IPGC golf from The Haven
Monday March 19, Khao Kheow, yellow tees – Stableford
1st Division 0-15
1st Peter Skinner (10) 35
2nd Alan Griffiths (11) 32
3rd Bob Heath (12) 30 cb 15
4th Yasuo Suzuki (11) 30 cb 13
5th David Ross (9) 29
2nd Division 16 +
1st Grant Cadell (16) 33
2nd Paul Hartley (19) 32 cb 16
3rd Kaneo Watanabe (19) 32 cb 15
4th Serge Straeten (17) 31 cb 15
5th Shuichi Kodaka (18) 31 cb 10
A very hard week’s golf started out promisingly enough at the always popular Khao Kheow club where the A & C off the yellow tees were a little too difficult to handle for the players as the wind blew up into a very stiff breeze. Even with a large turnout only one of the qualifying competitors, those with handicaps of twenty or better, managed to play within the two shots of their handicaps. This resulted in the day’s competition becoming non-counting for upward review as the system deemed that the conditions and results would not reflect fairly on the handicaps. The CSS for the day duly moved out to 75.
Peter Skinner, the sole qualifier, led in the first division with a solid one over handicap that was good enough by three clear to take the top spot earning himself a drop of a shot in his final game of this visit.
Grant Cadell.
Alan Griffiths, although three behind, played well enough to take second by two from third placed Bob Heath. Bob had to win a count back with Yasuo Suzuki, which he did with a better 15 to 13, which left Yasuo in fourth one better than David Ross in fifth.
The second division was an altogether closer affair with Grant Cadell just slipping into first on the final hole with a rare three pointer on the last hole to win by one, ahead of Paul Hartley who won a count back with Kaneo Watanabe by a margin of 16 to 15.
Serge Straeten made a return to Soi 13 golf taking fourth place as he also won a count back with Shuichi Kodaka by 15 to 10 after the latter had gone out in an unbelievable three under handicap. Shuichi fell apart on the inward nine even though he scored seven of his ten points on just two holes, as three one points and four blobs wrecked his chances.
There were no 2’s in the second division but Peter Skinner with two and Yasuo Suzuki shared the first division pool.
Before presenting the prizes Stephen Beard welcomed back Brian Randall, Kevin Townsend and Jens Gunnarsson and there was also a special welcome back for Richard Livingston who had come down to add his farewell to those for the group from South Herts Golf Club where he used to be the Club Professional. Although it is now several years since Richard taught golf and shared a few conversations at the bar he is still fondly remembered by many of the members as the third in a line of excellent club professionals having followed Harry Vardon, the six times winner of the Open and also a winner of the US Open, and Dai Rees who, while not winning The Open came second three times, and led the Ryder Cup team in 1957 to the only win over the United States by Great Britain & Ireland between the years of 1933 and 1985. The occasion required that a few drinks were downed which duly happened.
Wednesday, March 21, Greenwood B & C Courses – Stableford
1st Yukio Kikuchi (18) 31 cb 20
2nd Phillip Cass (22) 31 cb 17
3rd Shuichi Kodaka (18) 31 cb 16
4th Yasuo Suzuki (11) 28
5th Peter McGown (19) 27
6th David Ross (9) 26
Following the return home of the South Herts Touring Group the numbers were much reduced leaving just one division to take on the usually delightful Greenwood layout. Unfortunately on the day the greens were found to be in a very poor state with many bare patches and hardly a good roll to be found on any of them from almost any position. This reflected extremely badly on the scores as for the second time in the week the competition became non-counting as the best of the day could only garner 31 points.
Peter Skinner.
Yukio Kikuchi won after also winning a count back with Phillip Cass with a better 20 to 17 when, after going out with a very slow start, he was not looking forward to a happy ending for a change.
Shuichi Kodaka also figured in the same count back but could only muster 16 on the back nine which put him into third place. New member Peter McGown must have wondered what sort of club he had joined when he found himself in fifth place after knocking it sideways most of the day to finish at nine over handicap and beat David Ross into sixth by a single point.
There were no 2’s in the first division but Yukio Kikuchi made it an excellent day in the collection department even if the golf was a bit patchy, by sweeping the second division pot.
Before the presentations there were welcomes for new members Jesse Harris and Peter McGown.
Friday, March 23, The Emerald, white tees – Stableford
1st Warren Gallop (10) 36 cb 19
2nd Al Keith (6) 36 cb 15
3rd Keith Emerson (13) 33 cb 20
4th Paul Hartley (19) 33 cb 19
5th David Ross (9) 33 cb 14
At last some sanity returned on the final day of the week as the group took on a very tough Emerald course that had just had the greens shaved down to a slightly quicker pace than either of the Siam or Bangpra courses, which are normally the quickest in the area. This made for a very interesting day for most of the field with only the best of the putters in the field able to cope with breaks that were sometimes as much as three club lengths and any over hit puts likely to require a chip as the next shot.
Warren Gallop.
Warren Gallop just got the better of a count back with Al Keith to win his last competition of this trip with a better 19 to 15 after Al had gone out in level par gross amassing 21 points. Sadly his last approach on the par five spun back off the green leaving him a chip and two puts for a par to miss out by one.
Warren’s round was a very tidy one. Following a slow start he just got better as the round progressed as he came to terms with the greens. He finished strongly with three solid pars to wrap up the round and the win.
Keith Emerson won a three way count back with Paul Hartley and Davis Ross. After he also had started slowly he strolled through the back nine totaling 20 points which left Paul in fourth with 19 and David fifth after a very tired 14 after he had stated well.
There were no 2’s in the second division but Warren Gallop and Keith Emerson with two shared the first division.
Yukio Kikuchi.
Back at The Haven there was a welcome for new member Paul Hird and welcome backs for Brian Libbey and Keith Emerson.
Note. If you would like to play with The Haven group, you can contact mobile 082 219 0965 or call in to The Haven Hotel, at 185 Soi 13, between Beach Road and 2nd Road. All transportation to the course is arranged and you do not need to sign up prior to the day, but you should be there by 8.30 on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday on the days you wish to play. A schedule of courses to be played can be found on our web site at www.thehaven-hotel.com
