IPGC golf from The Haven
Monday, Jan. 17, Treasure Hill (Yellow tees) – Stableford
CSS 71
Division 1 (0-18)
1st Brian Libby (10) 36pts
2nd Mark Cooper (11) 35pts
3rd Warren Gallop (11) 34pts
4th George Pittam (17) 33pts
5th Barry Wellings (5) 33pts
Division 2 (19+)
1st Ger Lodge (20) 35pts
2nd Roar Berger (26) 33pts
3rd Fred O’Connor (23) 27pts
4th Leif Lossius (28) 25pts
5th Graham Howard (25) 25pts
A fairly tough week of golf started at the beautifully conditioned Treasure Hill course where the tee boxes were as good as at any course in the area and possibly the best ever seen by most of the players on the day, including such courses as Royal Birkdale and the Berkshire.
Richard Dobson.
The great condition of the course did not stop at the tee boxes but continued through to the greens themselves, and the general consensus of the players was that on that day it was definitely one of the very best in the area. But the condition did not help the scores too much, even when the competition was played from the forward yellow tees with the yardage at seemingly a comfortable 6,400 yards approximately.
Brian Libby had the best result of the day to lead in the first division by a point from Mark Cooper in second after a solid 18/18 round. Warren Gallop took third place another shot behind and just one ahead of the count-back between George Pittam and Barry Wellings, which George won with a better 19 to 18 return.
The second division also found the going pretty difficult with Ger Lodge taking it with an over handicap round that was still good enough by two to claim the top spot from Roar Berger, with Fred O’Connor in third six behind him. New member Leif Lossius took fourth with a better count-back of 15 as Graham Howard could manage just 12 on the inward nine.
Barry Wellings scored the only ‘2’ in the first division to sweep the pool and Roar Berger did the same in the second division.
Before presenting the prizes for the day Stephen Beard welcomed new members Anthony Howett, Kare Lunde and Leif and Torild Lossius and also welcomed back Warren Gallop and Dave Spendley.
Wednesday. Jan. 19, Eastern Star – Stableford
CSS 75 NC
1st Richard Dobson (14) 33pts
2nd Trevor Schirmer (14) 33pts
3rd Rod Howett (25) 32pts
4th Jens Gunnarsson (14) 32pts
5th Kevin Townsend (11) 29pts
6th Rodney Hayes (9) 29pts
After the tough day during the previous outing there was to be no let up at Eastern Star where the course condition was nowhere in the same league and the tees had been situated in most cases almost on the blue positions (as if the whites were not long enough at almost sixty-six hundred yards), which all made it very difficult to score well and even play near to handicap. The end result was a disappointing non-counting competition with the CSS going out to its maximum for the day.
Chris Knapp.
Richard Dobson shared the best return in points with Trevor Schirmer and then won the resulting count-back with a better 16 to 15 to take the day’s top honours.
Rod Howett did well in third place after recovering from a lightning visit by his son Anthony and the subsequent enormous hangover hard earned a couple of days earlier, although his game did not get going until the second nine following a slow start, and that nine was enough to win third place from Jens Gunnarsson by a margin of 20 to 16.
Kevin Townsend struggled to take fifth spot ahead of Rodney Hayes with a better count-back of 13 to 12.
With the course playing at it’s hardest it was no surprise to find that there were no 2’s in either division.
Friday, Jan 21, The Emerald – Stableford
CSS 72
1st Chris Knapp (16) 39pts
2nd Rod Howett (25) 38pts
3rd Trevor Schirmer (14) 34pts
4th Shuichi Kodaka (18) 34pts
5th Marc Jensen (8) 32pts
6th Jens Gunnarsson (14) 32pts
At last Chris Knapp has been rewarded for all the hours of lessons with The Guru and playing three or four times a week, as he returned his best round ever in Thailand to win by a point. The score also took his handicap down to its historical lowest for the coming weeks to add to the day’s pleasure.
Rod Howett was unlucky to find Chris in such good form as he also put in one of his better rounds but had to settle for second best on the day.
Trevor Schirmer took his second podium placing in the week by winning a count-back by 20 to 17, with Shuichi Kodaka, who slipped right back into form following his return from the Land of the Rising Sun.
Marc Jensen got the first of the honourable mentions, also winning a count-back over Jens Gunnarsson, who lost out for the second time in a row, by a margin of 19 to 15 after Marc had had a very indifferent start to the round.
Once again there were no 2’s in the first division but Chris Knapp slipped one in for the second division to clean up the pot including the roll over.
Back at The Haven Shuichi Kodaka was welcomed back prior to the presentations.
Note: If you would like to play with The Haven group you can contact mobile 084782 4582 or call in to the 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 Mondays, Wednesday, Fridays and Sundays 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.
