PSC Golf Bunker Boys at The Ranch
The 3rd week of February belonged to Keith Norman, wherein he proceeded to take 1st place (A-Flight) in all three of our competitions for the week. Playing three of our mainstay courses Keith smashed the opposition, winning by a stroke in medal play at Greenwood, by four stableford points at Bangpakong, and leaving Les Cobban in the dust on a count back at Treasure Hill.
Monday, Feb. 16, Greenwood B & C – Medal
Greenwood bills itself as “The Eastern Home of Golf in Thailand” and is certainly one of the loveliest courses in this area. On this day it was in perfect nick with lush, verdant fairways and the greens running true – a perfect setting for the 25 Bunker Boys that made the trip.
Keith Norman.
Medal play always seems to help focus our players but, unfortunately, none of the crew covered their handicap today with the best net score being a 73 in both flights. John Hughes and Gez Williams had the best chance of covering until the wheels came off on the 13th (B4) as John proceeded to knock his new yellow Titleist into the narrowest stream on the course to record an 8, and Gez was practicing his German “nine” on the same hole.
A Flight
1st Keith Norman (14) net 73
2nd Mashi Kaneta (12) net 74
3rd Ian Milne (14) net 75
B Flight
1st Raleigh Gosney (16) net 73
2nd John Hughes (19) net 74
3rd Mike Corner (20) net 75
Near Pins: Mashi Kaneta, Les Burns, Gerry Cooney, Raleigh Gosney
Wednesday, Feb. 18, Bangpakong – Stableford
Twenty-two Bunker Boys headed to Bangpakong, a journey made a bit more difficult due to the extensive roadworks nearby. As usual, the course was in excellent condition, especially the fairways.
Playing off the whites at 6,700 yards it plays long, particularly the par 3’s at an average distance of 190 yards for the four of them. No problem for Keith Norman though who, with 41 points, easily won A-flight and made it back to back wins for the week. Keith always scores well here and is wishing he could take this course home with him. Tony Robbins came in second four shots behind, with Geoff Parker finishing third on 36.
B-flight was dominated by Steve Drury, shooting his handicap and scoring 36 points. A distant second was Tom McDowell, nosing out Tim Winder with 31. Tim got the show position with his 30.
A-Flight
1st Keith Norman (14) 41pts
2nd Tony Robbins (16) 37 pts
3rd Geoff Parker (15) 36 pts
B-Flight
1st Steve Drury (21) 36pts
2nd Tom McDowell (21) 31pts
3rd Tim Winder (23) 30pts
Near Pins: Judi Christopherson, Peter Mannion, Tom McDowell
Friday, Feb. 20, Treasure Hill – Stableford
A slow start today as another society was at the first tee waiting for caddies when we were ready to go. You get the picture!
Colin, Tony and Tim will most likely remember the 2nd hole, the 187 yard par 3 with trouble on both sides, as Colin hit into the hazard on the right, the ball bouncing off a rock, flying into the air and landing on the green to claim a near pin back at The Ranch. Tony and Tim both chipped in from off the green, Tony for a deuce.
At 6,700 yards off the whites, Treasure Hill is quite the challenge. This is attested to by the fact that 30 points took A-flight today while 28 points was good enough in B-flight. Some of the crew claim they will be going to the range to practice hitting their driver off the deck.
The course was in good nick, and the rain showers only slowed us down a bit. We got a bit wet but ‘mai ben lie’ – just another day out on the golf course.
A-Flight
1st Keith Norman (12) 30pts
2nd Les Cobban (8) 30pts
3rd Peter Kelly (10) 29pts
B-Flight
1st Gordon Melia (16) 28pts
2nd Tim Winder (23) 27pts
3rd Trevor Priestley (18) 24pts
Near Pins: Geoff Gox, Colin Greig, Peter Kelly, John Murphy
Note: The Bunker Boys, a PSC affiliated golf society, plays out of The Ranch Bar on Pattaya 3rd road (in front of the fire station, and almost opposite the Buffalo Bar). We play on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays and meet at The Ranch at 9am for breakfast and transport. Contact Buff on 0860465091 or 0806055663 for all enquiries or check website: www. bunkersociety.com.
