IPGC golf from The Haven
Monday, Feb. 3, Khao Kheow B & C – Stableford
CSS 72
1st Markku Tynell (23) 37pts
2nd Walter O’Keefe (16) 34pts
3rd Alan Hanlon (12) 32pts
4th Jens Gunnarsson (15) 31pts
5th Russell Gilroy (17) 30pts
Suddenly the numbers of hopefuls dropped as arguably three of the toughest courses on the schedule cropped up all in the same week. Those that did take up the challenge were rewarded with three excellent courses in great shape but none were easy, with the first being the only one of the three to keep the standard scratch for the day at par.
Markku Tynell took yet another win on the first outing of the week to make it three wins in a row on a Monday, with a one under handicap round that even included a blob on C9. But with five three-pointers on the card it surely cannot be too long before his handicap will catch up and give a few of the others a chance to start their week’s golf off with a bang.
Walter O’Keefe, Mike Hill and Markku Tynell.
Walter O’Keefe took his first of three podiums in the week three shots back in second place after a fairly steady round blighted only with a couple of zeros.
Alan Hanlon slipped into third place as he began to get the pace of the greens after a few holes practicing and just did enough to keep Jens Gunnarsson back in fourth a point behind, with Russell Gilroy rounding out the day’s mentions another one back in fifth.
Russell Gilroy cleaned out the second division ‘2’s pool whilst Trevor Schirmer celebrated his return with the sole one in the first division, which took the beefed up rollover pot.
Before the presentations were made there were welcome backs for Konrad Klama, John Pearce and Trevor Schirmer and a second farewell to Jens Gunnarsson who definitely went this time.
Wednesday, Feb. 5, Mountain Shadow – Stableford
CSS 74
Division 1 (0-18)
1st Bruce Kusyk (13) 36pts
2nd Walter O’Keefe (16) 33pts
3rd Alan Hanlon (12) 31pts
Division 2 (19+)
1st Mike Hill (21) 26pts
2nd George Pittam (19) 25pts
3rd Konrad Klama (24) 25pts
A slightly better turnout meant the formation of two divisions again with the cut coming at 18 and below for the first division to take on the always tricky Mountain Shadow course. This place is reputed to have been designed for fifteen handicappers and below and considering the day’s scores that would appear to be a fair description, with ten points difference between the top two scorers in each division.
Bruce Kusyk led in the first division with an excellent level par round and being the only player to make the handicap standard it resulted in the CSS for the day increasing by two to 74. The scores were a reflection of the difficulty of the greens, where the pins had been placed in some of the most testing positions demanding great precision with the approach shots, as the rest of the course was in tip top condition.
Walter O’Keefe took his second, second place of the week with another solid round but could not match the steadiness shown by the winner, recording a zero and a few too many one-pointers in his round.
Alan Hanlon again showed it will not be too long before his handicap will be travelling south as he returned a card that got better the longer the round went and he did enough to claim third place.
The second division was led in by a very surprised winner in Mike Hill, as he returned the lowest score in memory to win a division out of Soi 13. The pin placements wrecked havoc with all of the second tier players but his return did include a four-pointer and a couple of three-pointers, which was far and away the best of the division.
There followed a four-way count back for second which George Pittam won with 13 while Konrad Klama in third with 12 led in Hal Hart and Patrick Scullion with 11 apiece.
Underlining the difficulty of the course on the day there were no 2’s in either division.
Friday, Feb. 7, Treasure Hill (yellow tees) – Stableford
CSS 73
1st Walter O’Keefe (16) 37pts
2nd Don Everett (19) 33pts
3rd Mick Alleyne (8) 32pts
4th John Cooke (14) 30pts
5th John Carlin (16) 29pts
Friday saw a slightly smaller group taking on perhaps the hardest challenge of the week at Treasure Hill where it was decided to play from the shorter yellow tees at nearly 6,400 yards. Despite the reduced yardage, the difficulty of the terrain was the winner and even with the course being in great shape the CSS for the day went out two to finish at 73.
Walter O’Keefe at last topped the podium with a fine win that left the best of the rest trailing four shots in his wake, as he started out with a one under nine followed by a solid even handicap inward half to ensure that he will be playing the next few rounds in a lower division.
Don Everett was the best of the rest at three over handicap to underline his steady improvement since returning to Thailand.
New member Mick Alleyne, playing the course for the first time, was taken a little by surprise by the first four holes from which he only gleaned four points and then managed to level with the course for the next fourteen to take third place.
Another new member, John Cooke, also struggled on the outward nine, taking just 11 points from it, but then settled down well to finish strongly with the best back nine of the day, which was enough to see him into fourth place. John Carlin led a count back for fifth with 15, ahead of Hal Hart with 14 and Mike Hill with 13.
There were no 2’s in the second division but John Cooke celebrated his first time out with the group with the only one in the first division to scoop the rollover pool.
Back at The Haven there were welcomes for new members Tony Foster and Mick Alleyne from the Moor Park club in Sydney, together with Kunal Singh from the Rambagh club in Jaipur and John Cooke from the Udon Thani Golf Society of the same town.
Note: If you would like to play with The Haven group, you can contact mobile 094 567 5726 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.
