What a day � 1.1 million says it all

Inaugural Pattaya Mail �Mike Franklin� Classic puts itself firmly on the golfing map

Mike Franklin
The organizing team from the Pattaya Mail Media Group, Pinnacle Grand Jomtien Resort & Spa, Eastern Star Country Club & Resort and the Rotary Club Eastern Seaboard are justly satisfied with the 1.1 million baht raised in the inaugural Pattaya Mail �Mike Franklin� Classic Charity golf tournament at Eastern Star on Friday, June 29.

The inclement weather and heavy rain that had persisted for many days prior to the event stayed away and, apart from a light shower on the course and another early evening, the weather stayed fine and overcast providing ideal playing and party conditions.
The course was in fine condition and the greens back in good shape, running at around speed 9 on the Stimpmeter.
It was an early start for the tournament team setting up for the 06.45 Shotgun and thanks are due to Bernie Tuppin and Marliese Fritz for efficiently handling Registration for both shotgun starts, and Bernie, stalwart that he is, for staying on to complete the scoring at the end of the day. Also to Nigel Cannon who managed to escape his voluntary duties by filling a gap in my wife�s team.
George Redgewell organized the Players �Singha Key Ring� Lucky Draw, and Eastern Star staff were all around and available when needed and even Khun Jirapol came down from Black Mountain, Hua Hin to help out, and pay a return visit to Eastern Star where he served the Pattaya golf groups so well for a couple of years.
It was a good team, and with play over it was time to head for the Awards Ceremony & Party at the Pinnacle Grand Jomtien Resort & Spa. There, with a big stage and the party set up on one rai by the beach, the Pinnacle Grand buffet, one of the best I have seen in 12 years of organizing and participating in golf on the Eastern Seaboard, plus the centerpiece live station of the Roast Ox, kindly supplied by Andrew Kooh, GM Hard Rock Hotel was waiting.
The tables were creatively decorated with a golf theme and the center VIP table featured a complete golf hole. The creativity of the Pinnacle Group GM, Ingo Rauber, knows no bounds, always looking for something to enhance the occasion.
Open from 6 pm until the close, the buffet could be enjoyed throughout, with the excellent Pinnacle band and singer providing the musical backdrop and the Pinnacle Dancers coming on stage later to entertain.
Tony Malhotra started the evening by welcoming everybody and acknowledging the generous support from the sponsors, donors and contributors to the tournament, laying a solid foundation towards a successful outcome for the beneficiaries.
One can never do enough to credit and give exposure to the sponsors, and that was certainly one of the prime objectives from the outset. Not just in the media but on the day at Eastern Star and in the evening at Pinnacle Grand Jomtien.
The first staging of a major tournament is always the most difficult and work intensive and, having worked with Tony Malhotra tirelessly and endlessly for the weeks leading up to the tournament, it was a relief to be at the Party. However, that too involved a packed program to get through, starting with Lewis �Woody� Underwood delivering (amazingly from memory) an account of my origins and 25 years of charity involvement with music and golf. That brought back many fond memories of events and associations, and in response I covered the key elements needed to stage a successful major charity tournament.
Firstly, the sponsors, donors and contributors who are supporting the event.
The two press conferences were generously hosted by Andrew Wood at the Chaophya Park Hotel Bangkok, and Ingo Rauber at the Pinnacle Grand Jomtien Resort & Spa, both attended by Pattaya City Hall and the TAT Region 3.
We enjoyed media support from local and national television stations & radio, and in Bangkok from the Point of View Media Group donating 150 A3 Poster sites in prime business and social locations.
No less than 57 companies and individuals provided sponsorship, charitable support, and donations for the players and charity lucky draws. Every player received a prize at Eastern Star, and a chance to win in the Charity Draw with prizes valued at almost 500,000 baht. The Title sponsor, ESC Security Concepts, together with Nirvana Place, although sponsoring golf for the first time, are no strangers to charity events and supporting worthwhile causes.
Innovations on the day included the new T-pod Trident Tri-car offered as a Hole-in-One prize, courtesy of Rob Sullivan, and Claude Alain of Star Photo provided team photos as players came off the course, and �Set� photography at Pinnacle for everyone, all free of charge to demonstrate their new wireless photographic technology featuring an instant �Camera to Print� process.
Secondly, the players who require good information and organization on the day, and a good package overall. Some novelty holes were introduced thanks to Horseshoe Point hospitality, The Lakes Charity hole, Casa Pascal Champagne hole and ESC & Nirvana Place with the cold towels at the 10th. It was good to see representatives from City Hall and the TAT taking part and supporting the tournament by attending the two Press conferences. Numbers were lighter than hoped in the 06.45 Start, with few of the Pattaya groups and venues visibly represented.
Thirdly, the Beneficiaries
· Rotary projects for children, with Pratheep �Peter� Malhotra becoming District Governor of District 3340 Rotary International in 2008-09.
· Jesters �Care for Kids� Charity Drive in its 10th year, where we plan to implement a water purification project
· Diana Group Foundation and the �One School One Hotel� project and scholarships for Government schools.
· Pattaya Young PR Ambassador Program � a joint venture between the Jesters Care for Kids, City Hall & Pattaya Mail. The current Young Ambassador a 12-year old student Anisara from the Satit Udomseuksa Academy.
· The Camillian Social Center, caring for children with AIDS, and visited regularly by Cindy Burbridge and Byron Bishop.
· Finally a small Government primary school in Amphur Kong, Khorat Province, the Ban Dorntuapab Pattana where some members of my Thai family have started their education. 125 happy students, fine dedicated teachers, good facilities and playing fields but a terrible kitchen and inadequate washing facilities.
The sponsors have done us proud and the players, with many new faces in the field, have made a significant contribution, with the result that beneficiaries will receive more support than we ever envisaged at the outset.
The Charity Draw ran throughout the evening and began with a pair of Cartier solid gold cufflinks. The list of valuable prizes was endless, touching a value of 500,000 baht and ticket proceeds exceeding 100,000 baht.
Cindy Burbridge provided glamorous assistance on stage to help with the Draw and collected an unexpected donation of 20,000 baht monthly for 3 years to the Camillian Social Center from Steve Graham.
Pascal Schnyder of Casa Pascal won the return tickets to Dubai, courtesy of John Evens and Gulf Air. The Technical trophies were presented to the winners, and the winner of the Champagne on the Casa Pascal Charity hole received a bottle of Dom Perignon vintage 1998.
More Charity Draw prizes were drawn until it was time to present the Team trophies. The Champion team was declared as ESC (2) with a spectacular burst of fireworks to celebrate the moment. The perpetual trophy will stay with Pattaya Mail and a special trophy was presented to the Title sponsor and received by Steve Graham, who announced his commitment to the tournament in 2008 as Title sponsor with North Shore Real Estate to the tune of 500,000 baht.
That confirmed that the Pattaya Mail Mike Franklin Classic will be back in 2008.
It was a fitting event and a successful conclusion to herald Pattaya Mail�s 15th year of publication, and the Pattaya Mail Media Group supporting charity events on the Eastern Seaboard.

The Mike Franklin Perpetual Trophy stands proudly amongst the other trophies.

The party was held on the beachfront gardens of the Grand Pinnacle Jomtien Resort & Spa, which was acclaimed to be the best after-golf party on the Eastern Seaboard ever.

August �Gusti� Steiner and Natthaporn Suvarnabhanu from Siam Royal View were extremely generous in buying tickets for the Charity Raffle.

The ambiance complemented the perfect combination of delicious food and tasty beverages, which was enjoyed by golfers and guests.

There was enough meat on the Roast Ox, sponsored by Andrew Khoo, GM of the Hard Rock Hotel, to feed an army.

Winning a prize puts a smile on your face, but receiving it from the glamorous and gorgeous Cindy puts happiness in your heart.

The Organizing Committee presented tokens of appreciations to

Steve Graham � ESC - Title Sponsor
August �Gusti� Steiner � Siam Royal View, Gold Sponsor	Steve Ryser, President of the Rotary Club Eastern Seaboard, Gold Sponsor
John and Sean Franklin � POV Media Group, Platinum (Media) Sponsor	Christoph Balzli - Baltex Industries

ESC & Nirvana Place set up tents handing out cold towels and displaying their latest security innovations at the 10th Tee.

Pattaya International Hospital Medical Support Unit was on standby all day.

Some unique hole hand-outs were set up, thanks to The Lakes Charity�s hole #3 (left), Casa Pascal�s Champagne hole #12 (center) and Horseshoe Point�s Hospitality tent #1(right).

Claude Alain of Star Photo in action. He then provided team photos as players came off the course, demonstrating their new wireless photographic technology featuring an instant �Camera to Print� process.

Mike Franklin, Eastern Seaboard�s Golf Guru.	Lewis �Woody� Underwood
Cindy Burbridge	Steve Graham
Pratheep �Peter� Malhotra	Tony Malhotra
(Above&Right) Pattaya Deputy Mayor, Ronakit Ekasingh, presents the technical hole trophy to Michael Floeth and also presented a Diamond Ring to another lucky winner.
Steve Graham MD of ESC presented 2 Nights at Nirvana Place prize to Steve Ryser.	Pascal and Kim Schnyder won the return tickets to Dubai, courtesy of John Evans GM of Gulf Air.
Cindy handed over the Lucky Raffle of 2 nights at the Amari Watergate to Ingo Rauber.	Golf was the theme of all tabletops.

As the main prize was being presented, the sky erupted with lights and sounds of a splendid fireworks display, courtesy of Grand Pinnacle Resort & Spa and CPN Promotion.

The Pinnacle Dancers raised temperatures all around.

The crowd gives Mike Franklin a rousing round of applause for his sterling performance in the golfing society and in the community.

ESC Pattaya Mail �Mike Franklin� Classic meets the international press in Bangkok

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What a day it has been!

There is only one thing more enjoyable than winning a major amateur tournament and that is to have a tournament staged in one�s name, and especially a Charity tournament that benefits a cross-section of underprivileged and needy children. For that I sincerely thank Peter Malhotra.
The inaugural Pattaya Mail Mike Franklin Classic evolved in a very short lead-time, not just as another charity tournament knocking on all the same local doors for sponsorship.

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All �Sponsors� invited to take part in Pattaya�s newest �major� charity golf tournament

All golfers invited to take part in Pattaya�s newest �Major� charity golf tournamentt

The Pattaya Mail Media Group, after many years of reporting local golf in Pattaya Mail and on Pattaya Mail Television, is confirming the commitment to golf by staging its own major tournament on Friday 29th June 2007 at Eastern Star Country Club & Resort. It is the inaugural Pattaya Mail �Mike Franklin� Classic, a charity golf tournament that will herald in the 15th Anniversary of Pattaya Mail.

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Ban Dorntupab Pattana School in Khorat desperately needs
your help

Ban Dorntupab Pattana is a Primary school situated in a rural farming area in Amphur Khong, about 70 K north of Khorat city. It is a happy school with 125 children, caring teachers and generally good classroom and outdoor facilities set in ample grounds. Previous personal donations have been towards a garden project and supplying children�s books for the library.

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Preparation in full swing for the Pattaya Mail Mike Franklin Classic Charity Golf Tournament

For the past few months quite a few activities has been going on with the Pattaya Mail Mike Franklin Classic Charity Golf Tournament Pattaya Mail is nearing its 15th Anniversary and, after many years of widely reporting local golf tournaments, is confirming its commitment to golf by announcing the inaugural Pattaya Mail �Mike Franklin� Classic charity golf tournament to be staged at Eastern Star Country Club & Resort, on Friday 29th June 2007.

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