IPGC golf from The Links
Sunday, May 20, Green Valley – Stableford
Another good turnout today, for the weekend favourite, which, along with Pattana, remains one of the best conditioned courses around. Conditions were still and sometimes slightly overcast, which made for generally good scoring.
Joe McArdle continued his recent return to form, shooting his handicap, but losing out to the strong finishing Les Cobban who took second place by virtue of a 19 to 15 point back 9, despite failing to score on the 18th. That handed victory to Michael Healy, who returned an excellent 38 points off his 15 handicap.
Ger Lodge.
The ‘2’s pot was shared by Les Cobban who holed out from a bunker on the 12th, playing partner Joe McArdle who nailed a monster putt to follow him in, and Alec Hoare.
1st Michael Healy (15) 38pts
2nd Les Cobban (8) 36pts
3rd Joe McArdle (13) 36pts
4th Peter Masters (9) 34pts
Tuesday, May 22, Khao Kheow – Stableford
12 players today, to play the A&B loops on one of the best laid out courses around. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of the condition, especially on the B9, where the greens are still very slow, with ever growing sandy patches. Conditions were hot and humid, with the one four-ball that chose to walk flagging at the end, leaving the two groups in buggies to battle for victory.
It turned out to be an all Irish affair, with Sunday’s victor, Michael Healy, just missing out on the places despite scoring a solid 35 points. Ted Lodge and Donal McGuigan must have both fancied their chances with 36 points, a score that is more than often enough on the punishing track, but today this was only enough for the minor places, Donal taking second by virtue of a 21 to 20 count back. Victory went to Ger Lodge who amassed a whopping 43 points, his gross 85 being by far his best in over a year, and will no doubt lead to a substantial cut this coming weekend.
There were no ‘2’s and with no fixture on Thursday, the pot again rolls over to Green Valley on Sunday.
1st Ger Lodge (20) 43pts
2nd Donal McGuigan (23) 36pts
3rd Ted Lodge (10) 36pts
4th Michael Healy (15) 35pts
Note: The Links depart from the hotel on Soi Buakhao at 9.30am on Tuesdays and Thursdays and for Rayong Green Valley every Sunday. Sign up at the hotel or contact Jon on 080 021 1034. A full schedule of courses can be found on the IPGC website www.ipgc.org.