Lewiinski’s Golf Society
Sunday, Jan. 1, Green Valley – Stableford
A Flight
1st Tewin Lamthong (11) 40pts
2nd Jeff Acheson (13) 37pts
3rd Chaten Patel (16) 36pts
B Flight
1st Fred Birch (19) 37pts
2nd Don Lehmer (22) 35pts
3rd Eddy Beilby (21) 35pts
Near Pins: Tewin Lamthong, Jeff Acheson
Long Putts: Marcus Earp, Dave Boran
The New Year, kicked off at our usual Sunday venue Green Valley where the course was in good condition and the weather fine. Today we had a lady playing with us for the first time, Tewin Lamthong, a.k.a. Poopay, and she was determined not to be overawed and certainly wasn’t as she lit up A Flight with a sparkling 40 points, gaining her person of the match honours and added a near pin to boot.
Poopay was three strokes clear of Jeff Acheson who had a long putt prize. Chaten ‘the Rajah’ Patel, always a welcome addition to the society ranks, closed the flight with a steady even par round.
Fred Birch carried the B Flight banner with a solid 37 points. Don ‘the ladies’ man’ Lehmer and Eddy ‘the Eagle’ Beilby went head to head in a count back for the silver as both were locked on 35 points. Don managed to clip the Eagle’s wings as he took second place 18-12 on the inner nine holes.
Tuesday, Jan 3, Bangpakong Riverside – Stableford
A Flight
1st Francis Goyons (13) 41pts
2nd Andy Kelleher (10) 41pts
3rd Walter O’keefe (12) 40pts
4th JP Gasser (12) 40pts
B Flight
1st Tina Orth (21) 41pts
2nd Gabriel Enright (21) 41pts
3rd Stuart Martin (22) 4 pts
4th Brian Gabe (17) 40pts
C Flight
1st Albin Wursch (24) 47pts
2nd Marcus Earp (28) 42pts
3rd Graham Buckingham (28) 36pts
4th Mick Folan (24) 34pts
Long Putt: JP Gasser
We had scheduled Bangpakong Riverside to be an optional tee box day – that is with players choosing to play from either the blue tees or the whites. The course management knew better and restricted the society to the white tees so the lads and lasses went out and emasculated the layout.
Bangpakong, which has many trappings of a championship course with water and hazards, happens to play a bit easier because of its fine condition, its level to fairway height greens, and its puttable greenside bunkers. Not only is the competitor usually not faced with a difficult shot but he avoids the total dissection of his game that a bad shot can bring on other courses.
Victory must still be attained though, and those that excelled today did so better than anyone else. That accolade of excelling certainly applied to Albin Wursch who was the top man in C Flight and secured the man of the match honours with a blistering 47 points. He was followed at a distance up the podium steps by Marcus Earp with his fine 42 point effort while Graham Buckingham took third with an even par round and the fourth podium spot was filled by Mick Folan after he gained a count back verdict over the unlucky Brian Gabe, 18-14.
Skipping up to A Flight we found that the calculator was in use again to sort out the top spot between Francis Goyons and Andy Kelleher, Francis edging Andy 8-6 on the last three holes. A count back was also required to sort out the minor flight places between Walter O’Keefe and the man never far from the brass ring, JP Gasser. Both were knotted on 40 points and when the divots had settled it was Walter who walked off with the third spot prize.
In B Flight the most favorably distributed 41 point outburst was turned in by the belle of the bar Tina Orth. She was followed up the podium steps by Gabriel ‘the thunder from down under’ Enright with his 41 points and Stuart Martin was the other 41 pointer on the podium as Brian Gabe closed the flight on 40.
Wednesday, Jan. 4, Khao Kheow – Stableford
A Flight
1st Bill Collis (19) 31pts
2nd Dave Duane (18) 31pts
3rd Andy Kelleher (10) 30pts
B Flight
1st Bobby Collis (22) 37pts
2nd Mick Folan (22) 33pts
3rd Steve Baker (21) 32pts
Near Pins: Mark McCoy and Andy Colman
Long Putts: Pierre Zbinden
Whether it was abject bravado from the entire field or induced persuasive courage by the GM. the entire field strode back to the difficult yellow tees today on the Pete Dye designed Khao Kheow course.
B Flight was up to it in the person of Bobby Collis who was the only player to better his handicap with a man of the match 37 points. Bobby was four strokes clear of Mick Folan and a further stroke clear of Steve Baker.
The boys in A Flight found the going tough as Bill Collis (no relation to Bobby) took the top spot with just 31 points and in doing so he had to first win a count back over the unlucky Dave Dunne. Andy Kelleher had to walk up the podium steps to claim a prize with but just 30 points. Oh, the shame of it.
Friday, Jan. 6, Crystal Bay B & C – Stableford
A Flight
1st Walter O’Keefe (12) 38pts
2nd Tommy Janssen (5) 35pts
3rd Andy Kelleher (10) 35pts
B Flight
1st Sean Larner (20) 37pts
2nd Steve Baker (21) 37pts
3rd Jan Roger Ulriksen (19) 36pts
C Flight
1st Barry Oats (27) 37pts
2nd Bobby Collis (24) 37pts
3rd Derek Briton (31) 36pts
Near Pins: B4 Michel Deletraz, B15 Mogens Jensen, C 4 John Overton, No c 7 Walter O’Keefe
Long Putts: B9 Stan Stewart
Walter O’Keefe crowned a good week of golf and ensured his handicap continued to go south with a close run victory at the tough Crystal Bay. His man of the match 38 points edged four players all with 37 points. Walter was three clear of A Flight pals Tommy Janssen and Andy Kelleher with the count back scales of justice tipping in Tommy’s favour.
A tight finish in B Flight saw Sean Larner and Steve Baker go head to head in a count back and when the mud had settled it was Sean who got to stand on the top rung as Jan Roger Ulriksen won his count back to close the flight with an even par round.
It was the same story in C Flight with Barry Oats and Bobby Collis knotted on 37 points apiece and when the knot was undone it was Barry who took the flight gold and Bobby the silver. Bobby was not too concerned as this was his second pay-window visit of the week. This left Derek Britton to close the flight with an even par round.
