PSC golf from The Growling Swan
Monday, Feb. 24, Greenwood, A & B – Stableford
With our smallest field for quite some time, 16 we assembled at The Growling Swan in readiness for our trip up 331 to Greenwod Golf Course and unlike the previous Thursday the weather was fine and looked like staying that way for the day.
We welcomed back veteran Ted Morris and unfortunately had to say farewell to Alan Sanders, returning to the Gold Coast in Queensland, Max Bracegirdle who is off back to Melbourne for a few weeks and David Fletcher who is returning to work in Western Australia.
Our 2 mini vans departed the GS right on time at 8.30 am and after a good run through the Monday morning Pattaya traffic arrived at the golf course 52 minutes later. It was fairly busy and we had to wait for a couple of groups to tee off but we were able to send our first four ball away 5 minutes behind schedule at 10.05 am.
Patrick Poussier, Gerd Riedler, Cameron Denham & Martin Todd.
As mentioned earlier the weather was fine with very little wind and it did get quite hot as the round progressed but the course was in very good condition with the greens quite quick at times. We had some slow groups ahead of us and were held up several times but ended up completing a very enjoyable round of golf in four hours & twenty five minutes.
The winner of Division A with an outstanding score of 41 points was Duangjai “Kae” Tusagad, just 1 point ahead of Mike “Hunter” Gosden in second place and Ted Morris was third with 37 points.
In B Division Sandy “Cindy Lauper” Leiper took the honours with 35 points and with 2 golfers tied on 33 points a count back was necessary which saw Geri Crilly (17 point back nine) take second spot from Alan “Colonel” Sanders (16 point back nine) in third place.
A Flight (0-19)
1st Duangjai Tusagad (19) 41pts
2nd Mike Gosden (12) 40pts
3rd Ted Morris (12) 37pts
B Flight (20+)
1st Sandy Leiper (34) 35pts
2nd Geri Crilly (28) 33pts
3rd Alan Sanders (26) 33pts
Near Pins: B5 – Max Bracegirdle
Long Putts: A9 – Sandy Leiper, B9 – Mike Gosden
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 David Fletcher who accepted the award like the good sport that he is.
Thursday, Feb. 27, Pattavia – Stroke/Monthly Mug
It was time to compete for the 21st Growling Swan Monthly Mug and there were 27 stalwarts ready to take on the challenge of a stroke round at Pattavia.
As we assembled at The Growling Swan we welcomed long time Pattaya resident Mick O’Connor and old friend Paul Avery from Cairns in Queensland back in Pattaya for about 6 weeks. It was sadly time to say farewell to Robert Allen, his son Chris and Cameron Denham who will shortly be returning to Melbourne.
Sandy Leiper, Duangjai Tusagad & David Fletcher.
Everyone was on time so we departed a couple of minutes earlier than our scheduled 8.30 am and the three mini vans set off up number 7 and then 331 before the last twenty minute drive along the bumpy “pineapple road”, arriving at the course 57 minutes later. The clubhouse construction is not yet complete so it was back to the old change-rooms but at least this time there were plenty of lockers available as the venue was very quiet and we went straight on to the first tee and got our first group, a three ball away 10 minutes early at 9.50 am.
The weather was quite hot and there was a bit of wind as we set off with no-one in front of us so there was no excuse for a slow round even though we were playing stroke. The golf course was looking good and the greens having been sanded not too long ago were not quite as slick as last month but still posed problems for golfers facing downhill putts of any length. After stopping for a break before the 14th tee we kept up the very good pace and completed a very enjoyable round of golf in three hours & fifty minutes.
The course was playing tough and we had just one golfer playing to their handicap or better and that was Gerd Riedler who took out his first Monthly Mug with a fine round of net 71.
In Division A it was Martin “Toddy” Todd who took the honours with net 73 and John Davis was second on net 75. In third place came Mike “Hunter” Gosden with a net 76 and your writer, Peter “Blacky” Blackburn scraped into fourth spot with a net 78.
Patrick Poussier was the winner in B Division with net 74 and with 2 golfers on net 75 a count back was necessary which saw Chris Allen (net 34 back nine) take second spot from Geri Crilly (net 37 back nine) in third place and Roy “Plums” Dayton finished fourth with a net 77.
Monthly Mug
1st Gerd Riedler (8) net 71
A Flight (0-20)
1st Martin Todd (8) net 73
2nd John Davis (16) net 75
3rd Mike Gosden (12) net 76
4th Peter Blackburn (13) net 78
B Flight (21+)
1st Patrick Poussier (23) net 74
2nd Chris Allen (22) net 75
3rd Geri Crilly (28) net 75
4th Roy Dayton (24) net 77
Near Pins: 4th – Mike Gosden, 13th – Don Richardson, 17th – Gerd Riedler
Long Putts: 9th – Peter Blackburn, 18th – Vaughan Jackson
The Growling Swan NAGA Award was won by Cameron Denham and back at the bar we all thanked Mine Host Peter Grey for sponsoring the Mug and we also thanked Paul Avery who celebrated his 60th birthday by providing a delicious buffet supper and rang the bell on a couple of occasions.
Note: Growling Swan Golf welcomes golfers of any persuasion – low & high handicappers alike, female golfers and beginners. We generally play Mondays & Thursdays, meeting at The Growling Swan 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].
We also play bowls out of the Growling Swan every Wednesday and Sunday. Sunday is Lawn Bowls and Wednesday is Indoor Bowls. All are welcome and for anyone that is interested the transport leaves The Growling Swan at 10.00am on each of those mornings. For more information please contact Paul Rennison on 0843 454 005.
