Golf from The Billabong Bar
Monday, Jan. 9, Phoenix – Stableford
Slightly wet underfoot at Phoenix today and highly unusual for this time of the year to be getting rained on, but the last of the Billabong group just made it before the rain belted down. The scores were very good due to the soft conditions – you could really have a go at the flags. Playing Lake and Ocean it was no carts on the fairways so a little bit of walking was required, but it turned out to be a snappy round with no holdups at all.
It was a surprise to come round to the 4th tee to see a driver floating in the lake alongside the tee box. It turned out it wasn’t thrown in anger but was a practice swing from Freddy and it slipped out of his hand. A couple of minutes later a little lady staff member swam out and returned the runaway club to its owner.
Anything under 40 points didn’t get a mention today, with Capt Bob scoring 40 points to take third place, John Anderson, playing his best round of golf for some time in second with 42, Dave Bramley filling top spot with 43 even after he blobbed the last two holes.
There were two 2s, coming from Duncan McLean with about a 2ft putt, and John Nicholas.
Wednesday, Jan. 11, Green Valley – 2 Person Scramble
We take every opportunity to blame global warming for any unusual event on our planet but who would have thought that we would have 24 hours of rain in January in Pattaya? As a result it might have been a good idea to have wellington boots instead of golf shoes for we were welcomed at the course by heavy rain. This quickly disappeared but made an unwelcome return half way round encouraging us to take shelter for 40 minutes and, when we ventured forth, you soon discovered if your shoes were waterproof and some difficulty finding areas that were not under water.
Murray Hart was due to return to Australia on Jan 13 and to say a fond farewell to the Billabong he agreed with Capt. Bob to have a 2-person scramble and he would generously donate some prizes. It was a welcome change to the usual stableford format and was well supported by the Billabong regulars.
With the heavy rain interrupting proceedings, the scores could have been better but Joseph Schuler and Miss Poopay left everyone in their wake with a net score of 61.8, which included 5 birdies on the front nine and a score of 66 with a 4.3 handicap. In second place was Freddie Starbeck and John Nichols with 64.8, third place went to the Ritchie family, Greig and Gary with 66.4, just ahead of Tony Oakes and George Barrie with 67.4.
The ladies had their own competition with Miss Tan taking no prisoners with 42 points, well ahead of Miss Pin occupying second place with 36 points but requiring a count-back to push Miss Nu into third place.
There was only one ‘2’ which went to Miss Yen.
Friday, Jan. 13, Crystal Bay – Stableford
Crystal Bay was the venue for this day out, and considering the amount of rain during the week, the course was in surprisingly good condition. There were some soft spots here and there but nothing to get upset about and the course was packed full so a long day was in store.
With 7 groups playing we started a little early and thanks must go to the efficient staff members who look after the golfers. One member of our group, George Barrie, almost got the hole in one still missing from his list of golfing achievements, his effort here stopping just 6 inches short of the cup.
The scores were not too bad with nobody breaking their handicap. There was a count back for third place between Geoff Parker, Dave Bramley and George Barrie with Geoff being the one left out, George taking fourth and Dave the bronze, all with 35 points. There was also a count back between Miss Tewin and Alistair Gall for the top two spots, Alistair being edged out by Tewin after they were tied on 36 points each.
There were three ‘2’s, coming from George, Dave Bramley and Andrew Woodall.
