Golf from the Billabong Bar
Monday, Dec. 19, Phoenix Gold – Stableford
We were delighted when we heard that the Mountain course was open and we would play this and Ocean, the Lakes now closed for repairs. But our delight turned to despair when we saw 20 buggies alongside the 1st tee occupied by visitors from abroad, especially when 2 players in the last group just about reached the ladies tee with their drives. But to be fair, they kept up a good pace and we were around in about 4 hours.
The Mountain course is always in good condition but I would suggest that there is more sand, resembling the shifting sands of the Sahara, than there is on Pattaya Beach.
Is there anywhere in the world that is experiencing better golfing weather than we are having at the moment? The scores, generally, exceeded 30 points today, with Capt. Bob losing out to Freddy Starbeck on 35 points while Thierry Petrement came out on top with 36.
Only one 2 today and that came from Norman Cheetham.
Back at the Billabong the pirouette queen, Alan Bartlett, entered the bar with a face as long as a wet week. Looking at his card it was simple to understand why for he had scored 6 points on the front-nine, however things improved slightly on the inward half with 7 points.
Wednesday, Dec. 21, Green Valley – Stableford
‘Lift, clean and place’ in December? That is the current reality at Green Valley. It is difficult to find an explanation for surface water appearing in the areas around the greens here, bearing in mind that we have had no rain for about 6 weeks. Perhaps the sprinkler system is in need of an update? There is so much mud on the approaches to the greens at the moment that balls plug if you land inches short.
Many of the Billabong regulars obviously had a heavy night on Tuesday for at least three had less than 20 points and in one instance only 4 points on the front nine followed by 7 on the back-nine. We are all gentlemen at the Billabong and names will not be mentioned Fergus.
Miss Som had 4 blobs today but still managed 35 points for third place in the ladies flight but way short of Miss Nu finishing second with 38. Miss Da had 22 points on the front to finish top of the league with 39 points overall.
In the men’s competition John Player lost out to old reliable Jeff North for third place, both with 34 points. Chaten Patel came second with 37 but Freddy Starbeck won the day with a fine 38-point tally.
Two 2s today came from Tony Oakes and John Anderson.
Friday, Dec. 23, Silky Oak – Stableford
We played Silky Oak for the first time in months, and what a pleasant surprise it turned out to be. The course was in magnificent condition and it was almost impossible to get a bad lie. The greens were something else again as the last time we played here they were hairy and uncut, but this time they were really good.
We only had a small field but everyone enjoyed their day out – some more than others as the scores will attest. It was the Ritchie brothers’ day out today with Greg taking third place with 38 points, Rick Culley got in between them with his 39 points but the other brother, Gary, took first place with 42 points off his 6 handicap. For those who can’t count that’s 72 gross, a great score indeed.
