Tiger tames Bangpra

PSC golf from PJ Pool Bar

Neil Duncan
Tuesday 19 August, Bangpra (White Tees) - Stableford
Fourteen of us enjoyed Bangpra’s reportedly 100 million baht uplifted golf course and refurbished clubhouse facilities. This course is seemingly laid out in the time honored way in sympathy to the natural topography and one is glad that millions of tons of dirt haven’t been shoveled around so as to mess up this feature.
One division today and convincingly won with a 2-over score off the stick by Tiger Jumparnit (6) carding 40 points. Ken Hole (13), now resigned to the fact that his handicap correctly reflects his golfing ability, was runner up on 37 points. David Gardner (10) and Dennis Dunkley (9) took 3rd and 4th places with 35 and 34 points respectively. Certainly a good day for the lower handicaps! The average score was 30.3 points.
Near pins bonuses went to Bob Drumm, David Gardner and newcomer Don Bennett (2). Tiger sunk the longest first putt on the 18th green.
Thursday 21 August, Pattaya C.C. (White Tees) - Stableford
Pattaya Country Club is quickly reached and apart from requiring some bunker maintenance the golf course is in good condition. Although somewhat faded the clubhouse facilities are also perfectly acceptable, a day’s golf is well priced and why this venue fails to ‘turn our cranks’ and comes over as vanilla is a bit of a mystery.
Nineteen of us were out today in two divisions. David Gardner (10) won the premier flight with 36 points, the scribe (13) came second with 35 points and Dennis Dunkley (9) rounded out the podium on 32 points.
In the higher handicap flight (23+), Bill Jones (32) was the winner with a fine 38 points whilst Paul Smylie (25) and Ian Campbell (23) came second and third with 33 & 32 points respectively.
The average score for the 17 cards returned was 30.2 points. Near pin bonuses went to Martin Hayes, Keith Hodges and yours truly whilst Ian Campbell yet again had the longest 1st putt on the 18th green. Ho hum, snoring, boring. Yves Philibert took away the Paradise Bar golf shirt for playing the most golf this day.
Note: Any golfers seeking to play with our group that wish to know about the format please visit P J Pool Bar & Restaurant on Soi Watboonsamphan (Soi Kanoi) or phone Neil on 089 511 0575.

‘Luck of the Irish’ for holidaymaker Kenny Graham

PSC Phoenix Golf Tuesday (Members & Guests) Group

Mike Gerrard
Still millionaires golf at this time of the year. The course is in beautiful condition and hardly anyone on it. Having said that it is not long now to the time of the year when we will struggle to get on the course unless we book well in advance. Something the management at Phoenix have always honoured in the past, for us members.

Second placed Graham Dietrich with American visitor Joe Miller and a staff member from Toy’s Music Bar.

With the above comments of the high season soon to arrive in mind, we will soon have the situation of too many players wanting to join our group. Nice problem. However we do intend to keep the size of the field down to a maximum of 6 groups and obviously the regulars will get preference.
So on to the day’s golf.
Our challenge today was the Lakes and Ocean course, once again, in superb condition and the bunkers are getting a little better in terms of the amount of sand. However, until they are fully acceptable we have to apply the local rule of placing in the bunker (only if the ball has remained in it’s own plug hole). Bad raking and footprints, by whatever animal (including human) is bad luck.
It has to be said that no course can be perfect (especially one played by regular members) but the tees, fairways, and greens here are still the envy of most courses on the Eastern seaboard.
Our winner today was the lovable, lucky Irishman (protocol tells me I have to call him an Ulsterman) Kenny Graham scoring 38 points. I call him lucky because he has been doing all the wrong things a man can do, whilst on holiday in Pattaya to score well. The fact that he never made it back to the presentation at Toy’s Music Bar suggests he scored even better. Nuff said.
In second place was the ever-reliable, Mr. Consistency, Graham Dietrich with 35 points.
Pictured with Graham is Joe Miller. Joe comes to Pattaya every so often and always donates a little special gift from the U.S.A. This time a lovely leather scorecard holder was put up as a lucky draw prize for any of the players who had not won anything on the day. Guess who won it? Too embarrassed to print my own name. Thanks Joe.
Future golf will include the monthly trophy on Tuesday 2 September. As usual, this will be played under medal/stroke conditions. The main prize for the best net score will be donated by Toy’s Music Bar and there will be other place prizes along with technical awards. All other Tuesday’s are stableford format playing off white tees.
Also in the future, starting this week, we will try to organise golf on a Friday at 11.30 am playing from the blue (Tiger) tees.
If anyone is interested in any of the above golf, please call me (Mike) on 087 091 7565 and I will enter you for the coming games. PSC or other official recognised handicaps are essential and 28 handicap is the maximum anyone is allowed to play off.

Pakistan beats India in Queen’s Cup Cricket Championship

The Pakistan yellow team celebrate their victory
in the 1st Queen’s Cup Cricket Championship.

Pramote Channgam
The Pakistan Businessmen’s Association in Pattaya held the 1st Queen’s Cup Cricket Championship on August 14, the birthday of Her Majesty the Queen, the match being staged outside the Pattaya Indoor Stadium and starting at 11:00 a.m.
Association members Nofal Fawad, Raza Shah, Zahid Aman and Bari organized the championship, which was designed to encourage friendship between the Pakistan, Indian and Bangladeshi players taking part.
There were four teams playing: two Pakistani teams where dressed in white and in yellow, and two Indian teams were dressed in blue.
The finals were between the Pakistan yellow team and India. The first eight overs saw the score for Pakistan at 114 runs, and while the second eight overs saw India chasing hard but only managing to score 90 runs, thus leaving the Pakistan team as winners by 24 runs.

Pamee wins Takraw championship after tough battle

Uraiworn Saksiri
The Sepak Takraw Pattaya Cup staged at Pattaya School No 7 on August 17 saw the Pamee 3 Team battling it out with former champions the Mab Yangporn Sub-district Administrative Organization Team from Nakhon Patom, finally winning 3:2 to take home the Princess Soamsawalee Trophy.

The Pamee 3 team manager poses with the Princess Soamsawalee Trophy.
Both teams included players from the Thailand Sepak Takraw League. The first set was close and the teams were able to defend with lively play, but the Pamee 3 Team pulled ahead, winning with a score of 21:16 to take the first set.
In the second set Pamee 3 pushed the score to 18:12, but former champions Mab Yangporn came back strongly to win the second set with a score of 18:21, tying the match at 1:1.
The two teams played a tiebreaker but that came out at 15:15, and they needed to play a deuce. Finally, Pamee proved stronger with their frontline tactics, and ended the match as champions with a score of 18:16.
The winners received the Princess Soamsawalee Trophy along with 15,000 baht whilst the former champions, as runners up, received 10,000 baht and a trophy. Third place went to the Chumpol Sattahip Naval School, which received a trophy and 6,000 baht.

The Pamee 3 and MabYangporn Sub-district Administrative Organization teams battle it out in a closely fought final.
In the Khor category, the winner was the Botun Team, which received a trophy and 10,000 baht. In the Kor category, for players with a minimum age of 35 years, the winner was the USR team, which received a trophy and 6,000 baht. In the Ngor category, for players with a minimum age of 40 years, the winner was the Air Force Team, which received a trophy and 6,000 baht
Pisai Panomwan na Ayutthaya, advisor to the mayor, handed out the prizes and officially closed the tournament.

Bobby Dazzler at Eastern Star

IPGC Pattaya Golf Society at the OK Corral

The Pattaya Golf Society’s weekly Sunday stableford competition was held at Eastern Star on August 17 and it was a joy to see the two temporary greens on the front nine now defunct as the newly seeded greens had taken shape.
The course was virtually empty yet again and the conditions were good for a tight competition.
David Thomas, Ronnie Ramsay and Peter Masters all had a share of third place with 35 points whilst, yet again, the winning score was just level par.
Rookie Bobby Shirkey’s short game was on song as he recorded 36 points and he could have been forgiven for thinking Sunday golf would be the same as in his native Scotland, where the Mams would be confined to the kitchen cooking the Sunday haggis, but not here in Thailand when the likes of Mam Morel appears and posts the same score!
Mam also recorded the first birdie ‘2’ of the day, on the third, and this was followed by David Thomas’s chipped birdie on the difficult seventeenth green for a share of the large 2’s pot. One lady who would probably have been happier with her hands in the mixture was Mod Churaiska and she received the Booby Bevy award for her low score of the day. But it had been a day when Bobby had dazzled on the course and had shared the glory briefly with Khun Mam.
Victory for the “Comeback Kids”
On Tuesday, August 19, the Pattaya Golf Society played its eagerly awaited International Pattaya Matchplay League match against The Haven at the Emerald course in Ban Chang.
Coming off the back of a fine first win against Jomtien Golf a week or so before, the team, captained by David Thomas, held high hopes of an upset victory against the pre-season favourites. Indeed, The Haven had not yet lost a match in the league.
After nine holes the ties seemed to be going to form and the Haven held a lead of six ties to one, with one all square. The Haven’s lead pair of Barry Winton and Al Keith had not yet lost a tie and the quality golfers were setting a high standard for their team-mates. But, incredibly, the PGS bit back with David Thomas taking his tie on the final hole and an out-of-form Al Keith conceding his tie five and four against Chris Voller.
The balance of the match was restored as Russell Exley took a win over Tony Thorne, three and two, and Barry Traynor, playing clinically, took out Wichai Tananusorn two down, the latter not playing a bad shot all day.
Up stepped Ken Deringer for the PGS to steal a two and one victory against Trevor Schirmer and restore the PGS lead, but Peter Masters just losing one down gave the balance back to the Haven. Roy Thornton survived from being two down very early in his tie to emerge a four and two winner against Jens Gunnarsson, leaving the final drama to be played out on the final green as Stephen Beard, needing a win to half the match for his team, missed a relatively short putt to finish all square against Evan Millar. The “comeback kids” from the OK Corral had done it and won the match by the narrowest of margins, 4½ to 3½.
Barry Traynor won the associated stableford event with 39 points, edging David Thomas and Wichai Tananusorn into runners-up with their 37-point cards. It had been a memorable day in the life of the Pattaya Golf Society.
Plantation debut for PGS
The end of the third week in August saw the birthday celebration of the PGS’s golf organiser, Mr. Len, and this year a first visit was planned to the new Plantation golf course to play a stableford better-ball pairs event over the much vaunted course.
True, the course is magnificent in its appearance, length and challenge but the staffing organisation on the day was chaotic and the words “pee-up” and “brewery” were distinctly audible as the golfers assembled to collect their caddies, bags and carts.
Eventually getting underway on the “B” and “C” nines the large field took up the cudgels, many of them playing the course for the first time. A large contingent from The Haven had joined Mr. Len in his birthday event and opponents only 24 hours before were now partners. In what other sport would that happen we wonder?
The competition was to prove very close and just missing out in fourth place was the PGS pairing of Evan Millar and Bill Quon whose 40 points fell just short of the joint runners-up Jens Gunnarsson and Ken Deringer and Chris Voller and Tony Barritt, their 41 points representing some fine golf.
The winners were the redoubtable Ban Chang pairing of “Kermit” and Harry Riley and their total of 42 points was the best of the day, helped in no small measure by the best gross figures of 78 recorded by “Kermit”.
Technical prizes had been sponsored by Len Jones, Peter Duncan, Ronnie Ramsay, Bobby Shirkey, Robert Knutsson and Mikael Andersson and near-pins went to Tony Barritt (B3), Harry Riley (B7), Barry Winton (C3) and Len Jones (C8). On the famed triple green the longest successful first putt on C4 went to Jens Gunnarsson whilst Len Jones took the prize for the longest on C9. Mikael Andersson had sponsored the best individual score with a golf bag and this was deservedly won by Ken Deringer, his 36 points being the only level par round of the day.
The Booby Bevy in the form of a pair of putting aids sponsored by Mr. Denis, went to the low scoring pair of Peter Biggs and Phil Stevenson.
At the presentation back at the OK Corral Khun Malee had come up trumps once again with a tasty buffet and the assembled golfers acknowledged the role played by the host Mr. Denis, the girls in the bar and Mary Jones, and in particular The Haven regulars and the other golfers who had made the day such an enjoyable one.

MBMG Matchplay League 2008

Monday 18 August, Burapha - Outback Golf Bar 2 v Driving Range 6
This may have been a case of underestimating one’s opponents, as the Driving Range delivered a blow in the solar plexus to the Outback Golf Bar. Jack, the Outback Golf Bar’s Matchplay captain, put three ‘newbies’ in the team, making for a good balance between the two sides, with all matches except one being played off level.
Barry Chadbourn got the home team off to a good start beating the Driving Range’s captain 2 & 1; but that was it, not another win until ‘newbie’ Peter Gibson salvaged another match, saving the Outback from complete humiliation.
Back at the ranch, after all the regular announcements and thank-you’s, the result became unimportant as the celebrations went on into the early evening. The camaraderie was fantastic, so much so, that the whole match is being replayed next Monday at the same place with the same pairings. These two sides were scheduled to meet again this month in any case but this replay will be especially exciting, with many of the Outbackers out for revenge.
Individual Results (Outback first): Barry Chadbourn won 2 & 1 Ian Hart; Bruce McAdam lost 4 & 2 David Pearston; Neil Hughes lost 6 & 4 George Robinson; Campbell Potts lost 2 & 1 John Schroder; Ray Dell lost 6 & 5 Ray Allison; Sugar Ray Hanford lost 3 & 2 Carl Lovatt; Peter Gibson won 3 & 1 Paul Challis; Jack Moseley lost 4 & 2 Allan Campbell

“Skinny” dines on 42-pointer at Pattana

PSC golf from The Bunker

Monday 18 August, Pattana - Stableford
1st “Skinny” Newton (28) 43pts
2nd Gerry Cooney (10) 38pts
3rd Tony Robbins (12) 36pts
Playing Stableford at the usually tough Pattana Golf and Sports Resort, “Skinny” Newton didn’t have any problems having one of his best rounds ever to win by a mile and scoring 43 points in the process.
Gerry Cooney, who is in the lead for the golfer of the month title, had to settle for second place with an impressive 38 points and Tony Robbins was a further two points behind to finish in third.
None of this trio took any of the technical prizes though as these went to Colin Greig, PJ Redmond, Anders Elderbrandt and Alex Kilcoyne.
Wednesday 20 August, Siam Plantation - Stableford
1st Russell Warner (22) 36pts
2nd Alexander Elderbrandt (4) n/k
3rd Bart Elderbrandt (28) n/k
The Elderbrandt family had a good day at Siam Plantation with brothers Alexander and Bart taking second and third places, but they weren’t good enough to beat Russell Warner who had a splendid round and won with 36 stableford points.
Alexander won a near pin prize too with the other three going to Reg Smart, William Macey and Colin Greig.
Friday 22 August, Khao Kheow - Stableford
1st Hugh O’Donnell (22) 31pts
2nd William Macey (11) 26pts
3rd Russell Warner (22) 26pts
Another tough course and another Stableford game came in the shape of Khao Kheow and with the grass a little longer than usual you had a hard job finding your ball even if you were only just off the fairway. If you did find your ball it was still a difficult shot to hack it towards the green. It was conditions like that on every hole and the scoring reflected this as Hugh O’Donnell won with a measly 31 points, William Macey took second place beating Russell Warner on a count back both finishing with an unimpressive 26 points. Hugh rounded off a great day for him by winning two of the near pin prizes the other two going to Geoff Cox and Reg Smart.

Copestake scores 42 points for B Flight win at Burapha

PSC golf from the Outback Golf Bar

Joey’s Column
Monday 18 August, Burapha - Stableford
Some 52 Outbackers were joined by 8 players from the Driving Range (MBMG League match) to play the A & B nines from the blue tees.

Wednesday’s winners at Mountain Shadow: Martin Todd, Suzi Lawton, Pottsy, Trudy Chadbourn, Murray Hart, Capt’ Bob & Stupid.

Benefiting from the two-tee start, Div A & C players seemed to be tamed a little by the length of the course and the tricky, grainy greens. However, Div B made the course look easy with Barry Copestake running away with it and amassing 25 points on the front nine. He faltered a little on the back, claiming he couldn’t buy a putt, but he still scored another 17 to finish on a total of 42. On 39, three points behind, was that man Rosco again who continued his recent run of form. There was a whole gaggle of guys on 38, with Graham Hiskett coming out on top of a three-way count back.
Regular Outbacker, Mike O’Brien won Div C making 35 from Heaven & Hell boss, Gary Hewson.
There were ten ‘2’s on the day from Paul Quodomine, Martin Todd, Ray Doman, Peter Allen, John Little, Paul Taylor, Chris Davisson, Bob Philp, Ian Heddle & Mike O’Brien.
Div A (0-12)
1st Eddie Smith (10) 34pts
2nd Bob Philp (7) 34pts
3rd James Brackett (6) 34pts
4th Ken Little (11) 33pts
Div B (13-18)
1st Barry Copestake (15) 42pts
2nd Rosco Langoulant (14) 39pts
3rd Graham Hiskett (13) 38pts
4th Paul Taylor (15) 38pts
Div C (19+)
1st Mike O’Brien (20) 35pts
2nd Gary Hewson (28) 33pts
3rd Tony Hill (26) 32pts
4th Peter Allen (22) 31pts
Tuesday 19 August, Phoenix - Stableford
Not very many early bird Outbackers got up this morning to play the Lake and Ocean nines.
An Australian scratch handicapper and a regular visitor to these shores, Simon Payne gave Norm Martin a good run for his money; scoring 35 points. Norm, also with 35, took it on count back on the last six, both having 19 on the back nine. Chad was a few back on 31. There were no ‘2’s today.
This week will see the last of the Phoenix early bird outings. Commencing Tuesday 9 September there will be a regular 10am slot at Green Valley in conjunction with The Golf Club.
1st Norm Martin (26) 35pts
2nd Simon Payne (0) 35pts
Wednesday, 20 August, Mountain Shadow - Stableford
On the way to Mountain Shadow it did seem as though it was going to be a thoroughly wet day, and even as the caddies prepared themselves for departure, all the bag condoms were hurriedly being donned in preparation for the rain. But, it never arrived, it was only the course that dampened the 22 Outbackers that came this day; only the course that once again taught everybody whose boss, only the course that sorted out those who can’t putt from those that thought they could.
Three players in Div B managed the best score of the day of 33 points, and Pottsy was beaten into third place on count back by the only two ladies in the field: Suzi Lawton (2nd) and Trudy Chadbourn (1st). Well done girls, taught the boys a lesson again!
As for Div A, well there’s absolutely nothing to report and the less said the better. What a disgrace, only one player managing 30 points. Congrats Murray!
There were two ‘2’s today from Suzi Lawton & Bob Pearce.
Div A (0-17)
1st Murray Hart (16) 30pts
2nd Martin Todd (6) 29pts
3rd Bob Philp (7) 28pts
Div B (19+)
1st Trudy Chadbourn (27) 33pts
2nd Suzi Lawton (20) 33pts
3rd Campbell Potts (19) 33pts
Friday, 22 August, Siam Plantation - Stableford
The greens of Tapioca & Sugarcane were made harder today in that they were not quite so slick as usual. It was easy to leave a downhill putt short of the hole, with another difficult downhiller to follow. The fairways were once again immaculate as the caddies scurried around between cart & golfer with bundles of clubs, picking up every last piece of scattered turf and repairing the divot with coloured sand.
It was a brisk round on a steamy hot day, less than four hours in most cases, on a truly wonderful course with its spectacular views.
Needless to say, of the 26 Outbackers that tackled the course, nobody got the better of it. Div B faired better than Div A, with Rosco, the top scorer of the day making a fighting 34 points. Martin Todd topped the premier division with 32, from David Thomas and Neil Vardy, who playing off a +1 handicap completed his round totally exhausted, having only arrived the previous night.
There were three ‘2’s coming from Paul Greenaway & Briany Christie had two (and apparently, not a lot else!)
Div A (0–10)
1st Martin Todd (6) 32pts
2nd David Thomas (5) 30pts
3rd Neil Vardy (1) 28pts
Div B (11+)
1st Rosco Langoulant (13) 34pts
2nd Sid Ottaway (24) 31pts
3rd Bob Lindborg (16) 30pts
Friday, 22 August, The Emerald - Stableford
13 Outbackers took to the alternate Friday course, which this week was Emerald. Murray Hart shone here with an excellent 39 points (his second win of the week), from Bruce McAdam (still in his comfort zone) on 38 and Peter Gibson in third with 35.
There was only one ‘2’ from Mike O’Brien.
1st Murray Hart (16) 39pts
2nd Bruce McAdam (20) 38pts
3rd Peter Gibson (27) 35pts
4th David Evans (14) 34pts
5th Sugar Ray Hanford (18) 34pts
Note: On Monday 1st & Wednesday 3rd September, the Outback Golf Bar will host their first anniversary, two-day 36-hole stroke competition at Burapha. This is a full handicap competition open to men and ladies, the overall winner of which will receive the Outbacker Decanter.
In addition to the two-day stroke tournament, there will also be a daily competition with the usual divisions, and an overall stableford competition for those of you who fail to make the cut.
The Outback Golf Bar is situated about 6km from Sukhumvit Road along Soi Siam Country. All are welcome to come and join us for a beer and a hit. Just call in and put your name down on the list or give Bob a call on 087 941 2474. Our Bus Trip this month is to Royal Lakeside on Weds 27 August. More information can be found on our website www.outbackgolfbar.com

Plath finds the winning formula

PSC golf from The Café Kronborg

Derek Brook
Thursday, 14 August, Pattana – Stableford
The Pattana Sports Club A & B Nines were the host for a stableford competition in two flights with the cut at handicap 20. The course on the day was in fine shape with a new ‘Monday Special’ being offered at 990 Baht for Green Fee and a 100 baht voucher for food.

Dave (left) presents the Monthly Mug for August to Bill Plath.

Ted Morris took the A Flight with 36 points, Marcus Inuzuka was second with 35 points and Bill Plath came third with 34 points. In the B Flight the winner was Hugh O’Donnell with the best of the day, 39 points, Norm Martin was second with 33 points and in third was Daryl Evans with 32 points.
Monday, 18 August, Siam Plantation – Stableford
We visited the Siam Plantation B & C layouts for the first time and to get accustomed to the course we played a two-ball better ball. This course has to be one of the best conditioned anywhere and was a pleasure to play.
Taking first place was the team of Bill Plath and Kris Kritsamanjooth with 42 points, second were Mike Winfield and Martyn Topham with 40 points and in third was the pairing of Walter Bachli and Hugh O’Donnel with 39 points
We will back at the Plantation on Monday 15 September, format to be decided at a later date. Just another reminder the next Pattaya Sports Club Members will be at Laem Chabang International Golf Club on Friday The 12 September, with a better rate than any other Friday Popular Venue.
Thursday, 22 August, Phoenix - Monthly Mug
In the words of the famous saviour of the ‘Human Race’ when he sacrificed his life and drove his plane into the Alien Spaceship, ‘I’m Baaaack’. Well not quite as the sleep problem coming this way is still big, and truth is I slept in for this one. Still Dave was in the chair and why should I worry? He may be a new boy but he will soon learn!
So off they went and as usual Phoenix was in pretty good condition, with a fairly strong wind that ensured scores would not be too good. Also playing Lakes and Ocean is not a favourite 18 holes, but still a little easier than Mountain and Lakes.
Back at the Cafe Kronborg it was noticeable that several potential winners had not returned because they thought their scores were not good enough. Well they were wrong, and it seems that the bringing into line of handicaps is working and net 72 is a winning score.
So I will not put down the net scores of some flight winners because some of the actual winners were not there. Also it is to save some red faces, not of the winners but just think of those who were not even mentioned.
The winner of the A Flight, 0 to 17, was Per Olaf Baarli, with John Naponic in second and Kris Kritsmanjooth third. Incidentally we have declared John as having the biggest feet ever to play at The Cafe Kronborg (if feet actually play). Size 22/23 for those interested.
In the B Flight the winner was Peter Basi, actually with a not bad net 72, ahead of Dave Richardson in second with also a not too bad net 74 and just ahead of John Morel with an also passable net 75.
So to the winner of the Mug, and with his replaced hip seemingly working well Bill Plath scored a net 71. Well done Bill and Hip Hip Okay! T.T.F.N.

Warberg storms through for Greenwood win

PSC golf from Tropical Bert’s

Tuesday’s winners gather back at Bert’s.

Perry McNeely
Tuesday 19 August, Greenwood – Stableford
As we met at Bert’s to have our customary breakfast, before heading to the golf course, the sky appeared to be our enemy, as it looked very dark in the direction we were heading. We were all sure that this day would be a wet one. However, to our pleasant surprise, the rain held off and we played a very delightful round of golf under the overcast skies, with the gentle breezes to help keep us cool.
We arrived early for our 10 a.m. tee off, and were happy to see that Greenwood had a very nice special price for us that day of 1,050 baht all-inclusive for green fee, caddy fee, and a golf cart. This was looking like every thing was going to go our way that day.
We quickly were out of the locker room and off to find our caddy and clubs. Again, to our good luck, there was no one ahead of us and we could tee off early. This was all too good to be true. Surely some bad scores had to follow, but to our surprise the course was delivering some excellent scores, at least on the front side.
Steve Hampstad made the turn with a super score of 24 points on the “B” layout, followed by yours truly with 23 points, and the ever-cunning Anders Pedersen, with a fine 21 points in his pocket. This was looking like it was going to be a remarkable day for great scores because the white tees were placed way up front and everyone seemed to be hitting the ball sweetly.
Sad to say, the inward “C” Nine was not as friendly, and it more or less destroyed all hopes for that elusive 45-50 super round. Steve struggled in with a disappointing 14 points, myself with 15, as well as Anders with 16. What had happened to the magic from the front side? But one man’s loss is another man’s gain, and Dick Warberg lit it up on the back side, and was able to leave the leaders in the dust with a fine 20 points. Well done Dick!
After our showers and change of clothes, we all headed back to the friendly confines of Bert’s, but some were still scratching their heads and asking, ‘what the bleep happened to our great beginnings?’ Anyway, now to the presentation.
In first place as mentioned was Dick Warberg with a fine 39 points, second spot went to yours truly on count back with 38 points over Steve Hampstad, whilst in fourth was Anders Pedersen with 37 points and in fifth place, winning on count back over Mashi Kaueta, was Frank Pilkington.
Near Pins: Les Burns, Perry McNeely, Badger.
Long Putts: Perry McNeely and Mashi Kaueta.

Montana moves into first

Pattaya Sports Club Friday Bowling League

200 Bowlers: La, Leo, Dang, Wade, Nok, Jon & Mai.

Montana took all four points from Café Kronborg and moved into first place, knocking Café Kronborg down to second. The lanes were tough in this match with only Kran able to bowl over a 500 series.
Tui bowled a 511 series to lead VFW Post 9876 to a three-point win over Montgomery and her team remains in third place. Café Ole moved into fourth place after taking all four points from Sala Thai Restaurant. P.K. bowled a 228 game, 532 series with Pao and Somrak also bowling over 500 for Café Ole.
Dang bowled a 204 game, 518 series to lead Jack Tar to a three-point win over Bavaria. Leo rolled a 203 game and 524 series for Bavaria. Nok bowled a 514 series to help her SaBai SaBai Friday team to a three-point win over Brother D. Antero bowled a 515 series for Brother D.
House of the Golden Coin and Canada split their match at two-two. Barry bowled a 552 series and Jon had a 212 game, 521 series for Golden Coin. Joe knocked down 545 pins and Ooy 525 for Canada.

The Mechanic cans an ‘Ace’ at Green Valley

IPGC golf from Lewiinski’s

Sunday, 10 August - Green Valley - Stableford
A Flight
1st Ian Grout (11) 40pts
2nd Joe Mcardle (12) 40pts
B Flight
1st Geoff Doody (20) 37pts
2nd Alec Hoare (17) 37pts
Near Pins: # 2 Mike Craighead; #9 Kris K; #12 Roy Thornton; #16 Pete Emslie.
2’s: Seven 2’s but Mike sorted them out.

Mike “The Mechanic” Craighead fired a hole-in-one at Green Valley.

Hidden Six winners: 1st Ian Halfpenny, 2nd Kris K
A smaller group than usual took to the road for our normal Sunday romp. It was back to customer-friendly Green Valley.
Three golfers carded 40 points each in the senior flight, so it was down to a count back. Winning the flight was Ian “gizz a fag” Grout, by the slenderest of margins over Co Monahan’s Joe Mcardle; the unlucky third contestant was Michael Anderson.
The junior flight was also a very tight affair; Geoff Doody taking fist place over Dublin’s Alec Hoare, both on 37 points each.
The day however belonged to Mike the Mechanic making his fourth career ‘Ace’. This was achieved in the most unusual manner. Mike hit his shot onto the green, as he neared the green he noticed the flag on the pole had slipped down over the hole, and Mike’s ball was sitting in the hole on top of the flag. The caddie was naturally over the moon, as she did not have to clean the ball.
Monday 19 August, St Andrews - Stableford
A Flight
1st John Feehan (14) 45pts
2nd Joe Tynan (27) 33pts
2’s: John Feehan, Peter Ring.
A small group of our Irish contingent ventured to play St Andrews. The day was very hot and humid, but not as hot as Irishman John Feehan. John failed to score on the first hole after hitting the wrong ball, but he did not let this bother him (now there’s a lesson there for all golfers!). He carried on with his game and accumulated an amazing 45 points to win the game by twelve shots over the Co Wicklow man, Joe Tynan. Joe was just as happy however, as he was playing in A Flight for the first time.
Wednesday 20 August, Bangpra - Stableford
1st Kris K (6) 38pts
2nd Jim Brackett (6) 37pts
3rd Ray Doman (17) 33pts
Another mad hot day at Bangpra and a fair group of fourteen players were welcomed by the management, and the resident monkeys.
Winning the day was the inform Kris K with a splendid 38 points, followed in by ‘Big’ Jim Brackett on a good 37 points while third spot was filled by Ray Doman with 33 points
No 2s were carded so rollover to follow on Friday.
Friday 22 August, The Emerald - Stableford
A Flight
1st Joe Tynan (27) 31pts
2nd Peter Ring (19) 29pts
With most of the Lewiinski’s golfers away at Soi Dao it was left to five die hards to battle it out at the Emerald.
Winning the game in fine style was the evergreen Irish man, Joe Tynan with 31 points while Peter Ring was runner up with 29 points.
Note: Lewiinski’s is situated on Pattaya Land Soi 1, Beach Road Soi 13/3 near to Walking Street. Anyone wishing to play with us just pop in and add your name to the list or call Colin on 089 826 0764. Transport is provided.

The Square Ring: by Howie Reed

The Games of the 29th Olympiad have concluded. Those that have chosen to dine on the Olympic feast have had their fill and then some. While the event is over and will soon be forgotten, hopefully the sour taste that should have been left in every sportsman’s mouth will remain forever.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC), and the international sports federations that populate its body, should be cooked in a cauldron of boiling oil with just a touch of basil and a little oregano. When all the life has been extruded the remains should be tossed out like last week’s newspaper.
Any man, women or child who has ever engaged in any form of sport; no cat kicking is not yet an Olympic sport, ought to be filled with outrage how a bunch of incompetent and dishonest boobs have corrupted the name sport. They have ruined more lives than Stalin, Hitler and Hussein (Saddam not Barry) put together. Athletes train their entire lives for the chance to compete at the Olympic games. They give everything they’ve got but fail, not because of ability or effort, but because of a judge or an official’s preordained agenda.
The IOC and its’ member federations make boxing promoters and all the sanctioning organizations, be they WBC, WBA, WBO, IBF or RSVP look like choir boys and girls. When it comes to lying, cheating, corruption and dishonesty the boxing hierarchy are pikers when compared to “international sport.”
No greater example of this can be found than the Chinese women’s gymnastic teams whose motto is, “Too old work bar - do gymnastics”, where children were exploited while the IOC looked on with a wink and a nod, supported by a blind eye. That aside it was a great show.
Olympic boxing stuff
In general the scoring for boxing in the Olympics was horrid. One of the spokesmen for the sport said, “We get it right probably 95% of the time.” That means that the results of 30 of the 624 Olympic matches were wrong. In any sport that’s unacceptable.
Romanian boxing executive and technical delegate Rudi Obreja called a press conference between Friday’s semi final bouts. At that press conference he alleged “improprieties” in the process used to give refereeing and judging assignments as well as a litany of lurid allegations against AIBA and its officials. Mr. Obreja was promptly suspended.
Discipline committee member and spokesperson Tom Virgets said, “We know that the scoring system needs reform, and AIBA are committed to making these reforms over the next year or two.” TSR will add, “and the cow jumped over the moon.”
TSR humbly suggest the following changes: Get rid of the headgear as at lighter weights the boxers look more like billy goats than boxers. Safety? Many believe that headgear rather than promote safety does just the opposite. It gives the boxers not only a bigger hitting area but also a false sense of security.
Also forget all the crap about what is or is not a “real punch.” A punch is a punch. A good judge knows it when he or she sees it. Use three judges and score the fight on the 10-point must system - with a bonus for a knockdown. That’s it guys. Next?
Results - Thailand
Thailand only copped one gold this time around as Amnat Ruenroeng and Wompoi Petchkoom went out in the semi finals and took bronze. Manus “The Entertainer” Boonjumnong got into the final but lost to Felix Diaz of the Dominican Republic. In truth Manus was lucky to get the silver as he didn’t do anything but hold for 8 minutes in his semi final win against Ronjel Glesias Sotolongo of Cuba. Of course it was against Cuba so no problemo.
Somjit Jongjohor was the only Thai boxer to win the gold. He dominated his last three bouts 8-1, 7-1 and the final 8-2. All hail Somjit and bring on the cash reward. He said before the finals that he was fighting for The King. He did good.
There are two boxers you really have to feel sorry for. Alexis Vastine from France was ahead of Felix Diaz of the Dominican Republic by 2 points with under 1 minute to go. This despite the fact that Diaz was hanging on to Vastine like a Teelock to her Teelocker the day the retirement check comes in. Then ‘out of the blue’ Filipino referee Rogelio Fortaleza warned Vastine for holding, which included a 2-point penalty.
Now down by 1, Vastine battled back against the octopus like tactics of Vastine to pull even. With just seconds to go Fortaleza stepped in again with another warning against Vastine and another 2-point penalty. Vastine lost 12-10. Toss Fortaleza in that boiling cauldron.
Then there’s the case of poor old Paddy Barnes of Ireland. The results will show that he lost to Shiming Zou of China 15-0. What the results won’t show is that Barnes was down 1-0 near the end of the first 2-minute round. He landed a right hand that knocked Zou back two feet. Zou got credited with a punch. Early in the second round Barnes again connected with a solid right hand and no point. As Teddy Atlas said, “Barnes knew he was facing a world champion - what he didn’t know was that he’d be down 5-0 before he left the dressing room.”
The saga of
‘Joltin Joe’
Back in the day, Old Bill Shakespeare wrote: “Me thinks the lady doth protest too much.” As both Square Ring readers know, that’s from Hamlet, Act. 3 - Scene 2.
As TSR has no problem stealing from anyone it is written in the day, “Me thinks he doth protest too much.” The ‘he’ in this case is ‘Joltin Joe’ Calzaghe. Seems old Joe has been taking some stick for dodging Kelly Pavlik and instead choosing to face a fading Roy Jones jr. in a meaningless fight.
Now ‘rewriting history’ Calzaghe claims that he tried twice to make a fight with Pavlik. He told Wales Online: “We actually tried to get Pavlik after the Jeff Lacy fight and he declined. We asked him again after he won the middleweight title and he declined again. So it’s funny how people come knocking on your door when you decide to fight someone else. I think he is just trying to get publicity off the back of me, which is something lots of fighters try to do.”
Old “Pity Pat” Joe is spot on. Yeah right, Pavlik needs “Pity Pat Joe” for publicity. Oh by the way, Calgazhe also says that he beat (he did) Kessler who is better than Pavlik. When pigs fly!
Dave Stewart retires
Good guy and pal of The Square Ring, Dave Stewart, has retired from professional boxing after a career of 22-2. The very likeable Scott had notified TSR of his intention with the caveat that the news be withheld until the official announcement. That came last week in a letter to the press.
Stewart’s two losses came in lightweight title matches against stablemate Lee Meager (6th round TKO) and Jonathan Thaxton (12th round TKO). In 24 fights Stewart was never knocked out which is a tribute to his fighting heart, guts and determination.
After his loss to Thaxton, Stewart had two more winning fights. He accepted an offer to fight Amir Khan on TV on September 6 but when he was replaced Stewart pulled the plug on his boxing career. In his gracious farewell letter Stewart writes, “It was a great experience and I’ve no regrets.”
One who knows him well is Pattaya’s Sir Frog. Upon hearing of the retirement he wrote, “Sad to hear buddy, but it’s an important decision you make by yourself. A boxer feels when it’s ending, better to stop in the glory than beaten up in a corner. You have nothing more to prove. You are one of the good ones. Your friend, Patrick.”
Three-Dot Lounge
“How you doing Mr. Dunahay? Your usual? Your pal Bangkok Bill was in yesterday. Nice fellow, only had one drink, said he’d been watching the Olympics on NBC, was really steamed. Said the coverage was delayed so long that he saw Evander Holyfield DQ against Kiwi Kevin Barry… No, I didn’t know that. Barry didn’t show up for his gold medal match against Anton Josipovic of Yugoslavia? Is that the same Kevin Barry that trained and managed David Tua and did a runner with Tua’s money? …Go figure Mr. Dunahay.
“No, not much Olympic business. Most of the folks seem to be going down the street to watch it on the High Distraction TV. Yeah they got dancing girls there.
“So what’s with this De La Hoya-Pacquiao deal? You think it’s just a lot of posturing? Me too. You know I think Pacquiao’s just a little too small and Oscar too big. Someone said that if the fight did 2 million PPV buys, Pacquiao would make 14 million dollars. Never been a fight sell that much, has there? Didn’t think so. Just heard that De La Hoya has upped the ante for Manny to 33%. Yeah Mr. Dunahay, I’m getting tired of all this BS also…
“What’d hear about Ricky Hatton fighting Amir Khan at Wembley next summer? Not much huh? I read where boxing writer Mark Vester wrote that Hatton told the Bolton News that he’d take the fight at a drop of the hat. Yeah, Hatton did say the same thing about fighting De La Hoya. Hit ya again? No? Ok good to see ya Mr. Dunahay. Have a good day.”
Jeeves Time
“This Saturday in Germany John Ruiz (43-7-10 will make an effort to defeat Ruskie Nikplai Valuev (48-1) for the vacant WBA heavyweight title. The fight will be held in Berlin with the Lord and Master saying that it’s payback to the German people because they stopped making the VW Bug.
“These two met in the ring a couple of years ago with Valuev getting a so called ‘controversial split decision.’ Actually it was a majority decision which Ruiz says, ‘I beat him the first time but they gave him the decision.’
“Whenever Ruiz speaks one has the feeling that they’re out to toss him a nice brae and maybe a Ritz cracker to go with the whine. Along with the fine vintage Ruiz whine, he does come up with some pearls. ‘I heard that Valuev has been swimming to train for our fight. Good. He’s going to need that because I’m taking him into deep water before knocking the giant out. Tiiiimmmmbeerrr!’
“Your Lordship, as I prepare you liquid for our attitude adjustment time and fire up a tobacco stick, maybe you can answer the following question from A Chicago Kid. ‘Define a chorus line at Tim’s Bar Beer. I didn’t know they provided that musical feature.’”
“Easy to do Jeeves, but first I want the world to know that you donated 2,000 Baht to the Jesters Kids Fund. You’re a good man Jeeves. The chorus line at Tim’s Bar Beer is an every changing event. It starts out with the dancers performing like your average Thai lady halfway through the first day of Songkran. As the evening wears on and beverages are consumed, they get better and better. By evening’s end in the early morning hours you have the London Ballet.”

Simon Payne slots a 68

IPGC golf from The Haven

Monday, August 18, Lakeside - Stroke Play
1st B.J. Smith net 69
2nd Tony Barritt net 72
3rd Rod Howett net 73
4th Peter Biggs net 73
5th Derek Holt net 76
A depleted field made the drive up the motorway to the wide-open Lakeside layout with the competition to be decided as a stroke play. There was a very welcome lack of insects, which added greatly to the day’s pleasure and surely would have meant a larger group if this fact had been known ahead of time.
B.J. Smith took full advantage of the generous fairways and greens to record his best score for a little while and stride in three shots clear of the chasing pack. This was led by Tony Barritt at level par, followed by the in-form Rod Howett, who just scraped in ahead of Peter Biggs by one shot on the count back at one-under his handicap on the inward half. Derek Holt was the last player to get a mention with his battling four-over.
There were no 2’s in either division.
Tuesday, August 19, The Emerald - International Pattaya Match Play League v OK Corral
Needing to win to keep alive their unbeaten run and their aspirations of the league win, The Haven’s top two, Barry Winton and Al Keith, both went down for the first time in the competition, which immediately put the pressure on the second group consisting of Russell Exley and Barry Traynor. Both Russell and Barry responded well to win their matches and with Trevor Schirmer losing and Tony Barritt winning, the match was finely poised and would be determined on the outcome of the last two pairings. Jens Gunnarsson lost and all depended on Stephen Beard who missed a two-footer on the last to draw and lose the match by a half instead of a win. More details on the match can be found in the OK Corral write-up this week. Final score OK Corral 4.5 - The Haven 3.5.
Individual results (OK names first): Dave Thomas (5) won 1 up v. Barry Winton (4); Chris Voller (8) won 5 & 4 v. Al Keith (5); Tony Thorne (9) lost 3 & 2 v. Russell Exley (9); Wichai Tananusorn (10) lost 2 down v. Barry Traynor (10); Ken Deringer (12) won 2 & 1 v. Trevor Schirmer (12); Peter Masters (13) lost 1 down v. Tony Barritt (12); Roy Thornton (14) w 4 & 2 v. Jens Gunnarsson (13); Evan Millar (25) drew v. Stephen Beard (20)
Friday, August 22, Khao Kheow - Stableford
1st Simon Payne 40pts
2nd Brian Libbey 39pts
3rd Barry Winton 37pts
4th Rod Howett 37pts
5th Al Keith 36pts
6th Chris Knapp 34pts
Going back to Khao Kheow was a pleasant surprise, as the management had acted on comments made following the IPGC Championship that the fairways were far too narrow, being only 18 yards wide on some holes and added to the lack of a first cut of rough it was making the course more difficult than the average touring professional has to face on any of the world tours. There is now a first cut of rough but most of the fairways are still quite narrow, but at least now a two-yard too long drive can be found and played.
Simon Payne, as a teacher of golf, was perhaps the best suited to playing a tight course with almost zero run following heavy overnight rain, and proved the point with an outstanding gross 68 - even taking a double bogey on the last after a trip into the water on B9 - and he took the day’s top prize by one from the returning Brian Libbey, who himself spent most of the day muscling it out of the deeper stuff but still manged to return a very good card.
Barry Winton, another player with the credentials to deal with the conditions, was once again to be found in contention after his recent lapse in the matchplay competition, with another score under his handicap.
Rod Howett, who is almost a certainty to get onto the podium when he tees it up, didn’t disappoint with another placing ahead of Al Keith with Chris Knapp in the final mention spot.
The day was also the semi finals of the Haven Matchplay Knockout, with Al Keith playing B.J. Smith and Jens Gunnarsson playing Tony Barritt.
Al managed to overcome B.J. even after giving away 16 shots. He was fortunate to find that B.J. had left his “A game” in the locker and leapt out to a commanding lead after six holes and was never really tested until he ran out the winner 4 & 3.
Tony had a much harder hurdle in Jens, even allowing for Jens’s slip in the League Match earlier in the week but with his new approach to putting he was able to apply the pressure until closing out the match on the 16th.
This now sets up an intriguing final with Al having to give Tony seven shots at Greenwood on Wednesday, and Al seeking to make it a family affair after his wife La won last month’s competition.
Rod Howett slipped in the only ‘2’ in the second division but there was scant reward in the first division as Jens Gunnarsson, Chris Voller, Tony Barritt (now putting left handed), Simon Payne, Russell Exley, Brian Libbey all had one each and Barry Winton had two.
Before presenting the prizes The Doc welcomed new member Simon Payne, the teaching professional at the Sharjah Golf Club, and also welcomed back Brian Libbey and Michael Dinsdale.

Tough Khao Kheow takes no prisoners

The Beautiful Game?: Bye Bye Berba?

Riz Taylor
This weekend sees another round of Premier League fixtures, which I’m sure you’re all excited about and which I’ll discuss later, but Sunday and Monday also herald the end of the European summer transfer window. For once, and I find it hard to believe I’m writing this, I’ll be absolutely delighted to see the back of it.
Perhaps those suits that shuffle around the dark halls of UEFA were onto something when they enforced the ruling that European clubs must adhere to an agreed period in which to conduct signings. Initially I was against it, but now, several years down the line, I’m man enough to admit that I might – might – have been wrong.
This summer will surely be remembered as that of the protracted transfer rumour that never came to fruition. First up was Ronaldo’s move to Real Madrid, the rumours of which hit the newspapers before the champagne had stopped flowing after Manchester United’s European Champions League victory over Chelsea. Week after week after endless, painful week the Portuguese playmaker was splattered across the back pages as speculation reached boiling point. By the time it was announced that he’d be staying I’m sure I’m not the only one who could barely have cared any less.
Emmanuel Adebayor was moving to Barcelona, we were told. The Spanish giants were looking for a frontman to replace the outgoing Samuel Et’oo, who’d probably be joining one or other of the London clubs willing to mortgage themselves to the eyeballs to pay his outrageous wages.
Chelsea fans feared for their side’s future as Frank Lampard was moving to Inter, we were told. Incoming manager Jose Mourinho wanted to bring in his former teacher’s pet to add a different dimension to the Milan side, and presumably some badly struck penalties and a few lucky deflected goals to boot.
And yet despite the speculation none of the above transfers materialised. Two were settled with a tasty pay rise for the man at the centre, and the other looks likely to happen in twelve months time.
Everyone likes to blame footballer’s agents for this tripe, but it’s the newspapers I’m holding to account. The agent is merely doing his job by drumming up interest in a player in order to secure a new contract from a desperate employer, but just why do the newspapers continue to fall for it?
Then there was Gareth Barry. The England midfielder was desperate to link up with Steven Gerrard at Liverpool and was the top priority of manager Rafa Benitez. Barry didn’t get his wish and resorted to throwing his toys around, but Martin O’Neill wouldn’t budge on a price of 18 million pounds. Liverpool blinked, and that was the end of that.
Whilst there’s an obvious trend here, it should be noted that a number of transfers have gone through. Fulham have done a lot of business that included taking Andy Johnson from Everton, and Sunderland have signed just about everyone that owns a pair of boots. Tottenham have also gone bananas and picked up the exciting Luka Modric, amongst others.
But it’s an outgoing Spurs transfer that now dominates the headlines. Writing this on Monday evening, I’m hoping Manchester United have finally captured the ‘services’ of Spurs striker Dimitar Berbatov by the time you’ve eagerly rushed out and purchased your Pattaya Mail and are reading this at the weekend.
You’d be entitled to ask why. It’s not as though United desperately need the ability of the mercurial chain-smoking Bulgarian if they’re to stand any chance of winning a trophy this year. They are, after all, the Premier League and European champions and have quality footballers right the way through their expensively-assembled squad. What difference would another make?
Well I can’t answer that, but what I can tell you is that I’m hoping for one or other of the big moves to actually come to fruition, otherwise I’ve just spent two months being conned by newspaper editors and football agents. Again.
This weekend
No club football next week as the World Cup qualifiers will take centre stage, so Premier League fans should gorge themselves while the going is good. Hull City will hope to continue their fabulous start to the season by beating Wigan Athletic on Saturday, who themselves are without a point after being beaten by wonder goals from West Ham’s Dean Ashton and Chelsea’s new signing Deco. Also in the 3pm kick-offs are Bolton against West Brom and the glamour tie of Stoke City, fresh from a win over Aston Villa, away at Middlesbrough, and most likely to feature on your televisions will be Everton taking on Portsmouth. I’m backing the Toffees to win that one 2-0.
And that’s not all. Sunday kicks off with Chelsea at home to Tottenham in a game that’s usually worth ninety minutes of you time. Spurs have got off to a shocking start and nobody wants to be headed to Stamford Bridge in hope of their first points of the season. After a frantic start and a possible Tottenham opener Chelsea should comfortably beat their London rivals.
Roy Keane comes up against former teammate Mark Hughes at the Stadium of Light as Sunderland host Manchester City in what could be a tasty one, and for dessert it’s Liverpool away at Aston Villa.

‘Birdie Boys’ on song at Green Valley

The 3rd Annual Caddyshack Scramble

Wednesday, August 20 marked the occasion of the 3rd annual Caddyshack 4-Ball Texas Scramble, which this year took place at the splendid Green Valley. It has to be said the course was in great shape and the weather was also very kind to us with some light breezes and some clouds to block the sun on occasions. All tee times went off virtually on time with only two golfers going to the wrong course.
With 64 golfers this was going to be a day where long putts and accurate approach shots were a must. The first near pin was sponsored by Nick the Pizza and was won by Emmet White with a six-foot putt left which he sunk for a birdie. The second par 3 was sponsored by The WKD drink, or pronounced wicked in most pubs, the winner was won by the lowest handicapper in the field known as Briany Christie. The third nearest the pin was sponsored by The Caddyshack itself and this was won by Dene Airey, and the last one was won by Owen Walkley.
There was a ‘nearest the keg’ award on offer which was sponsored by John Smiths, this was a much sought after prize and was fiercely played for with Daisy May coming out the eventual winner. The men’s longest drive had many names on it but the eventual winner was the big-hitting Briany Christie who walked away with a case of WKD. With a few lady golfers in the field they contested their own long drive with Mod Churiaksa winning.
The main contest was a great battle with the team of K. Mackintosh, Alan Duffas, Owen Walkley and J. Mackintosh scoring 9 birdies with no dropped shots to post a score of 58.1 to finish in 4th place. Just ahead of them was the team of Geoff King, Ian Halfpenny, Dene Airey and Norman Best with ten birdies but a costly bogey on the 13th hole to give them 57 for 3rd place. The team of Graham Beaumont, Graham Dietrich, Richard Steadman and Rich Montana must have thought it was their day starting with five birdies after five holes and eventually tallying 12 birdies in total with no dropped shots, but their score of 55.9 net was only good enough for 2nd place. The team of Roy Thornton, Mikael Andersson, Jeremy Masse and Barry Traynor, known as the ‘Birdie Boys’ managed to put together 11 birdies and an incredible eagle on the 14th to give them a net total of 54.7 and take the win.
Back at The Caddyshack there was a great buffet and live music played until late. The Caddyshack would like to thank you all for making this event a success, and also special thanks go out to our sponsors of WKD, Nick The Pizza and John Smiths.

Murphy still leader of the pack

PSC golf from The Three Sisters Bar

Only the brave and optimistic drove to the Pattaya Country Club on the early morning of 19 Aug as a light persistent rain fell. Even as the men were signing up the rain continued. But as the first challenger teed off, the rain stopped and a pleasant day was enjoyed by all - that is until the scorecards came in. Apparently Mother Nature got her revenge by kidnapping errant balls, dropping more than a few into her ponds and otherwise keeping scores very low.

Tuesday winner Dale Murphy (left) with third placed Herbie Ishinage.

Even champion Dale Murphy, who last week topped the board with a 45 points, could only drag himself in with 35 on this day. It was still good enough to take first place however, with Bill Key taking second with 32 points. Bill didn’t hang around for picture taking so picture honors went to Herbie Ishinage who had a 31.
Unfortunately the rest of the field, including big hitters such as Bob Benda, Sus Ige and Paul Kraft came in with scores they would rather not talk about.

The League of Legends … It’s over for now

Howie Reed
The Betfred sponsored ‘League of Legends’ concluded year one with Bob Anderson being crowned King of the Legends. Anderson gained the crown along with a nifty £15,000 when he defeated Keith Deller 10-4 last Friday night at the Purfleet Circus Tavern.
Anderson had been the clear favorite to win the title from day one so the victory didn’t disappoint those that backed him. During the 7 weeks of round-robin play Anderson had a clean slate, but his three 6-6 draws did raise some questions. Those questions were answered with a responding “No problemo.”
Semi Final 1
Anderson-Evison
Both semi finals matches were replays of the opening night’s play. On that night Bob Anderson was down to Peter Evison 5-1 but he would come back for a much needed 6-6 draw. Last Friday night at the same venue Anderson got off the “oche’” to lead 5-4 and when he extended that lead to 6-4 against the darts he hardly looked back.

“Cowboy” Bob Anderson was the winner of the inaugural Betfred “League of Legends” darts tournament at the Purfleet Circus Tavern in England last Friday, August 22, 2008. (Photo courtesy Betfred.com)

Anderson tossed a T80 which contributed to a 7-4 lead. The players then traded wins which had the 60-year old Anderson up 8-5. Evison, who had complained that he wasn’t playing up to par certainly was in leg 14. He made 141 go bye-bye with a treble 20, treble 15 and double 18. In the next leg Evison had hopes of moving back in the match but couldn’t make 142 go the way of the good 5-cent cigar.
“If I had taken out the 142 I would have been back in the match without a doubt,” said Evison later. Missing double 18 for the win Anderson did get the double 9 and a spot in the finals.
Semo Final 2
Deller-Lazarenko
In week one Keith Deller played “Big” Cliff Lazarenko in the first match of the League of Legends. On that night Deller raced out to a 5-2 lead but Lazarenko raced back to close the gap to 6-5. “Big” Cliff had a chance to get the draw when he used a 180 to set up double tops for the tie. He missed, giving Deller the 7-5 win.
This time Deller had a 5-1 lead which he built after they shared legs 1 and 2. That lead shrunk to 5-4 when Lazarenko played some quality darts that has been his trademark during the Legends. Once he got to 5-4 the wheels fell off the ‘vehicle Lazarenko’ due in no small part to some stellar play from Deller.
The loquacious Lazarenko best described his 9-4 loss: ‘I knew Keith would come out with all guns blazing. He took command early, I missed a few doubles and I started to get frustrated. I didn’t really let myself flow. At the start of the tournament I really made a goal of getting into the top four and I made it. And against Keith I gave it everything I had.
“I’m not really disappointed but I am upset with my performance. Yet with the players we have and the support of Betfred, who knows where the League of Legends will take us. It wasn’t my year this year, but maybe it will be next year.”
The Main Event
If the crowd at Purfleet’s Circus Tavern were looking forward to a “wing ding drag’em out slam bang” final to the League of Legends they probably were disappointed. If not for the fact that it was the final it could be termed a 10-4 laugher in favor of the “Limestone Cowboy.”
When they met in league play Anderson took the match 7-3 scoring 30.00 per dart. After that game Deller said: “I’m going to have to play better to beat Bob Anderson.” One wonders if Deller said the same thing in the 30-minute break he had after gaining the final with his win over Lazarenko.
Against Lazarenko, Deller’s inability to score had to be a major concern. Even though Deller beat Cliff he scored only 26.15 per dart, which wouldn’t be competitive against Anderson.
Anderson started off the final like the great player he is by winning the first 4 legs on the trot, highlighted by lots of scoring (30.62) and “fast” finishes. That is after all what the game’s all about.
“In the first six legs everything went to plan for Bob,” said Deller the 48-year-old from Suffolk. “That was the form of someone who could be ranked in the top 16 in the world. His first six legs were absolutely fantastic.”
Anderson, always the gentleman, explained, “I was particularly delighted with the way I played in the semi-final to get past Peter Evison. He is a tough nut to crack. Keith had just had a tough game against Cliff and I’d had a rest so maybe that explains why I started as well as I did. But to play against these guys on a regular basis again has been fantastic. It’s really woken me up and told me I can still do it and be up there and compete. At the age of nearly 61 I’m very pleased to be in the League of Legends and I’m looking forward to next year.”
Deller stated the obvious that he had, “simply been outplayed by a better opponent.” His runner up check for £13,000 can buy lots of goodies though.
The Future
Even as the players talked about next year, the future of the League of Legends is not assured. It is known that Betfred.com has a three-year contract for the event as does Setanta TV. What form the event will take next year is up to the promoter, Betfred .com and Setanta. The latter made no friends in North America by canceling coverage half way into this year’s event with no notice.
The three anchors of the Legends - Eric Bristow, Bobby George and Mr. John Lowe - are supposed to take their show on the road next year. They’ll be doing a “buck & wing” on the theatre circuit. Certainly Bob Anderson would love to come back and defend his title and Dave Whitcombe has promised to get fit so he doesn’t wilt towards the end.
The Old Dart Coach has some suggestions which will promptly be filled under, “Who asked him?” Make the games best of 7 legs 501 instead of 12 legs or first to 7. Start each match with the players going for the bull with the winner of the bull going first. If a match is tied at 3 legs each go for the bull to see who starts the 7th leg. Twelve legs is too long for “Legends” to say nothing of the older fans who must make frequent trips to the loo.
Also expand the field maybe to include some international legends like Stefan Lord (Sweden), Tony Holyoake (Canada), Jerry Umberger (USA), Terry O’Dea (Australia) and Paul Lim (Singapore). For a touch of class how about “The Queen of Darts” Maureen Flowers, The “6 Foot Chocolate Bar” Ms. Deta Headman and the best lady darter ever, Dr. Linda Batten of England.
Crank’er up boys and let’s get it on!