IPGC golf from The Haven
Sunday, Feb. 20,.Wangjuntr Highlands – Stableford
CSS 73
Division 1 (0-16)
1st Patrick Quinlivan (14) 35pts
2nd Bill Connelly (13) 33pts
3rd Allan Duffy (8) 32pts
4th Don Scott (9) 32pts
Division 2 (17+)
1st Jackie O’Connor (18) 42pts
2nd Mike Contoni (29) 41pts
3rd Wayne Harmon (17) 36pts
4th Andy Galvin (17) 35pts
With Sundays still being a bit of a problem at Green Valley, several bus loads of golfers made the not so long journey to play the Wangjuntr Highland course in Rayong situated just north of Klaeng, but with the new road systems it took just over seventy five minutes to complete the trip without the need for any white knuckles.
Bob Lamond.
The extra time spent travelling was well worth it as the players were treated to some spectacular views as they proceeded around the course, which is one of three available, all being set in the deep countryside, and the condition was first rate.
The scoring in the first division did not come up to the standard of the course with the best being one over handicap from Patrick Quinlivan to take his first win out of Soi 13 by two from Bill Connelly, with Alan Duffy and Don Scott involved in a count-back which Allan won by 12 to 11 over the last six after they had tied at 16 a piece on the nine.
The 2’s were shared by Russell Exley and Joe McArdle
Monday, Feb. 21, Greenwood – Stableford
CSS 74
Division 1 (0–13)
1st Martin Grimoldby (6) 35pts
2nd Alan Hanlon (12) 34pts
3rd Phil Groves (12) 32pts
4th Kinya Akiyama (10) 32pts
Division 2 (14+)
1st Vance Millar (17) 32pts
2nd Paul McDonald (15) 32pts
3rd Shuichi Kodaka (18) 32pts
4th Rod Howett (23) 31pts
Shuichi Kodaka.
Another large contingent of golfers left The Haven under very overcast skies and it turned out to be a day bedeviled with intermittent showers and heavy rainstorms, all of which affected the end results that saw none of the hopefuls matching their handicaps.
Martin Grimoldby had the best of the day at one over handicap which was just enough by one to claim the first division from Alan Hanlon, with Phil Groves making an immediate impression on the handicap chairman by taking third after a count-back over Kinya Akiyama by a margin of 18 to 12 after Kinya had lit up the front nine.
The second division was headed by Vance Millar after he also won a count-back, this one going to the back six which he edged 12 to 11 after he and Paul McDonald had tied the inward half at 18 each.
Shuichi Kodaka was also included in the first part of that count-back but only managed to accumulate 14 and so finished in third place, one in front of fourth placed Rod Howett.
Whilst the main competition was running alongside it was a match played between The Haven and Bobby’s Peelers for the second year as the visitors tried once again unsuccessfully to wrest the Challenge Jug from the holder’s claw like grasp. The match finished in The Haven’s favour 32 to 27 after a sterling effort by the challengers just failed to succeed.
There were no 2’s in the first division but Shuichi Kodaka had one on his own to clean up the roll over pot in the second division.
Before presenting the prizes The Doc welcomed new member Seiko Ojima and also welcomed back Phil Groves, Max Arlen, Martin Grimoldby and John Murphy, who also won the longest drive competition, having come all the way from Phuket by road.
Wednesday, Feb. 23. St. Andrews – Stableford
Division 1 (0–14)
Yellow tees
CSS 77
1st Alan Hanlon (12) 34pts
2nd Bob Lamond (6) 33pts
3rd Patrick Holland (9) 33pts
4th Ian Foster (13) 33pts
Division 2 (15+)
White Tees
CSS 74
1st John Murphy (20) 38pts
2nd Toni Pieroni (16) 34pts
3rd Wayne Harmon (17) 33pts
4th Don Everett (23) 32pts
Another day when the conditions played a large part in the end results, as once again the rains fell heavily, and made it a very damp and somewhat miserable day and the scores reflected the difficulties fairly.
Martin Grimoldby.
The two divisions were set up to play from different tees with the first division playing from the longer yellows and the second division from the whites.
John Murphy returned the best card of the day at two under handicap to take the second division by four clear from Toni Pieroni, with Wayne Harmon in third and Don Everett in fourth, the latter three ensuring that the Gosnells Golf Club from Perth W.A. were well represented among the prizes at least in the second division.
The first division found the extra length rather too much of a challenge when allied to the weather conditions which was reasonably reflected in the final scores, with Alan Hanlon’s two over handicap good enough to take the top step of the podium ahead of a four-way count-back for second which was won by Bob Lamond with 18, with Patrick Holland striking it rich first time out on 17 in third and Ian Foster fourth with 16, all of which left Danny Miller missing out as his meager 12 was a big disappointment following the 21 points that he had amassed on the front nine.
Don Everett made up for just missing out in the main competition by slipping in the only ‘2’ in the second division while Rick Roberts and Bruce Horn shared the first division pool, which included two rollovers. Rick and Bruce birdied the 17th which was playing around 230 yards into a strong wind and both players hit pretty amazing shots to the green in the conditions with Bruce in particular unfortunate to no longer have the power to drive it the extra eighteen inches for a hole in one and Rick having to hole a tricky twelve footer.
Back at The Haven there was a welcome for Patrick Holland and welcome backs to David Bowles and the South Herts team headed by their intrepid leader “Captain 2002’ Bob Heath and comprising in reverse gear order of speed of play Bruce Horn, George Oakley, Gerald Decio and Jim Slattery all accompanied by their private and personal golf professional Michael Cutmore. All will be hoping that last year’s result competing for the Thailand Challenge jug can be reversed this year.
Friday, Feb. 25, Phoenix (Blue Tees) – Monthly Medals
CSS 74
Division 1 (0–15)
1st Bob Lamond (6) net 71
2nd John Shin (+1) net 72
3rd Kevin Townsend (10) net 73
4th Peter Skinner (10) net 74
Division 2 (16+)
1st Shuichi Kodaka (18) net 79
2nd Don Everett (23) net 83
3rd David Bowles (19) net 84
4th Evan Millar (22) net 84
Following his near miss on the previous outing Bob Lamond made amends in style with an outstanding round over the Mountain and Lakes courses, which are probably the most difficult of the combinations at Phoenix off the blue tees, with a three under the day’s CSS which was enough to win his first monthly medal out of The Haven. This is a very surprising statistic considering his ability and he had to beat some very good players to take it. Not least of these was John Shin who returned a gross 71 (net 72) from his plus one handicap and Kevin Townsend, another shot behind in third.
The result meant that all three first division medals for the year had been won with a score of net 71 on the way to qualifying for the end of year Gold and Silver Medal competitions.
Shuichi Kodaka took his first Monthly Medal since December 2009 with a hard earned four over CSS as the length and conditions took their toll of the higher handicappers. Don Everett put in another solid performance to earn second place with David Bowles winning the count-back on the Lakes course with Evan Millar having a better 38.5 to 39 after they had tied over the eighteen.
Evan Millar defied the tee positions and scored a ‘2’ to take the second division pool and Kinya Akiyama and John Shin shared the first division pot.
Prior to the prize giving there was a welcome for new member Max Gard and also welcome backs for Wilf Wellman, Bruce Kusyk, Peter Skinner and John Shin, the latter having just failed to gain entry into the PGA Asian Tour but competing through to the end of the last four days, and making an excellent showing in the process.
Note. If you would like to play with The Haven group you can contact mobile 084782 4582 or call in to the hotel at 185 Soi 13 between Beach Road and 2nd Road. All transportation to the course is arranged and you do not need to sign up prior to the day, but you should be there by 8.30 on Mondays, Wednesday, Fridays and Sundays on the days you wish to play. A schedule of courses to be played can be found on our web site at www.thehaven-hotel.com.
