PSC Bunker Boys Golf
Monday, September 6th
Greenwood Golf Club A & B
1st Nick Evans (13) 37 points
2nd Michael Brett (18) 37 points
3rd Jimmy Carr (17) 37 points
Near pins Kevin LeBar, Geoff Cox, Steve Durey, & Michael Brett.
Despite being smack in the middle of monsoon season and having endured some weather of biblical proportions recently we somehow have managed to get through three consecutive games without rain interruptions, how much longer can we be so lucky?
The first game of a new week was played at Greenwood A & B nines in hot sunny conditions. The course was very wet as expected, so plugged balls were common, luckily the pick, clean, and place rule was implemented from the off. The rough was brutal, deep, and thick, and anybody that strayed in there was severely punished if they were lucky enough to find their ball. Parts of the course were so wet the ground staff had to use whipper snippers to trim the grass, as mowers would simply have damaged the course.
Despite the difficulty of the course condition and some rust still lingering post lockdown, overall scores were generally on the improve. Countback was used to separate the top three, all finishing locked together on thirty-seven points, decent scores under the conditions. Nick Evans made his breakthrough win at the Bunker Boys with the best back nine, Michael Brett took second and Jimmy Carr third. All the near pins were taken going to Kevin LeBar, Geoff Cox, Steve Durey as usual, and Michael Brett.
Since our return to golf, we have adopted the new handicap system which it has to be said has confused everybody. At present handicaps are all over the place with some people playing poorly and still, their handicaps come down whilst others are going in the opposite direction. Perhaps it’s just teething problems but at present, it makes little sense.
Wednesday, September 8th
Pattaya Country Club
1st Steve Durey (21) 36 points
2nd Michael Brett (18) 36 points
3rd Nick Evans (12) 36 points
Near pins Nick Evans, Jimmy Carr Kevin LeBar, & Michael Brett.
As if Covid wasn’t enough for Pattaya to deal with, last night it got hit with a storm even bigger than last week’s record flood. To make matters worse, it came in the middle of the night when everyone was sleeping, and many businesses couldn’t sandbag their properties. Consequently, in several shops, product was spoiled on the lower shelves and had to be thrown away. Canterbury Tales book store had to throw out thousands of books. Even our bar got flooded and some of the lockers were in water when we arrived to play.
A busy weekend ahead for locals to assess the situation and remediate any damage. We can assure those with lockers that every effort will be made to minimise any impact on their bags and clubs.
Throughout all this adversity, Thai people have shown themselves to be remarkably resilient. They simply shrug their shoulders, clean up and carry on until the next time.
Our regular and even irregular visitors will be pleased to know that the Bunker Boys both collectively and individually are playing their part in the food relief effort in Pattaya with several donations. Welfare is virtually non-existent in Thailand so anybody wishing to contribute to a worthy cause should direct their donations to Tony Robbins who will use them to good effect. These are indeed dark days for Pattaya so all contributions are assured to go to where they are needed most and will be most welcome by the recipients.
On the small matter of golf, with the city flooded at departure time and the outlook not too bright, a few hardy souls decided to take a chance and brave the elements. Of course, the girlie men stayed away. A little rain was too much for them. It was still raining slightly when we got to the course but after a coffee break, we were off to the first tee and played a full round without any further rain in what were very pleasant conditions for golf under the circumstances.
The fairways were sodden in places and ok in others, the greens were absolutely fine.
In a curious turn of events we had a three-way tie at the top for the second game in a row with Steve Durey, Michael Brett, and Nick Evans all on thirty-six points and placed in the same order.
All near pins were taken with one each to Nick Evans, Jimmy Carr, Kevin LeBar, and Michael Brett.
With another tropical storm currently over the Philippines heading our way and expected to hit by the weekend, we may encounter even more difficulty for Friday’s game.
Friday, September 10th
Parichat International Golf Links
Rainbow
1st Michael Brett (18) 42 points
2nd Steve Durey (21) 37 points
3rd Geoff Atwell (25) 36 points
Near pins Niall Glover, Steve Durey, Geoff Atwell, & Alan Sullivan.
The storm hitting The Philippines on Wednesday has moved slower than expected and is currently over central Vietnam and into Cambodia, so by tomorrow we should feel its wrath. In the meantime, we enjoyed yet another day of rain-free golf at Parichat where as usual we played our monthly rainbow round. The course was wet as expected but not overly so and the greens were remarkably dry playing fast and true.
The rust following the five-week break is now well and truly gone and better scores are being returned. Geoff Atwell put together a nice round of thirty-six points to take third place. The ever consistent Steve Durey went one better than his Wednesday score with a fine thirty-seven points whilst the winner Michael Brett off a handicap that is hard to fathom made it to the top today with a score of forty-two points. Again all the near pins were taken with one each going to Niall Glover, Steve Durey, Geoff Atwell, and Alan Sullivan.
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