IPGC golf from The Tara Court & O’Gara’s Bar
Sunday, Jan. 20, Pleasant Valley – Stableford
On Sunday we went to Pleasant Valley where we were booked for 12.30. We arrived around 11.50 to find the place packed and even the car park full. There were people and golf bags everywhere but no caddies or golf carts. We were told to check-in and when caddies came available we would be able to go. We offered to play without caddies and they could send them out to us when they came in but they said that was not possible.
The management said there would be a delay of 30 mins but at 1.15 p.m., still with no caddies, we decided to go home. When we told the manager of our decision and that we wanted our money back suddenly she said we could go off the 10th and they had caddies and carts for us. We all headed down to the 10th tee and eventually got out at 1.30 p.m., one hour later than our booked tee time.
Ger Lodge.
We told the manager that it was doubtful if we would get finished before dark but she assured us that we would get round in 4hrs no problem. It was a nightmare and at 5.00 p.m., 3½ hrs after we started, we finally arrived at our 9th green, the 18th hole. On one par 5 there were 5 groups on the tee box waiting to play. There was no sign of a Marshall anywhere and it was complete chaos.
There was no point in going on to play another 9 holes as we had barely one hour left before dark so we decided to quit. When we asked for a refund they offered us 50% of the green fees but no allowance for the carts even though we only had them for 9 holes.
We were met by a young man with a serious attitude problem who claimed to be the owner and we explained to him that we had paid them over 40,000 baht and that if he didn’t refund us 50% for the carts we would not be coming back. He said that was ok with him and wouldn’t accept that the problem was that they had overbooked and spoiled everyone’s day. He won’t have to worry as we will never be back again!
Tuesday, Jan. 22, Bangpra – Stableford
Today we played at Bangpra where in contrast to Pleasant Valley everything went very smoothly and no problems. As usual the course was in very good condition, especially the greens which were fast and very true. Everyone had very high praise for the course and enjoyed the day.
We also got off on our exact time and got round in 4hrs, which for this time of year is excellent. We only had one player, Ger Lodge, who managed to do better than his handicap, finishing with 37pts. Maybe it was the fast greens; I think there were a lot of 3-putts.
Coming in second place was Keith Murphy on his first outing with us on 36pts, John Chambers was third with 33 and Joe McArdle took fourth on count back, beating Sean Connolly after both returned 31pts each.
1st Ger Lodge (19) 37pts
2nd Keith Murphy (17) 36pts
3rd John Chambers (9) 33pts
4th Joe McArdle 31pts
5th Sean Connolly (10) 31pts
2’s: Ger Lodge, John Chambers and Peter Murphy.
Thursday, Jan. 24, Khao Kheow – Stableford
Today we were in Khao Kheow, which is probably the best and one of the hardest courses in the area. We played C and B nines and while the course was in beautiful condition, the greens were slower than usual for this venue.
Again the scoring reflected the difficulty of the course with only one player, John Featherston, doing better than his handicap with 38pts.
Back in O’Garas Bar and Resturant we said goodbye to Leo McAuley and John Chambers who were going home on Friday. We also had a very good sing song by the Murphy twins aided by both John Fearherston and Peter Murphy who entertained everyone for a few hours.
1st John Featherston (11) 38pts
2nd Peter Murphy (13) 35pts
3rd Terry Kelly (15) 34pts
4th Sean Connolly (10) 34pts
5th Keith Murphy (17) 32pts
2’s: Ger Lodge
Note: The Tara Court Golf Group plays every Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday, leaving O’Gara’s Bar and Restaurant in the Tara Court on Pratannak Rd around 10.00 a.m. Sign up either in O’Gara’s or ring George on 087 540 0844.
