Holmes tames Crystal Bay

IPGC Golf from The Haven

Monday, March 6, Crystal Bay B & C – Stableford

CSS 71

Division 1 (0–13)

1^st Bruce Kusyk (13) 40pts

2^nd Mark Williams (9) 35pts

3^rd Peter Skinner (9) 35pts

 

Division (14-19)

1^st John Holmes (18) 43pts

2^nd P.J. Mitchell (18) 38pts

3^rd Andy Pedlar (19) 34pts

 

Division 3 (20+)

1^st Patrick Scullion (20) 36pts

2^nd Wilf Wellman (30) 35pts

3^rd Benny Hansen (20) 34pts

 

A good week for the group started out at the continuously improving Crystal Bay where the B and C courses were found to be in quite good condition with the greens beginning to get back to their old levels, being fairly consistent as regards to flatness and break.

Three divisions were needed to accommodate the numbers that turned out to play this popular and not so difficult test and the scoring was, as usual, good enough to see the CSS for the day decrease to 71.

The first division was led in by Bruce Kusyk taking his first win with the group for some little while, five ahead of second placed Mark Williams who is at last showing some signs of returning to form, and Peter Skinner took third after he had lost the count back to Mark 17 to 16.

The second division saw John Holmes take the win on his first visit to The Haven with an outstanding seven under handicap return for his best score ever in Thailand.  He won by the same margin of five points as the first division winner, in front of P.J. Mitchell in second and Andy Pedlar another four back in third place.

The third division had the now serial winner Patrick Scullion on top again in his last event with the group but it was a lot closer as Wilf Wellman again showed well in second a shot behind and Benny Hansen another one back in third after winning a count back over Hal Hart with a better 18 to 16.

James Hawley had the lone 2 in the first division as did Greg Gawron in the second division.

 

Wednesday, March 8, Pattana A & B – Stableford

CSS 74

Division 1 (0-15)

1^st Mark Williams (9) 36pts

2^nd Paul McDonald (15) 33pts

3^rd Jun Ishihara (9) 33pts

4^th Mark Cooper (11) 29pts

 

Division 2 (16+)

1^st Hal Hart (21) 40pts

2^nd Larry Gibb (21) 35pts

3^rd Steve Bickle (17) 34pts

4^th John Sutcliffe (16) 32pts

 

As usual the group’s once a fortnightly visit to Pattana was well attended with just under the number playing for three divisions and as usual they were met at the door by the marketing department’s staff and whisked through registration and on to the A and B courses, which were found to be in great condition but a fairly strong breeze made scoring difficult for both divisions.

There was one exception however and that was Hal Hart who had his best round for over a year and will at last see his handicap down to below 20 once again.  Larry Gibb ran him the closest in division 2 but was still five shots away in second place as Steve Bickle took third and John Sutcliffe fourth.

In the top flight Mark Williams went one better than his previous outing with first place on level handicap and three ahead of Paul McDonald, who managed to keep more than usual of his drives on the fairway on the back nine after a slow front nine and did enough to win a count back over Jun Ishihara by a better 19 to 18.  That left Mark Cooper in fourth place some four off their pace as he struggled with the wind on many of the holes.

Larry Gibb had a second draw for the day after he had the sole 2 in the second division whilst Banjo Bannister and Danny Miller shared the first division pool.

 

Friday, March 10, Pattaya C.C. – Stableford

CSS 71

Division 1 (0-15)

1^st Jim Slattery (9) 37pts

2^nd Mark Williams (9) 37pts

3^rd Peter Skinner (9) 36pts

4^th Jun Ishihara (9) 35pts

 

Division 2 (16+)

1^st Phil Stevenson (25) 39pts

2^nd Hal Hart (21) 36pts

3^rd Gerald Decio (18) 35pts

4^th Chris Ross (24) 35pts

 

There are still a few players who do not like to play at the newly renovated Pattaya Country Club, and whilst there are some marked differences between the two nines with the back nine greens still needing to grow in and develop, the overall performance of the course continues to improve.  The scoring on the day indicated this, with the CSS for the day reducing to 71 with over 75% of the field playing within their individual buffer zones.  With the low season pricing very competitive, the group will continue to support the management over the next few months.

Jim Slattery returned, from having been laid low with food poisoning, to take his first win of his current tour after he won a count back over Mark Williams with a better 20 to 19, after Mark had once again zeroed in on the 17th as Jim was slotting in a birdie for four points on the same hole in the group in front.  Peter Skinner placed third one more behind and Jun Ishihara took fourth, rounding an unusual first four places all with the same 9 handicaps.

The second division was taken by Phil Stevenson, who has seen his handicap reduce by three in the last few weeks after putting together some very good results overall.  Hal Hart placed second after another steady round, with Gerald Decio in third and Chris Ross fourth after the former had won a count back, scoring a better 19 to 18.

There were no 2s in the first division but Greg Gawron had the lone one in the second division to sweep the pot.