PSC golf from The Outback Golf Bar
Monday, Jan. 20, Burapha – Stableford
Not only did John Cunningham achieve every golfer’s dream of a hole in one, but five holes later he had an eagle (John holed his tee shot on the par 3 C5 then holed a 185yd five-wood for an eagle on the par five D1). However those efforts, which reaped him 36pts, were not quite enough for him to win the day, that honour going to Greg Hill who carded the day’s best of 39. Pete Stonebridge also scored 36pts, losing out on c/b to John with Steve Mann one further back on 35.
Bruce McAdam was the winner of a below average scoring Div B with 34pts whilst Ivan Plunkett beat Ed Turner on c/b, both on 31pts.
For the record it was a cool windy day for the 23 Outbackers who played the C and D nines.
Hole in one hero John Cunningham (centre) with Bruce McAdam (left) and Greg Hill.
Tough luck for the three players who had ‘2’s as John scooped the ‘2’s pool and later in the day he celebrated back at the Outback with a bell ring… thanks John.
Div A (0-18)
1st Greg Hill (18) 39pts
2nd John Cunningham (6) 36pts
3rd Pete Stonebridge (16) 36pts
4th Stephen Mann (10) 35pts
Div B (19+)
1st Bruce McAdam (26) 34pts
2nd Ivan Plunkett (24) 31pts
3rd Ed Turner (21) 31pts
4th Bob Mattes (21) 26pts
Tuesday, Jan. 21. Lotus Valley/Royal Hills Tour – Day 1
Originally planned as a six group trip based on a suggestion of Steve Mann’s, the first of the Outback’s monthly mini tours grew into a fully fledged 32 person event.
Spread over three days, with the first round to be played at the fantastic Lotus Valley course, the group left early on Tuesday morning to arrive at the course around 10 a.m. to be greeted by a good stiff wind and temperatures bordering on what we would call cold at around the 23 degrees mark.
Unfortunately our 10.30 a.m. tee time had been put back half an hour due to a shortage of caddies but at least we were compensated by the benefit of a two-tee start, which enabled everybody to get round in good time before the hour and a bit journey on to Royal Hills, where we were due to overnight.
John Lawton (centre) with Paul Bourke (right) and John Stafford.
The best score for the day was recorded by Chris Thompson, who won Div C with 39pts from Bruce McAdam on 36. Noddy Moyle (35pts), who has at last started to play the way we know he can took third place, with Ed Turner one further back on 34.
No stranger to the leader-boards this year is John Lawton, who once again proved that all you need to do is change your golf swing to improve your game, even if he doesn’t know which swing change he is on. Whichever the model, John won Div B with an excellent 38pts from Sugar (34) and General Jack (33), beating John Stafford on c/b.
Somewhat surprisingly, Paul Bourke’s handicap has drifted out to 12, which put him in good stead for the overall three-day tournament and he must have been disappointed to score only 34pts, even though it was enough to win Div A from Andy Butterworth (33) and Paul with his son Scott one further back, both on 32.
There were four ‘2’s from David Davies (3rd), Andy Butterworth & Stephen Mann (8th) and Jack Moseley (17th).
Div A (0-13)
1st Paul Bourke (12) 34pts
2nd Andy Butterworth (10) 33pts
3rd Paul Greenaway (11) 32pts
4th Scott Greenaway (5) 32pts
Div B (14-19)
1st John Lawton (19) 38pts
2nd Sugar Ray Handford (18) 34pts
3rd Jack Moseley (19) 33pts
4th John Stafford (18) 33pts
Div C (20+)
1st Chris Thompson (23) 39pts
2nd Bruce McAdam (26) 36pts
3rd Noddy Moyle (21) 35pts
4th Ed Turner (21) 34pts
Wednesday, Jan. 22, Lotus Valley/Royal Hills Tour – Day 2
We arrived around 5.30 p.m. Tuesday at the Royal Hills Resort in Nakhon Nayok and check in was easy but on this occasion we were all housed in the 4 bed villas directly across the road from the main reception as the hotel was full. The villas are OK, each of the four rooms having their own key but they did look a little tired and hot water was a bit hit and miss.
(From left): Sugar Ray Handford, Paul Bourke, Guy Brennan and Chris Thompson at Royal Hills Golf Resort.
After a few bevvies at the bar in plummeting temperatures, many of us made our way across to the restaurant, near the first tee, for a bite to eat and a glass of wine or two but it didn’t get any warmer (about 16 deg), not helped by a broken door that could not be closed.
Next morning, we were due to tee off at 9 a.m. and the course looked wonderful in very sunny conditions and blue sky, but it was still very cold with a strong wind blowing. We were away just about on time and were able to play at a good pace as there were very few players out in front of us.
The course, I have to say, was in about the best condition I have ever seen it but the grainy greens still played havoc with many a player’s score. The Div C guys seemed to come out worst with 32pts being the top score from Noddy Moyle, and a surprised Dave Earthrowl took second on 29. Chris Thompson came down to earth after his good round at Lotus, to record 28pts for third place and Ed Turner filled the last podium slot on 26, beating B2 on c/b.
The top scores came in Div A as Paul Bourke and Steve Mann both had 38’s ahead of Guy Brennan (32) and Peter Eriksen (31) and Div B went to the Sugarman on 36 as General Jack recorded his second podium finish on 33, beating John Stafford again on a c/b.
Only two ‘2’s today from Noddy Moyle (13th) and Guy Brennan (16th).
Div A (0-13)
1st Bourke, Paul (12) 38pts
2nd Mann, Stephen (10) 38pts
3rd Brennan, Guy (9) 32pts
4th Erikson, Peter (6) 31pts
Div B (14-19)
1st Sugar Ray Handford (18) 36pts
2nd Jack Moseley (19) 33pts
3rd John Stafford (18) 33pts
4th Mick Indge (18) 32pts
Div C (20+)
1st Noddy Moyle (21) 32pts
2nd David Earthrowl (23) 29pts
3rd Chris Thompson (23) 28pts
4th Ed, Turner (21) 26pts
Thursday, Jan. 23, Lotus Valley/Royal Hills Tour – Day 3
We left the resort after breakfast at around 9 a.m. on our way back to Lotus Valley for the final round of this three day competition.
As usual the leaders went out last and since we had the benefit of a two-tee start, the top four groups went off the first and the bottom four off the tenth. The pace of play wasn’t too bad with less players around than there had been on Tuesday. The weather stayed fine and felt a little warmer as there was hardly any wind and it was just about the most ideal conditions anyone could wish for.
Mick Indge certainly made the most of it, scoring 42pts to win Div B by three from that man, John Lawton again with 39. Paul Greenaway took Div A on 38 from Peter Eriksen and Div C went to Bruce McAdam on 35 from Suzi with 33.
So with both Paul Bourke and the Sugarman stumbling in round three, the door was left open for John Lawton to make up a five shot deficit to win, going away by three with an overall total of 106pts. John faltered a bit over the closing stretch but held his nerve for what turned out to be -in his words – “a memorable victory.”
Mick Indge moved up from 11th place to end up in joint fourth with the Sugarman, both with 102pts and John Stafford’s closing 37 moved him up from 8th to joint 2nd with overnight leader Paul Bourke, both on 103.
Four more ‘2’s today from Mick Indge (3rd), Paul Bourke (8th), John Lawton (12th) and John Stafford chipped in for his on the 17th.
Final Standings
1st John Lawton 106pts
T2nd John Stafford 103pts
T2nd Paul Bourke 103pts
T4th Mick Indge 102pts
T4th Sugar Ray Handford 102pts
T6 Stephen Mann 100pts
T7 Peter Erikson 99pts
T8th Paul Greenaway 98pts
T8th Noddy Moyle 98pts
T10 Bruce McAdam 97pts
Friday, Jan. 24, Green Valley – Stableford
Many of the players on the Royal Hills/Lotus Valley trip had a day off from golf today, resulting in a smaller than usual field at the popular Green Valley course. 29 players turned out, divided into two divisions, each being won by the very same score, 39 points.
John O’Keefe did the business in Div A, playing off 16, narrowly beating Bob Finley and Peter LeNoury by one point and David Davies took Div B by two from the improving Greg LeBlanc and Kim Danboise (35), who beat Greg Hill on c/b.
There was only one ‘2’ on the 16th from Tom Larsen.
Div A (0-17)
1st John O’Keefe (16) 39pts
2nd Bob Finley (16) 38pts
3rd Peter LeNoury (11) 38pts
4th Jim Brackett (7) 36pts
Div B (18+)
1st David Davies (25) 39pts
2nd Greg LeBlanc (25) 37pts
3rd Kim Danboise (20) 35pts
4th Greg Hill (18) 35pts
Note: The Outback Golf Bar is situated about 6km from Sukhumvit Road along Soi Siam Country. Call Jack on 081 578 1956.
