The Billabong Bar Golf Society
Monday, Feb. 13, Phoenix – Stableford
Phoenix is a great golf course and it was packed to the gunnels today, there were people everywhere so we knew it was going to be a long day. We had six groups playing and only one retired hurt – Dave did his back in after six holes, a sad sight to see and the scribe knows only too well about the condition.
There were no standout scores today and only one ‘2’, that going to Brett Gale who also won the day with his 36 points. It was a 4-way count back for the minor places between Glyn Davies, Colin Goon, Keith Allen and John Anderson, all on 35 points. Glyn prevailed for second, Keith got third and John took fourth as Colin missed out completely.
Wednesday, Feb. 15, Green Valley – Stableford
It was Valentine’s Day the day before and being a bunch of romantics at the Billabong, celebrations were obviously essential. But for those standing on the 1st tee, George Barrie and Kevin Wild in particular, the after effects of the revelries were etched all over their faces and most of the 36 golfers needed a ‘hair of the dog’ to get going.
The course at Green Valley is in good condition and even the bunkers have not been ignored for more sand has been added. A strong wind accompanied us for the first nine holes, which was a contributory factor for Jeff North to experience his worst round of golf since puberty.
Gerard Lambert is making a habit of being mentioned in dispatches, and today with 35 points he was just one point below Warren Miller who finished 3rd with 36. William Macey was well short of Peter LeNoury on 38 points who went round in gross 79 to have 41 points.
The overall scores for the ladies reflected the day after the night before but Miss Yen had 33 points for 3rd, just 1 point less than Miss Sa who took the silver, but Miss Da made a welcome return to the winner’s enclosure on 36 points.
There were two ‘2’s today, going to Miss Sa and John Bearden.
Friday, Feb. 17, Pattavia – Stableford
Do you remember when the Century Chonburi had a green fee of 100 baht? Well things have changed and it is now 700 baht (with PSC), but the course is now in excellent condition with some very interesting holes. Even the road from the 331 to the clubhouse is now a road, not a goat track, and a visit to Pattavia is good value for money at 1250 baht sharing a buggy.
The greens are interesting and the one thing you can be certain of is that there are no ‘gimmies’ here. They have got to be the most challenging greens around Pattaya, not so much fast but like putting down or across the side of a mountain, and the scores today reflected the difficulty that everyone found.
There were some major differentials between back and front nines with Steve Dodd having 18 on the front and 9 on the back while Ramsey Smith did the reverse with 8 on the front and 18 on the back. Willie Mercer needed a count back to claim 3rd place with 30 points and Mel McGowan, trailing on the 16th, gained 9 points on the last 2 holes to take second place with 34 points. William Macey, walking purposely around the course, took top spot with 36 points.
Not surprisingly there were no ‘2’s.
Please Note: The tee time for the Billabong monthly scramble on February 24 at Plutaluang has been changed to 7.30 – yes 7.30am!
