O’Neil shoots best of the week

IPGC Golf from The Haven

Monday, Dec. 26, Mt. Shadow (blue tees) – Stableford

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1^st Dave Edwards (13) 34pts
2^nd Mike Hill (20) 33pts
3^rd Andrew Purdie (8) 33pts
4^th Alan Pilkington (7) 33pts
5^th Billy Shepley (4) 31pts
6^th Johannes Hansen (13) 28pts

Mountain Shadow, a course much improved, is always a challenge and usually any scores at handicap level prove to be sufficient to get onto the podium and more than likely be a winner.  This day was another of those occasions where two over handicap was good enough to take the top spot and all the placements bar one were from the bottom half of the entrants’ handicap list.

Dave Edwards returned the best card to take first place with a level 17 on each half, having strangely dropped points on the tenth hole which is usually regarded as one of the most benign.

There was then a three-way count back for second place which Mike Hill won with 20 on the back-nine to leave Andrew Purdie in third after he scored 17 and Alan Pilkington fourth with 14.  Billy Shepley finished in fifth another two behind that trio and Johannes Hansen sixth three more behind.

There were no 2s in the second division but Alan Pilkington cleaned out the rollover pool in the first division with his solo effort on the 165 yard 17th.

Wednesday, Dec. 21, Pattana A & B – Stableford

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Division 1 (0-12)

1^st Alan Thomas (6) 32pts
2^nd Mark Cooper (10) 31pts
3^rd Alan Griffiths (12) 30pts
4^th Ryan Thomas (0) 30pts

Division 2 (13+)

1^st Brendan Dunne (28) 33pts
2^nd Alan Hanlon (14) 33pts
3^rd Graham Marchant (15) 33pts
4^th Markku Tynell (20) 31pts

We had another good turnout for the always popular and immaculate Pattana Golf Club & Resort.  The players were, as usual, greeted at the clubhouse door with many wais and smiles and passed quickly through the amazing changing facilities and out to the pristine nines where the A and B courses were in play for the day.

With enough entrants for two divisions the split came at a very low 12 and below for the first division, with the first playing from the white tees and the second from the yellows.

At almost 6900 yards the first division had the most difficult test, with the winner Alan Thomas coming home in four over handicap after struggling through the front nine whilst garnering just thirteen points.  He had a very much improved second nine and locked up his first win with the group.

Mark Cooper ran Alan closest, taking second place just one behind as he too also found the front half difficult but could not improve enough through the last nine.  Alan Griffiths slipped into third spot after winning a count back over scratch player Ryan Thomas with a better 17 to 16.

The second division was headed by Brendan Dunne as he too won a count back with a better 13 to 11 over the back six holes after he had tied the nine with Alan Hanlon on 17 apiece.  That left Alan, playing in the second division for the first time ever in Pattaya, in second place ahead of Graham Marchant in third.  Graham had tired badly over the closing to holes, scoring just the lone single point on the last two holes and 15 in the count back.  “What’s Ap Doc” was the mumbled reason given for this sudden collapse, which is still being decoded.  Markku Tynell rounded out the division placements another two behind them.

Once again there were no 2s in the second division but amazingly with the scores as poor as they were there were four in the first division, racked up by Adrian Cook, Alan Hanlon, Jon Batty and Mark Williams.

Friday, Dec. 16, Pattaya C.C. – Stableford

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1^st Tony O’Neil (24) 39pts
2^nd Benny Hansen (22) 37pts
3^rd Mark Williams (8) 36pts
4^th John Carlin (19) 36pts
5^th Andrew Purdie (7) 34pts
6^th Brendan Dunne (28) 34pts

Pattaya Country Club has suffered from some negative comments recently but these can only have been the outcome of some poor playing.  Our group found the course to be in very good condition, offering plenty of run on the fairways and with the redesigned greens receptive to a well struck shot.  The scores on the day attested to the fact, underlined by the CSS for the day reducing to 71.

Tony O’Neil returned the best card of the week with a three under handicap result that was good enough by two to claim his first win with the group for some time.  Benny Hansen continues to improve and take placings and did so once more with a second place at one under handicap.

Mark Williams is starting to show signs of life after a slow start to his golfing holiday, winning a count back for third place with a better 19 to 17 to leave John Carlin in fourth.  There was yet another count back for fifth and sixth between Andrew Purdie and Brendan Dunne which Andrew won with a better 21 to 19.

Once again, even with Shuichi Kodaka returning to the entrants, there were no 2s in the second division but Mark Williams had two to sweep the first division clean again.