PSC Golf from The Growling Swan
Monday, Oct. 6, Pattavia – Stableford
It was drizzling with rain as we made our way to The Growling Swan on this Monday morning but as ever we were pretty sure that the “Rain Gods” would be kind to us on the golf course and sure enough they were. Pattavia was the venue and after a late withdrawal and a late addition we were left with a field of 20 golfers who were ready to take up the challenge.
We welcomed from Bundaberg in Queensland David Cartwright & Rodney Weekes, Paul Sharples here on R & R from Oman and veteran Ted Morris having another game with us.
David Cartwright, Duangjai Tusagad & Mark West.
When checking in at the course we were told by the manager that they had started coring some greens and he offered us a 100 baht discount on the green fee, which we accepted and after preparation we were told that the back nine was to be our first nine as they had commenced the coring on the front nine.
We sent our first fourball away 5 minutes ahead of schedule at 9.55 am and in fine but cloudy weather proceeded at a steady pace with no other groups in sight ahead of us. The course was in very good shape and the greens were quite quick on the back nine. The second nine was much slower for some reason and the first 5 or 6 greens had just been cored which made them quite tricky; in fact on the number four par three hole one of our golfers got a nearest the pin but four putted the hole for a wipe – a brutal pin position on this sloping, sanded & cored green!
The rain was threatening as we completed our round but did not eventuate until well after our 5 groups were in and our very enjoyable but slow round was completed in four hours & forty minutes.
There were some very good scores & some very bad ones on the day but the best of all was David Cartwright who won the A Division with an excellent 41 points, just beating Adrian Schmidt who finished second with 40 points. Then came Mike Allidi with 34 points and a count back was required to determine fourth spot as there were 2 golfers on 33 points which resulted in your writer, Peter “Blacky” Blackburn (17 point back nine & 11 points on the last 6 holes) edging out “Buffalo” Bill Steinman (17 point back nine & 10 points on the last 6 holes).
Niall Stuart & Ted Morris.
In B Division it was the PSC Golf Chairman Mark “Westy” West who found his long lost form and was declared the winner with a fine 40 points with Roy “Plums” Dayton in second place with a steady 36 points. Another count back was required to find third & fourth place getters as there were 2 players with 29 points and it was Bob Akapita (14 point back nine & 10 points on the last 6 holes) who grabbed third place from Brad “Bad” Todd (14 point back nine & 8 points on the last 6 holes) who came fourth.
The Growling Swan NAGA Award for the worst score on the day was won by Duangjai Tusagad and she accepted the award like the good sport that she is.
Division A (0-13)
1st David Cartwright (11) 41pts
2nd Adrian Schmidt (13) 40pts
3rd Mike Allidi (2) 34pts
4th Peter Blackburn (13) 33pts
Division B (14+)
1st Mark West (14) 40pts
2nd Roy Dayton (26) 36pts
3rd Bob Akapita (15) 29pts
4th Brad Todd (21) 29pts
Near Pins: 4th – Mike Allidi, 13th – Martin Todd
Long Putts: 9th – David Cartwright, 18th – Martin Todd
Thursday, Oct. 9, Crystal Bay C & A – Stableford
It was a fine morning which was a relief after heavy rain the last couple of days but it did deter some people as we had a small field of 15 to tackle the Crystal Bay layout. I was informed early that there would be no carts allowed to be used on the course but when announced there was only one golfer that decided to opt out.
As we assembled at The Growling Swan we welcomed back Frank Donnelly after a few months back in Bundaberg, Queensland and Marc Henkel from Germany. It was sadly time to say farewell to Brad “Bad” Todd who will shortly be returning to Perth, Western Australia.
When we arrived at the course it was very quiet indeed and after checking-in our first fourball was able to get away 20 minutes ahead of schedule at 9.40 am. The course was very wet and we made the call of preferred lies through the greens but the condition of the greens was very good, which was contrary to some reports that I had recently read. The going was extremely heavy on the wet fairways and it was hot and humid which resulted in our round being quite slow at four hours & twenty five minutes but nonetheless it was an enjoyable round of golf.
With a very good round of 37 points it was veteran Ted Morris who won the A Division, with Sal Brizzi in second place on 34. There were two golfers with 29 points so the resultant count back gave third spot to John Pierrel (13 point back nine) with Takeshi Hakozaki (10 point back nine) missing out.
In Division B everyone was surprised as regular NAGA winner Niall Stuart came in with a terrific 40 points (no wipes) and that resulted in his very first win so well done Niall. In second place was Bob “Acapulco” Akapita who had 34 points and Frank “Woody” Donnelly was third with 33.
The Growling Swan NAGA Award was won by Andrew Allen.
Division A (0-14)
1st Ted Morris (14) 37pts
2nd Sal Brizzi (6) 34pts
3rd John Pierrel (11) 29pts
Division B (15+)
1st Niall Stuart (36) 40pts
2nd Bob Akapita (15) 34pts
3rd Frank Donnelly (24) 33pts
Near Pins: A8 – Bob Akapita, C7 – Graham Rice
Long Putts: A9 – Sal Brizzi
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 petermalcolmblackburn @gmail.com.
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.
