Monday, April 18th
Songkran Trip Day 1
Cascata Golf Course
1st Michael Brett (17) 32 points
2nd Robbie Watts (7) 32 points
3rd Niall Glover (16) 32 points.
Near pins Robbie Watts & Craig Dows x 2.
A new adventure for the Bunker Boys Monday on the first day of the Songkran trip with a game at Cascata, a course that none had played previously, and what a treat it turned out to be. The course was in superb condition, although there were a few plugged and mudballs, and the greens were very slick. The weather, however, didn’t favour us, with a short heavy shower mid-round and another on the eighteenth.
Playing off the blue tees’ over six thousand six hundred yards, the course played much longer with no run, heavy air, and a stiff breeze adding to the difficulty.
Scores were unsurprisingly low, with nobody really staking a claim to first place. As it happened, three players were tied on thirty-two points and separated on countback. Only three of the long par threes yielded a near pin with Craig Dows in his first game back at the Bunker in over two years taking two and Robbie Watts taking the remaining pin.
Day 2
Tuesday, April 19th
Royal Hills Golf Course
1st Robbie Watts (7) 36 points
2nd Kob Glover (21) 34 points
3rd Paul Smith (1) 33 points
Near pins Robbie Watts, Niall Glover, & Craig Dows X 2.
In readiness for the Singha Classic beginning the next week, the Royal Hills course was competition ready and in great condition. It was also a step up in difficulty from Monday’s game at Cascata. Again, playing off the blue tees at six thousand – six hundred yards, the course offered a real challenge. There are many no-go areas on the course and if you deign to go there you are dead.
A very solid all-round game from Robbie Watts saw him take first place with thirty-six points. Kob Glover had a good day taking second place with thirty-four points, with Paul Smith one adrift in third place. For the second day in a row, Craig Dows took two near pins with the other two going to Robbie Watts and Niall Glover.
Day 3
Wednesday, April 20th
Royal Hills Golf Course
1st Craig Dows (3) 32 points
2nd, Paul Smith (1) 31 points
3rd Michael Brett (17) 30 points
Near pins Craig Dows, Michael Brett, & Craig Dows X 2.
Due to a warmup competition beginning on Thursday we were unable to break up our rounds at Royal Hills so we played on consecutive days. The course proved to be no easier the second time around; in fact, scoring was no better than on the first day, in fact, a bit worse. With many playing practice rounds prior to tomorrow’s competition the course was quite busy. Still, we managed to get around without delay which was fortunate as shortly after we finished it started raining heavily.
Having bagged two near pins on each of the first two days Craig Dows took one more again today. Not only that, he took first place with a modest thirty-two points. Paul Smith was one adrift in second whilst Michael Brett brought up the rear with thirty points. The remaining near pins went to Michael Brett and as usual Paul Smith got two.
Day 4
Thursday, April 21st
Watermill Golf Course
1st Niall Glover (16) 39 points
2nd Herbert Felder (11) 37 points
3rd Paul Smith (1) 35 points
Near pins Paul Smith, Craig Dows, & Niall Glover X 2.
Watermill is a course that most would not have heard of before, let alone played, and what a treat it turned out to be. It is a typical Pete Dye design whose obsession for water on every hole and the signature island green was in evidence. A very nice course indeed apart from one thing, the greens were recently cored and sanded which made putting a bit of a lottery. Nevertheless, everyone enjoyed the course and expressed the view that they would be happy to return again.
The day’s scoring was the best of the tour with Niall Glover having the top score of the trip with thirty-nine points to take first place. Herbert Felder also had a good day taking second place with thirty-six points and Paul Smith was one stroke adrift in third place. Paul Smith and Craig Dows got a near pin each with Niall Glover taking two.
The Tour Champion was Robbie Watts with an accumulated score over the four days of one hundred and thirty points, one ahead of Paul Smith with Craig Dows in third on one hundred and twenty-four points. Craig easily won the near pin competition with six over the four days with three each to Paul Smith and Niall Glover.
Thursday was the last game for Herbert Felder and Hubert Steifenhofer who, after the day’s round, went directly to the airport to fly back to Germany. Both endeared themselves to the Bunker Boys during their stay and we look forward to seeing them back again later in the year.
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