IPGC golf from The Haven
Monday, Sept. 23, Mountain Shadow – Stableford
CSS 73
1st Phil Groves (8) 38pts
2nd John Carlin (15) 31pts
3rd Alwyne Burley (15) 31pts
4th Serge Straeten (15) 30pts
Once again Crystal Bay, where the group was scheduled to play on this day, must be commended for caring enough to telephone before the group had left for the course to advise that carts would not be available following heavy overnight rain. In the circumstances, having too many players who required golf carts, the day’s event was rescheduled to their sister course Mountain Shadow to the satisfaction of everyone.
Allen Raaen.
The above is a line of customer service that would be well followed by other courses in the Eastern Seaboard Golf Association and might go some way towards mitigating some of the less favourable actions proposed recently for prospective players, especially those that live in the region full time and who possibly deserve some little consideration as paying customers and not just a cash cow to be milked at will.
With ideal conditions for golf, apart from the general wetness of the course, and a ‘lift and place’ in the fairway ruling on the day, a very good day’s golfing was enjoyed by all although the scoring did not fully reflect that situation.
Phil Groves had an exceptional round compared to the rest of the field, leaving them at least seven strokes adrift as he returned a very tidy card without a single blemish of a zero hole to be seen and take the top prize.
John Carlin and Alwyne Burley managed to run Phil the closest as they needed to be separated by a count back for second place, which John won following a better 18 to 16 over the inward nine.
That left Serge Straeten, who has been in good form at other venues recently, to take fourth spot a further one shot behind them.
Once again there were no 2’s in the second division but John Carlin had one in the first to scoop the pool.
Before the presentations were made there was a welcome back for Serge Straeten.
Wednesday, Sept. 25, Khao Kheow – Stableford
CSS 74
1st Mike Hill (21) 38pts
2nd Allen Raaen (8) 35pts
3rd Trevor Schirmer (12) 33pts
4th Shuichi Kodaka (17) 33pts
5th Markku Tynell (22) 32pts
Mike Hill.
Today’s competition was set over the A and B courses following the quick one month renovation of the A course. The scores however did not show how good a condition the course was in and a fine day under overcast skies with the occasional flurry of rain saw the CSS for the day go out two strokes to 74, with Allen Raaen being the only qualifying golfer to meet the standard set at within two of handicap.
Mike Hill had an excellent round that underlined his recent general improvement, finishing two under handicap and a clear winner by three from Allen Raaen in second place.
Trevor Schirmer won a count back for third over Shuichi Kodaka with a better 17 to 12 after Shuichi seemed to collapse following a great outward half that had seen him go three under handicap.
Markku Tynell slipped into fifth place just a further stroke behind them.
Back at The Haven there was a farewell for Andre Holmem returning to Denmark after a successful golfing holiday, playing every day except Saturdays.
Trevor Schirmer slipped in the lone 2 in the first division while after seemingly weeks of blank days the second division was cleaned out by Markku Tynell who was so worried he might have to share the huge rollover pot after knocking a two-footer in on the third hole on the A course, he banged in another on the shorter 5th from fifteen feet to make doubly sure.
Friday, Sept. 27, Pattana B & C – Monthly Medals
CSS 71
Division 1 (0–15)
1st Allen Raaen (8) net 73
2nd John Carlin (15) net 74
3rd Trevor Schirmer (12) net 77
Division 2 (16+)
1st Mike Hill (21) net 70
2nd Phillip Cass (20) net 80
3rd Hal Hart (18) net 83
Hal dines on lobster tails courtesy of Alwyne.
After two tough outings earlier in the week there were very few of the hopefuls that relished the trip to Pattana on Friday to compete in the Monthly Medals, but with a first class course in good condition under clouded skies and some light rain, most of the players ended the day very satisfied with their results although not all of the returns were keepsakes.
Allen Raaen continued with his good run of form for the week to take his fifth Medal of the year, which will make him one of the few contenders in the year end Gold and Silvers, but it was nip and tuck right up to the end with Allen needing to birdie the last to take the win ahead of John Carlin. John could only manage a double bogey on the last hole which denied him the chance of his first Monthly Medal.
Trevor Schirmer took third place three behind John after he too finished with a double after he led the competition after nine.
The second division was headed by Mike Hill who won his second Medal of the year by the huge margin of ten strokes as the rest of the division struggled to get to terms with the length of the course.
Phil Cass came the nearest, but too many triples spoiled any chances that he might have had on what is at the best of times an unforgiving course for those that would test their chances, so he settled for a creditable second spot.
Hal Hart had been hoping to add another Medal to the first one that he won in June but he suffered a spate of quadruples and even a quintuple during a less than memorable front nine but came back into a placement contention with a level handicap return over the C courses to eventually take third place. But he did gain some success from the day as he once again dined on lobster tails following yet another win over Alwyne in their ongoing challenge.
John Carlin had his second success of the week 2’s by being the only player to achieve one in the first division while after Markku’s fireworks during the previous outing it was once again back to normal with none in the second division.
Prior to the presentations being effected there were welcome backs for Takeshi Hakozaki, Mark Armstrong, Russell Gilroy, Jens Gunnarsson, together with ones for Garry and Lind Beck.
Note: If you would like to play with The Haven group, you can contact mobile 082 219 0965 or call in to The Haven 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 8.15 on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday on the days that you wish to play. A schedule of courses to be played can be found on our web site at www.thehaven-hotel.com.
