PSC golf from The Growling Swan
Tuesday, April 9, Mountain Shadow – Stableford
A couple of late withdrawals and one late inclusion left us with 26 starters who were all keen to tackle the popular Mountain Shadow layout.
As we assembled at The Growling Swan prior to departure we were happy to welcome back Stephen Newton who is here for a couple of weeks R & R. It was sadly time to say farewell to Roy “Plums” Dayton and his lady Duangjai “Kae” Tusagad who will shortly be off to California for five months or so and good luck to Kae on her first trip out of The Kingdom.
Also departing is good friend J C Lhoste who is off to Monaco & then back to France, Eric “Judge” Black who is returning to Geelong Victoria shortly after Songkran and Jerry Dobbs & Brad “Bad” Todd who will soon be going back to OZ.
Mike Gosden, Stephen Newton & Frank Donnelly.
As everyone arrived early we left the GS in 2 mini vans five minutes ahead of schedule at 8.25 am and after a 43 minute journey arrived at the course where it was very quiet. Time for a putt or two and various other methods of preparation we sent our first group away 20 minutes ahead of schedule at 9.40 am in fairly hot and sticky conditions.
With no-one in front of us for several holes we proceeded in a timely fashion and whilst enjoying the terrific layout which was in excellent “nick” we strolled through the front nine in two hours even. The greens were at their usual best and often caught out the golfer who ended up too far past the hole on the sloping greens.
A quick drink stop before the thirteenth tee managed to revive us in the ever increasing hot conditions and we managed to complete the full round of golf in just a tad over four hours. Great golf course, terrific company, but “bloody hot!”
We were able to have 2 Grades with five podium spots in each. A Grade was for handicaps 0 to 19 and B Grade for 20 and over. We had nearest the pins on all the par threes and longest first putts on the 9th & 18th greens.
Dave Neal, Peter Grey & Shane Young.
Making it two in a row was in form golfer Mike “Hunter” Gosden who won the A Grade with a fine 38 points. With 2 golfers on 37 points a count back was required and it was Alain “Inspector Clouseau” Taddei (21 point back nine) who took second place from Bill McGarvie (18 point back nine ) in third spot. In a record “tight” count back where 2 people on 35 points, both scoring 19 points on the back nine and identical scores on each of the holes on the back nine with the exception of the 11th where Martin Todd’s four for three enabled him to secure fourth place from Suparp “Anna” Korboon, who scored five for two on the 11th.
Frank “Woody” Donnelly was once again victorious in the B Grade and won with 38 points, one point ahead of Duangjai “Kae” Tusagad in second place and Dave Neal was third with 36 points. In a count back for fourth & fifth with both on 35 points it was Sandy “Leiperfrog” Leiper (19 point back nine) just beating Jerry Dobbs (12 point back nine).
A Flight (0-19)
1st Mike Gosden (12) 38pts
2nd Alain Taddei (17) 37pts
3rd Bill McGarvie (11) 37pts
4th Martin Todd (9) 35pts
5th Suparp Korboon (9) 35pts
B Flight (20+)
1st Frank Donnelly (23) 38pts
2nd Duangjai Tusagad (21) 37pts
3rd Dave Neal (23) 36pts
4th Sandy Leiper (34) 35pts
5th Jerry Dobbs (23) 35pts
Near Pins: 5th – J C Lhoste, 8th – Wanta Dacha, 15th – Alain Taddei, 17th – Alain Taddei
Long Putts: 9th – Wanta Dacha, 18th – Ebrahim
The Growling Swan NAGA Award, (awarded to the golfer who has the worst score on the day and discreetly their score is not made public) was won by returnee Stephen Newton who accepted the award in fine spirit. Martin Todd took Deefa for the usual walk and collected many donations for the needy in Pattaya from our ever generous Growling Swan golfers.
Thursday, April 11, Crystal Bay B & C – Stableford
The Pattaya Songkran exodus was starting to take its toll as our numbers were dwindling but we were still left with a field of 24 for this final event before the Songkran break. The popular Crystal Bay was the venue and we welcomed from Norway Roald Thorsen & Jon Haugen and also Bill Hewitt from Leeds, UK and his lady Samorn Tanamsri from Thailand.
Our 2 min vans departed the GS five minutes ahead of schedule at 8.25 am and after a fairly clear run north on Sukhumvit we arrived at our destination 43 minutes later. The course was not busy so there was no rush and we were able to send our first four-ball away 15 minutes ahead of our booked time at 9.45 am.
With just a three-ball in front of us there were no delays and our progress was quite good in the hot and steamy conditions, with the golf course being in great shape and the greens excellent.
After no rain for several months it was quite a surprise when the rain arrived after we had played the B nine and the greens started to flood giving us the thought that maybe our day could be over somewhat prematurely but as ever, after a 30 minute break before the C4 par three the weather cleared, the greens quickly dried out and we were able to continue without too much trouble.
The wet greens did take their toll in the scoring however and what with that and the continual struggle to keep one’s hands dry it was difficult for most to score well over the last nine. It was still very enjoyable though and even after the half hour rain stoppage the full round was completed in just on five hours.
We were able to have 2 Grades with five podium spots in each. A Grade was for handicaps 0 to 26 and B Grade for 27 and over. We had nearest the pins on all the par threes and longest first putts on the 9th & 18th greens.
The adverse weather conditions did not seem to bother Dave Neal who easily won the A Grade with an excellent 41 points, 5 points clear of your writer Peter Blackburn in second spot. In third place came Canadian Bill McGarvie with 35 points and with two golfers tied on 33 points the resultant count back gave fourth place to Thientong Charoenrung (17 point back nine) with Samorn Tanamsri (13 point back nine) finishing fifth.
The winner of B Grade with 33 points was Shane “Jockey” Young and another count back was required to settle second & third spots as there were 2 people on 31 points. The result was that Wendy Bernek (14 point back nine) just pipped Sandy “Leiperfrog” Leiper (11 point back nine) with Fred Dineley finishing fourth on 30 points and Gordon Clegg rounded off the podium with 29 points.
A Flight (0-26)
1st Dave Neal (23) 41pts
2nd Peter Blackburn (11) 36pts
3rd Bill McGarvie (11) 35pts
4th Thientong Charoenrung (19) 33pts
5th Samorn Tanamsri (26) 33pts
B Flight (27+)
1st Shane Young (30) 33pts
2nd Wendy Bernek (30) 31pts
3rd Sandy Leiper (34) 31pts
4th Fred Dineley (27) 30pts
5th Gordon Clegg (27) 29pts
Near Pins: B4 – Samorn Tanamsri, B6 – Wendy Bernek, C4 – Mike Gosden, C7 – Thientong Charoenrung
Long Putts: B9 – Gordon Clegg, C9 – Bill Hewitt
The Growling Swan NAGA Award was well won by Growling Swan Mine Host Peter Grey, who naturally accepted the award in typical sporting style but vowed that his monopoly of winning this award was soon to come to an end – Good luck Peter! Martin Todd was absent so Mike “Hunter” Gosden took Deefa for the usual walk and collected many donations for the needy in Pattaya from our ever generous Growling Swan golfers.
Note: Growling Swan Golf, the home of friendly golf in Pattaya welcomes golfers of any persuasion – low & high handicappers alike, female golfers and beginners. We generally play Mondays & Thursdays, meeting at The Growling Swan (formerly The Bunker Bar) in Soi Chaiyapoon at 8.00 am with transport departing at 8.30 am. For bookings or more information please contact Peter on 0806 351 386 or email to [email protected]
