PSC golf from The Outback Golf Bar
Monday, Dec. 17, Burapha – Stableford
Thirty-two Players to Burapha to play the C & D courses off the white markers. The starter got us away early as the course was not heavily booked and the first four groups finished in under four hours but the back groups struggled to keep up.
The weather was perfect – sunny with a lovely breeze to keep the temperature down. The course was in good condition and much of the rough has been cut now that the course has dried out. The greens have been finally returned to their normal great condition but some of the tees still need time to recover.
Welcome to first timer at the Outback, Adrian Waters and also great to see Dave Buchanan, Mike Bender and Steve Reece for the first time this season, and hello again to Vince Butler, Norman Reed, Don Anderson, Bob Giles, Paul Kaye and Stuart Walters.
Chopper (left) & Grant – Friday’s winners.
Only two players broke or played to handicap and the best score for the day was returned by Svenn Ole Lund who won Division 2 with a brilliant 43 points off his 14 handicap, a great round of golf Svenn. A long way back in second was Burapha regular Pete Stonebridge with 35 followed home by Stuart Walters in third on 33.
John Cunningham won Division 1 with 36 points off his 8 handicap from Dave Buchanan, who shot 35 off scratch, Dave beating two others, Grant & Paul on count back. Div C went to the likeable Irish rogue for the second week in a row, Ivan Plunkett creeping in with only 32 points from David Davies on 30 and Jon Kittilsen with 28.
Four ‘2’s went to Mike Bender, Steve Reece, Rick Kaban and Norman Reed.
Div A (0-11)
1st John Cunningham (8) 36pts
2nd Dave Buchanan (0) 35pts
3rd Grant Airey (8) 35pts
Div B (12-15)
1st Svenn Ole Lund (14) 43pts
2nd Pete Stonebridge (15) 35pts
3rd Stuart Walters (14) 33pts
Div C (16+)
1st Ivan Plunkett (22) 32pts
2nd David Davies (26) 30pts
3rd Jon Kittilsen (20) 28pts
Tuesday, Dec. 18, Burapha – Stableford
General Jack had to blow the dust off his clubs as his son Harry dragged him out onto the course for the first time in quite a while and a very special welcome to Harry who’s here for a couple of weeks before starting his new job in Dubai, so lots of luck with that. Also welcome back to Eddie Smith and Paul Sirban, as well as newcomers, Keith & Gieselle Ripkin, who hail from Jack’s former golf club in the UK, Harleyford near Marlow, Bucks and also to Clive Dean.
Ladies on parade at GreenValley (from the left) Gieselle, Ruk, Nut & Dah.
An excellent turnout again here at Khao Kheow as 32 players tackled the B & C nines from the yellow tees, which must be said were in good condition and are continuing to improve as all the low season maintenance work is beginning to pay off. Even so, Khao Kheow once again was the winner as nobody broke handicap with the day’s top score being 35pts, scored by Mitch Black to win Div A. Div B went to Sel Wegner, also with 35 and Div C went to Jon Kittilsen, who was playing his penultimate round before returning home to the cold, with 34.
Our thanks today to Suzi for organising the day so aptly and managing to squeeze into second place in Div C with 31pts; a quite remarkable feat, when having to play in the last group not only with her husband John, which would normally be bad enough but also with Harry & Jack.
Harry (right) and John, ready to take on Khao Kheow.
There were five ‘2’s, four of them on C8 from Stephen Mann, Joe Mooneyham, Kerry Rothman & Sugar Ray and one on B3 from Peter Erikson.
Div A (0-10)
1st Mitch Black (3) 35pts
2nd Grant Airey (8) 34pts
3rd Peter Erikson (5) 33pts
Div B (11-18)
1st Sel Wegner (13) 35pts
2nd Joe Mooneyham (15) 33pts
3rd Jean Morel (18) 31pts
Div C (19+)
1st Jon Kittilsen (20) 34pts
2nd Suzi Lawton (20) 31pts
3rd Sugar Ray Handford (19) 31pts
Wednesday, Dec. 19, Pattana – Stableford
On the A & C loops here at Pattana, we were spared the tough opening hole on B, which maybe paved the way for a stunning 40pts from Bob St. Aubin, who was delighted with his effort.
This wonderful course is growing in popularity and the staff are always polite and helpful so it was slightly disappointing that only 8 turned out today to play, maybe the success of Siam Plantation played every Wednesday, is a contributory factor.
We played off the forward tees today with ‘lift clean and place’ on the fairways, but the ground is drying out fast and only a couple of holes still had wet areas.
In second place was Barry Copestake, also with a fine score of 38 with Sel Wegner taking third on 36. Well done to Harry whose golf improved dramatically by playing without his Dad watching him.
There were three ‘2’s, one from Rick Kaban and two from Bob St. Aubin.
1st Bob St. Aubin (13) 40pts
2nd Barry Copestake (16) 38pts
3rd Sel Wegner (13) 36pts
Wednesday, Dec. 19, Siam Plantation – Stableford
A Full House of 16 players at this great course on the A & C nines, with some of us starting on A & some on C, but A being declared by Capt’ Steve as the back nine.
Bobby Driggs only arrived the night before but this canny little player showed no signs of jet lag or tiredness, trouncing the field with an excellent 43pts. If that wasn’t enough, imagine you’d shot 40pts on a course like this and you only wind up third; that’s what happened to Grant Airey as he was beaten into second place on count back by Rosco, both scoring the same.
There were three ‘2’s from Rosco, Mark McDonald & Bobby Driggs.
1st Bobby Driggs (14) 43pts
2nd Rosco Langoulant (13) 40pts
3rd Grant Airey (8) 40pts
Friday, Dec. 21, Green Valley – Xmas Scramble
The interesting thing about the Outback Xmas Fun Day & Caddie Party is that it does exactly what it says on the tin; not only did caddies play in the main event at Green Valley but others came back to the Outback from Pattaya Country Club as well as a couple from Siam Plantation & Laem Chabang, to join in the fun.
In terms of numbers, 57 played in a two-person scramble at Green Valley and were joined in the celebrations back at the Outback by another 12 of the14 players from Pattaya Country Club who had their own style of Xmas Fun Day, where the player was not allowed to putt – that was down to the caddie, and eleven of those caddies and Yui, the caddiemaster also came back for the fun at the Outback.
It was a long day for the General, but with the cards ably correlated by Suzi, they were able to announce the winners by just about 6 o’clock by which time the party was in full swing, particularly from the Pattaya C.C. mob who had been on the go since about 4pm. with the party & karaoke continuing late into the evening.
Before announcing the results, Jack announced the Outback plans for next year’s new tournament; “The Race to Bangkok”. Based on the style of the European Tour’s “Race to Dubai”, it will run throughout the year culminating in a final event yet to be determined. Each time a player plays in an Outback event, the prize money will be converted to points and tallied up over the year with the top 24 available players going forward to play in the grand final; when the points will be reset to zero.
We unfortunately had one “no show”, so one group played as a three ball with an allowance of 12½% whereas the rest of the field (2 balls) received 25% but it seemed to work out fair enough. So in sixth place, beating Kerry Beck & Dave Coller on count back, was the Green Valley member pairing of Jack Butler & Ed Horrocks with 67.8. Fifth went to a pair who had never met; a Scotsman, who has only been playing a few weeks and was over the moon with his first podium finish, Chris Smart, and Aussie Paul Rodgers, them finishing on 67.2.
Then came our odd three-ball, Sel, Tim & Mick with 66.6 just behind Paul Housten & Martin Kingswood in third place on 65.8. Outback regulars Paul Greenaway and Steve Plant took second place with a fine sub-par round of 70 (net 65), only to be outdone by Grant & Kerry (or Chopper as he is more familiarly known) on 62.8.
The interesting thing about the winners, they nearly didn’t play together as Grant wanted a better partner since his mate Chopper hadn’t been playing up to speed, but Grant succumbed, just as well – but the handicapper is going to get you Grant, you have had a very solid week, even if you have not beaten your handicap – 7 next week!
Finally Happy Birthday to Sugar who very kindly sponsored two of the near-pins and thanks also to Bob St. Aubin, who sponsored the other two.
The near-pins were won by Mike Bender (4th), Jarrod Braithwaite (9th), Jack Butler (12th) and Sel Wegner (16th).
Note: The Outback Golf Bar is situated about 6km from Sukhumvit Road along Soi Siam Country. Call Jack on 087 941 2474.
