PSC Golf from The Growling Swan
Monday, Dec. 15, Eastern Star GC – Stableford
Twenty-seven golfers presented themselves for today’s examination of skill and intestinal fortitude. The weather was superb, the course in great condition and the greens, despite being trickier than the thirty seventh president of the United States, putted truly.
Welcomes were handed out to Jan Lovgreen and Bent Agerbo from Denmark and Pattaya residents Graham Buckingham, Tom Cotton, Rita Zoebeli, Jim Groves and John Davis, whom we’d not seen for a while.
John Coetzee was farewelled as he is on his way back to Australia.
John Davis (left) and J.C. Lhoste.
Playing from the yellow tees, John Davis, travelling as smoothly as a Teflon coated greyhound led the A grade by handing in forty points. Second was Mike Gosden with thirty eight while Don Richardson, Jim Groves and Alain Taddei rounded out the podium.
In the B grade the scores were tighter than the cord on a sumo wrestler’s speedos. J.C. Lhoste, Seesa and Roy Dayton finished first, second and third respectively, all scoring thirty seven points each. Fourth place went to John Anderson on thirty five whilst a cast of thousands rose as one when it was announced that Peter Grey, whose eyes were as big as overcoat buttons, had attained his first podium finish, also on thirty five.
A Flight (0-18)
1st John Davis (16) 40pts
2nd Mike Gosden (14) 38pts
3rd Don Richardson (13) 37pts
4th Jim Groves (13) 35pts
5th Alain Taddei (17) 35pts
B Flight (19+)
1st J.C. Lhoste (27) 37pts
2nd Seesa (26) 37pts
3rd Roy Dayton (22) 37pts
4th John Anderson (28) 35pts
5th Peter Grey (36) 35pts
Near Pins: Stu Rifkin #3, Bill Steinmann #6, Ebrahim #13, and Don Richardson #17.
Long Putts: Bob Akapita #9, and Mark Stapleton #18.
The lucky draw was won by Ebrahim while the coveted Compass Cap went to John Coetzee who lamented the fact that his putter was colder than Hotfoot’s nose, the winning lead dog in the 1973 Iditarod great sled race.
Thursday, Dec. 18, The Emerald – Stableford
Twenty-nine golfers in Soi Chaiyapoon were salivating like termites on Long John Silver’s leg as to what lay ahead in the way of entertainment.
Welcomes were handed out to Aussies Jayson Schembri, Dave Fletcher and Fred Dineley and Brit Paul Sharples. Russell Calcutt was farewelled, heading back to OZ on holidays.
(L-R): Ebrahim, Kae and John Anderson.
Teeing off in extremely pleasant weather conditions the fairways were found to be very ordinary, the greens harder to read than Chinese arithmetic. The track was very testing and this was born out by the scores being lower than the nether regions on a sausage dog.
Having said that, Growling Swan golfers are a hardy lot and in the A grade Ebrahim once again showed the field a clean pair of heels with thirty four points. Second place went to Sal Brizzi on thirty two points whilst Mike Gosden with thirty one and Bill Steinmann on thirty rounded out the podium.
B grade saw lady golfer Kae finish top with thirty two points and a count back was needed to separate Roy Dayton, Fred Dineley and Kurt Eric Persson, all on thirty one who finishing in that order.
In C grade, John Anderson had the day’s best score of thirty seven points whilst Andrew Allen handed in thirty five for second spot. Gary Monley was third and for the second time in a week mine host Peter Grey was amongst the place-getters.
A Flight (0–16)
1st Ebrahim (13) 34pts
2nd Sal Brizzi (6) 32pts
3rd Mike Gosden (14) 31pts
4th Bill Steinmann (9) 30pts
B Flight (17–26)
1st Kae (17) 32pts
2nd Roy Dayton (22) 31pts
3rd Fred Dineley (23) 31pts
4th Kurt Eric Persson (26) 31pts
C Flight (27+)
1st John Anderson (28) 37pts
2nd Andrew Allen (31) 35pts
3rd Gary Monley (30) 32pts
4th Peter Grey (36) 27pts
Near Pins: Bill Steinmann #5, Mark Stapleton #7, Rita Zobeli #13 & #15.
Long Putts: Jan Lovgreen #9, Fred Cuypers # 18.
Russell Calcutt in his own words confessed to cuffing the ball into the rough, bunkers, water hazards and parts of the track the architect was unaware existed, scoring a very consistent eight points on each side. This display of ineptitude resulted in his wardrobe increasing, albeit briefly, courtesy of collecting the coveted Compass Cap.
Note: The Growling Swan is a friendly PSC Golf outlet and welcomes all lovers of golf to join in and have a fun day out with us. We generally play Mondays and Thursdays with buses mostly departing at 8.30 am. Please contact Peter Grey on 0861 503086 if you are interested in a game.
The Growling Swan also caters to the lawn bowling enthusiasts. Bus transport leaves the Swan at 10.00 am to play at Coco’s under cover synthetic lawn bowls on Sundays and at the Retreat Lawn Bowls grass greens on Wednesdays, also departing at 10.00 am. The cost including bus transport, green fees and hot lunch is approx 300 hundred baht, so great value for a day out. Please contact Paul Rennison on 0843 454005 if you would like to come along.
