thanks to his superior skills. A rematch with Montiel is on the horizon but then so is the end of the rainbow where one finds a pot of gold.
Keeping the pay-checks coming, former WBA 122lb king Somsak Sithchatchawal (53-2-1) wasted little time as he KO’d “No First Name” Hendric of Indonesia. Not only didn’t the opponent have a first name but also no official record. Must be a case of an Indonesian doing the work that the Filipinos won’t do.
One Thai boxer on the move, or so it would appear, is featherweight Fahsai Sakkreerin (24-1) who took but 7 rounds to KO an over-matched Suan Lumnight. Reports have the IBF (I Be Fixin) Pan Pacific title-holder having it his way from the “get-go” before dropping the challenger twice in round 7. That allowed hometown referee Yongsak Na Songkla to say, “It’s over” or the Thai equivalent of same. The downside is that the win came against a boxer with a 10-20 record. H’mmmm
On September 1 in Columbia, yank Kendal “Rated R” Holt (22-2) tried to win the WBO (We Be Ordinary) light-welterweight title from hometown guy and champion Ricardo Torres (32-1). The official record will explain that Holt lost by a TKO in 11. The Holt camp filed a protest and now the rest of the story.
Torres promoter “Buffalo” Bob Arum opined afterwards: “I had the occasion to review the video tape of the fight with particular attention to the 11th round in which Torres stopped Holt. The videotape demonstrates unequivocally that Torres had Holt down and completely wobbly from a punch to the jaw. The referee probably should have stopped the fight at that point since Holt was in no position to continue. Instead, the referee allowed the fight to continue with Torres throwing continuous punches at Holt without any answering punches. The referee finally stopped the fight because Holt was unable to continue. Torres clearly and legitimately won the fight and there are absolutely no grounds for a protest.”
Pat English is an attorney that is elbows deep in boxing. He relishes taking on the ‘big name’ promoters in his ring, which is the ring of law. This time his target was Arum.
“We are truly sorry to hear of Bob Arum’s loss of sight. He apparently was unable to see Kendall Holt being hit in the face with a beer can immediately after knocking down Ricardo Torres. We note that it is difficult to follow up on a knockdown when one has been hit in the eye with a can. We are also sorry that he could not see Kendall Holt sliding on a beer can in the ring in the eleventh round, or the debris and ice landing in the ring and pummeling the boxers in the eleventh round, nor the splotches all over the ring where beer, water, and ice left their mark. We wish him a speedy recovery, or at least a better pair of glasses.”
Winner by KO - Pat English!
Trash talking, or the attempt at same, has become a staple diet of boxing today. Fighters, managers and promoters all try, but they never quite reach the level of say a Winston Churchill. Once in an exchange with Lady Astor, who insisted that Winston was “drunk”, Churchill replied, “Yes Madam and you’re ugly, but in the morning I’ll be sober.”
Last week Vivian Harris (28-3-1) traveled to the Doncaster Dome in England in an attempt to wrestle the WBC jr. welter title from Britain’s Jr. Witter (36-1-2). At the final press conference Harris said: “Witter fights like a coward.”
Witter prevailed however, dropping the 29-year-old challenger from Guyana in the fourth, then a short left hook along with a crisp, quick left dropped Harris for the final time in the seventh round. Referee Daniel Van de Wiele of Belgium reached the count of 10 at 1 minute of the round.
‘Your Lordship, did you know that Sunday’s Juan Manuel Marquez fight with Rocky Juarez in Las Vegas had been postponed? No? Well then did you know that the fight was postponed because Marquez got a cut on his hand that became infected? Did you also know that your mate CJ Ross was to have been one of the judges? Well Your Lordship, with all due respect, what the hell do you know?’
Jeeves my good man, I know that the “real reasons” for a fight being cancelled in Las Vegas this late is that probably too few tickets had been sold. An infected hand has about the same creditability as your Teelock’s father losing his entire herd of water buffalo when he lives in a condo in Bangkok. What happens in Las Vegas stays in Las Vegas.
And yes, I did know that “Chick” CJ Ross was to be one of the judges. I also know that this is probably the end of this week’s effort as you have arrived with a goodly supply of premium lager, a humidor of cigars and a stack of CD’s for the music machine. I also know that you look positively silly wearing that dam sarong.
‘It’s a sadao your Lordship.’

Masters back in the frame

IPGC Pattaya Golf Society at the OK Corral

On Sunday, September 2, the Pattaya Golf Society returned to the Royal Thai Navy course at Plutaluang to play their regular Sunday Stableford event over the South and East nines at their new regular start-time of 10:30am.
The day, though overcast, stayed dry and the single flight took to their task manfully on a well prepared, if full, course.
In fourth place was Simon Kendall, firing 33 points of the back of his forty at Emerald the previous outing. Ian Wilson and Ian Hart were head-to-head on 35 points for a share of second place whilst Peter Masters returned to his Sunday best with a level-par 36 point card to take the win.
The day’s only ‘2’ was achieved by Simon Kendall on South 4.
Wilson in the pink!
Tuesday, September 4, the Pattaya Golf Society visited far-off Greenwood to play a stableford round over the C and A nines, which were in excellent condition with greens a tad slower than normal. The brooding skies stayed dry until all but the final groups returned to the clubhouse and the day had witnessed a competitive event.
The new early start caught some golfers napping but IPGC’s newest member, Masaaki Sugaya, found his feet with a sound round of 32 points but he found himself languishing behind third placed Barry Trowell, who returned a score of 36 points. Dutch Master Joop Medze took second place again with a consistent 36 points but he was two points shy of Ian Wilson at the top of the leaderboard. Ian’s 38 points included the day’s two birdie 2’s, and it could so easily have included the PGS’ fourth ace as his tee shot on A6 ended up a smidgen short of the cup.
Ian also made his mark sartorially by wearing an elegant pink number for the presentation, which brought back memories of his previous week’s Booby Bevy but on this occasion it was reserved for Len Jones who celebrated his graduation from the Paul Quodomine school of buggy driving with panache.
Golfers are reminded that we now leave the OK Corral at 9am for our golf.
Trowell digs deep
On Thursday the Pattaya Golf Society awoke to a beautiful golfing day and travelled to Crystal Bay for a stableford competition over the B and C nines. The course was in impeccable condition yet again with some tricky pin positions adding zest to the challenge.
On a day such as this, on an empty course, the group would take some convincing that there was a better way of spending a day in the Land of Smiles!
Two of the Japanese players certainly found everything to their taste as Kazuo Takimoto and Takeshi Hakozaki went head-to-head and found nothing separated them in third place with 34 points, and Kazuo also had the honour of posting the day’s best gross of 77.
The indefatigable Dutchman Joop Medze continued his fine recent form with his 35 points giving him his third consecutive runner-up place, this time being usurped by Barry Trowell who posted his best competitive round so far for the victory with 39 points.
Joop recorded the day’s first birdie ‘2’ on C4 and he was to be followed inevitably by “Birdie” Bill Hewitt who emulated the feat three holes later. The Booby Bevy was reserved for David Thomas, all at sea on the greens, and who recorded one of his least memorable rounds. But he is canny enough to know that better times lie ahead.

Apple and Dale too good at The Emerald

PSC golf from the Beaver Bar & Grill

Winners L-R: Dene, Dale, Sus, Apple, Eddie and Nigel with Beaverette Tuk.

Friday, September 7, The Emerald, Stableford
The Emerald course is now in good shape and getting better with fast greens and a new practice putting green at the 1st tee now open. A good turnout of 30 golfers took to the course on under clear skies and pleasant conditions, as can be seen by the winning scores.
In “A” flight Apple Jitchana rejoined the winners circle with 40 points beating out playing partner Eddie Blackwell on count back, and Sus Ige came in third with 38 points. All three played as well as the scores indicate - Apple hitting booming drives, especially on #10 and Sus coming within a millimetre of an ace on #7 with his tee shot gently nudging the pin.
“B” flight winner Dale Drader set the course alight with 42 points, 27 of them on the back nine. Dene Mundy came in second with 35 points and Nigel Cannon claimed third place with 33 points. Near pins were won not surprisingly by Sus on #7 and Dale on #15.
Back at the Beaver Bar and Grill Dennis Willett awarded the prizes as the players settled in for the usual post-game revelry. Trevor Carnahoff was welcomed back after a four-month absence, his feats on the course showing the effects of the welcome home celebrations the night before.
All golfers are welcome every Friday at The Emerald - show up with a recognized handicap before 7:45am, pay a 200 Baht entrance fee and get set for an entertaining day with one of the friendliest groups on the PSC golf calendar.