PSC golf from The Outback Golf Bar
Monday, May 7, Khao Kheow – Stableford
Today was a Thai Holiday (Coronation Day) but unlike Burapha, there was no increased rate to play here at Khao Kheow – so 20 Outbackers took advantage of their (Khao Kheow’s) generous offer and played the C & A nines.
Despite it being a holiday the course was virtually deserted, but regretfully not really in the best of condition as the previously sabotaged greens on C still haven’t recovered properly and the greens generally were disappointingly slow. The cow grass on C seems to be taking over the fairways and where the cow grass hadn’t taken control the grass was very thin giving way to poor lies.
Ian Heddle, centre, with Brian Maddox, left, and Stuart Tinkler after their fine rounds at Khao Kheow on Monday.
A loop was much better but it is quite possible until future notice we will play ‘winter rules’ every week here. A reminder also that the Outback has discontinued the use of Drop Zones apart from certain exceptions, further information available on the website or at the bar.
Ian Heddle was the only man to break par with the day’s top score of 37pts and he beat home in Div A, Stuart Tinkler and Suzi with 34 and 33pts respectively.
Brian Maddox did the business in Div B with his remarkable 35pts, with a card that included two shots that just refused to go out of bounds, they were out but just somehow came back in a again!
Robert Barnes got a birdie on hole A4, the toughest hole on the course and a very good shot it must have been as his tee shot knocked a bird right out of a tree in a puff of blue and black feathers, poor thing.
A couple of welcome backs to David Davies, Andy Makara & Tony Gliddon.
There was only one ‘2’ from Tony Gliddon on hole A3.
Div A (0-18)
1st Ian Heddle (6) 37pts
2nd Stuart Tinkler (14) 34pts
3rd Suzi Lawton (18) 33pts
Div B (19+)
1st Brian Maddox (21) 35pts
2nd Barry McIntosh (21) 30pts
3rd Ken Davidson (20) 28pts
Tuesday, May 8, Pattaya C.C. – Stableford
Twelve intrepid golfers made their way to Pattaya Country Club to tackle the nine holes, first nine whites, second nine blues. After getting away before our allotted tee time we were caught in the rain, normal for this time of year. Even with a forty minute delay we were all round in under four and a half hours, the ones that finished anyway.
Luckily for the men the ladies had their own comp; Laong coming out on top with 42 points, beating Noy’s 38 into second place.
In the men’s comp, the scores were not quite so good with Dennis Persson taking first place with 33 points followed by Terry Marney on 31.
There was only one ‘2’ today also scooped by Laong – well done girl.
For your information Pattaya have extended their 550 baht green fee to include holidays and weekends till the 30th of September
Ladies
1st Laong Gatepratum (23) 42pts
2nd Noy Kamsantia (17) 38pts
3rd Orn Kanasaengsri (14) 32pts
Men
1st Dennis Persson (16) 33pts
2nd Terry Marney (27) 31pts
3rd Barry Chadbourn (21) 30pts
Tuesday, May 8, Laem Chabang – Stableford
Twenty-one players travelled to Laem Chabang for one our new regular Tuesday low season outings and were greeted by overcast skies with some thunder and lightning in the air. Eventually it started to rain just as we were due to tee-off and all play was suspended as the greens and fairways quickly became rivers. We waited just over an hour for the rain to stop so we could commence play. The course was a little wet but drained well as the round went on and we finished the round with blue skies and high humidity.
The greens were a little slow but still great to putt on and the rest of the course was presented well. We played C and A courses off the white markers and A of the white markers was a little shorter than normal and with receptive greens a number of players had some very good scores. We played two divisions with two places in Division 1 and four places in Division 2 because of the unbalanced split with five players off a handicap of 14.
A couple of goodbyes to Stuart Tinkler & Colin Jones and a welcome to Patrick Douglas playing with the Outback for the first time today, with his Dad, Doug.
Division 2 (14+) was won by Bill Hornick with the best round of the day and his (Bill’s) best ever round in Thailand with 46 points, 76 gross off his 14 handicap. Second was Steve Milne with 40 points off his 17 handicap, third was Murray Hart (14) with 37 points and fourth was Colin Jones (22) with 35.
Division 1 was won by Paul Greenaway with a great score of 43 points, 74 gross off his 9 handicap with second going to Paul Bourke with 37 points off his 8 handicap.
There were four ‘2’s for the day and they went to Bill Hornick on C5, Steve Milne on C8 and Murray Hart got two on C5 and C8.
Note: The Outback have four tee times booked here every Tuesday throughout the low season.
Div A (0-13)
1st Paul Greenaway (9) 43pts
2nd Paul Bourke (8) 37pts
3rd Tom Fitzpatrick (13) 31pts
4th Ron Dickie (7) 30pts
Div B (14+)
1st Bill Hornick (14) 46pts
2nd Steve Milne (17) 40pts
3rd Murray Hart (14) 37pts
4th Colin Jones (22) 35pts
Wednesday, May 9, Treasure Hill – Stableford
In addition to the 15 at Siam Plantation, there were 8 Outbackers today playing at Treasure Hill and we were playing millionaire’s golf due to a big Government competition being played in Bangkok.
The course was above average although in parts the rough was very rough and you needed a lawnmower in your golf bag to find your ball. The men decided to play off the White Tees for a bit of a challenge and maybe the Yellow Tees would have been a wiser decision as the course played very long due to the amount of rain they have had over the last few days. Ian Heddle was heard to comment in the bar later, that Treasure Hill is one tough golf course.
Murray Hart was the winner with 31pts, beating Paul Bourke on count back but Paul had the only ‘2’ on the 6th.
All in all it was a very pleasant day
1st Murray Hart (14) 31pts
2nd Paul Bourke (8) 31pts
3rd Suzi Lawton (18) 28pts
Wednesday, May 9, Siam Plantation – Stableford
On another of our double course days, 15 players went to Siam Plantation for our Wednesday outing on a beautiful sunny day with clear skies and a gentle breeze. The course was not fully booked and the starter let our first groups go early but our last group had to hang back as one player got a little lost, but all groups had hit off before 9am and finished before 1pm.
The course was presented very well as is normal and whilst the greens were good they were a little slow. Pace off play was very good with all groups keeping their place in the field.
With only 15 players we only played one division with four places; the winner was Rosco Langoulant with a great score of 40 points off his 14 handicap, with second going to Bill Hornick who had 39 points playing off his new handicap of 12, cut 2 after winning at Laem Chabang yesterday, with third place going to Patrick Douglas (14) with 35 points and fourth place going to the Capt’ with 34 points playing off 10.
Welcome too, to some new boys in town, Gordon Etheridge, Richard Pegler and also Frank & Ernest although we didn’t see the latter two’s scorecards.
There was one ‘2’ for the day and that went to Patrick Douglas on B7.
The Outback will be here again next Wednesday at the same tee time, 8.44.
1st Rosco Langoulant (14) 40pts
2nd Bill Hornick (12) 39pts
3rd Patrick Douglas (14) 35pts
4th Steve Mann (10) 34pts
Friday, May 11, St. Andrews – Stableford
Twenty-four Outbackers were at St Andrews for the second time in the last fortnight due to Green Valley having a member’s competition.
With very little breeze blowing, we were in for a hot one; the fairways were in great condition but the greens had been cored and sanded, which made putting a bit more difficult to judge, but this didn’t stop nearly half the field playing to their handicap or better.
Welcome back to Colin Goon, here on a quick visit and Sel Wegner, who’s just found his form again ahead of the Outback’s tour to Siem Reap next month, with an excellent 39pts but not quite enough to beat the in-form Ron Dickie, who equalled the points and beat Sel only on count back. Ian Heddle had an easier time than at Treasure Hill earlier in the week, today finding himself in third place in Div A on 37.
Another man who’s still playing well and staying one step ahead of the handicapper is John O’Keefe, who posted the day’s top score of 40pts to win Div B from Joe Mooneyham (39) and Dave Edwards (38).
There was only one ‘2’ from Greg Hill on the 5th.
Div A (0-14)
1st Ron Dickie (7) 39pts
2nd Sel Wegner (13) 39pts
3rd Ian Heddle (5) 37pts
Div B (15+)
1st John O’Keefe (17) 40pts
2nd Joe Mooneyham (15) 39pts
3rd Dave Edwards (17) 38pts
Note: The Outback Golf Bar can be contacted on 087 941 2474 (Jack).