The Tropical Golf Group
Wednesday, Jan. 4, Pleasant Valley – Stableford
Not a bad run from BJ’s brought us to Pleasant Valley nice and early, and a leisurely change allowed us to breathe deeply before trotting down to the start in what can only be called ‘gale conditions’. Indeed, so strong was the wind that it was difficult to stand on the tee box and many golfers stated that it was the strongest wind they had ever played in. With an 8 group field of players we looked forward to a windy time.
It is not too bad playing with the wind behind (or even into it) but in a crosswind it is really hard to keep the ball straight and balls in the water or in a bunker are fairly common place. In the water is a shot lost, and lost ball, but in a bunker here it could be anything as the dogs run free and the bunkers are seemingly not raked. So a ball in a bunker can be in a paw hole, buried as the sand is soft, or simply in a hole that had not been raked. Sad indeed!
This is a course that seems to be built on too little land and in the early days was not a good place to play, now however some trees have grow and matured and although it’s not enough to stop the wind it still has helped make it a course that is playable and in fact at times a pleasure, especially when, as on this day, they have a special deal on green fee, caddy and cart.
Windblown and tired we returned to BJ’s Lodge in Pattaya and it was soon time to get into the results. In the A Flight, 0 to 22, the winner was John Davis with 40 points, three ahead of Tom Herrington with 37 points in second. In third came Tony Scambler on 35 points and fourth Richard Kubicki with 34 on count back over Landis Brooks.
The B Flight winner was Dave Cooper with 40 points ahead of a count back on 37 points that saw Karen Brown in second, Carol Kubicki in third and Torsten Bischoff fourth.
The front-nine best score came from Henry Wong and the back-nine best by Kenny Chung.
Near Pins: Torsten Bischoff, Rob Brown (2), AVD.
Long Putt: Don Carmody, Mick Coghlan.
Friday, Jan. 6, Treasure Hill – Stableford
This first Friday of the New Year saw the Tropical golfers at one of our favorite courses – Treasure Hill. Twenty-nine players made it a good turnout, and BJ’s Lodge was crowded and noisy with people getting their fill.
We like playing at Treasure Hill, because… what’s not to like? The layout is interesting, a bit on the hard side but not overwhelming, usually in decent condition, and good value. Playing off the yellow tees made the day challenging but fair, and quite a few white tee markers were in the forward position anyway. Even the weather was nice and habitual complainers had a hard time coming up with a negative comment.
Scores are usually in the “average” range for the winners here, and such was the case today since with 29 golfers only a couple hit handicap.
In A-Flight (0-22), Brian Parish (c/h 14) kept his cool and made handicap with a winning 36 points. Steady John Davis (13) finished just behind with 35 points and then 2016 Golfer of the Year Landis Brooks (9) came in with a respectable 33 for third.
Tom “Top Cat” Cotton (29) had a fine round earning a high score tying 36 points to win the B-Flight (23+). Dave Cooper (26) is on a streak and continued it with 35 points for second and John Anderson (31) finished with 33 to complete the podium.
The best front and back nines went to Carole Kubicki and Nigel Perry respectively.
Near Pins: John Davis (2), Dick Warberg, Jorg Weichselbaumn, Carole Kubicki, John Anderson.
Long Putts: Torsten Bischoff, Kenny Chung.
