The 19th edition of the eagerly awaited annual Pattaya Sports Club Charity Classic golf tournament was held on March 18, 2015 at the Burapha Golf Resort. This event takes weeks of planning and preparation and Mark West, the PSC Golf Chairman, worked tirelessly to make this a most successful event, which judging by the comments of those playing he succeeded in doing big time.
The competition format was a 2-person better-ball stableford event with prizes on every hole and also for the top 10 pairs. It wasn’t long after the official announcement that the list was full and Mark had to increase the field to 184 and yet there was still a sizeable waiting list.
Tournament organizers, players and caddies pose for a group photo at Burapha Golf Resort.
In addition to the numerous awards on offer on the course, there was also a raffle with many great prizes, including green fees from the EGA golf courses, top of the range golf clubs from Pattaya City Golf, a golf carry bag from Pattana Golf Club, a 1-year membership at Pleasant Valley Golf Course, and a Cambodia trip to the Angkor Hotel & Golf Resort with 2 night’s stay for 2 people plus 2 rounds of golf each, plus many more. There was also a 60/40 split for the final raffle ticket drawn.
Singha Corp came through once again with tremendous support for this event and provided Sanvo Sports energy drinks to everyone prior to teeing off, as well as providing golf and shoe bags to the winners and umbrellas to the other top 10 finishers. Another great supporter of this event was Chris Balzli of Sinto Shirts who provided 150 shirts free of charge.
PSC Golf Chairman Mark West (centre) presents prizes to tournament winners Daryl Tomlinson & Darren Zuidema.
Kullatorn Meesommont ‘Mike’, the General Manger of Burapha, along with his very efficient staff presented the A & B nines in pristine condition and helped to make this a most outstanding event. In near perfect golfing weather the overall scores were very good.
In first place was the pairing of Daryl Tomlinson (h/cap 23) & Darren Zuidema (36) with a very fine total of 52 points. A count back for second on 48 points saw Jeff Wylie (7) & Noi Emerson (18) take that spot ahead of Lars Olof Persson (12) & Per Vitalis (17) and in fourth place with 47 points came Nick Shaw (17) & Ian Pickles (15) ahead of five other pairings on the same score; Kurt Sandgaard (30) & Leif Kirkgaard (19), Jacky Toblen (18) & Larissa Balzi (19), Tom Breslin (25) & Brendan Roddy (20), Don Carmody (25) & Michael Coghlan (22), and Chris Balzi (22) & Alice Balzi (27) who finished in that order. The final place on the podium went to Donald Jones (26) & Thomas Nicoll (18) with 46 points.
Hole prize winners were as follows: Mick Limming, Colin Smith, Michael Williams, Peter Henshaw, Tom Cotton, Richard Kubicki, Ian Hadwin, Duane Borgford, Paul Greenaway, Orawan Sodok, Keith Emerson, John Dearden, Nigel Perry, Jum Karagit, Mika Viljakainen, Evan Millar, Larissa Balzi, Ian Pickles, Anders Pedersen and Paul Weatherley.
PSC President Peter Malhotra (left) presents a cheque for 100,000 baht to Mike, President of the EGA (centre) for the EGA Caddy Championship 2015 as Golf Chairman Mark West (right) looks on.
The prize presentation was held at Tavern by The Sea at The Amari Pattaya on the following evening, March 19, where a tremendous buffet was provided. PSC President Peter Malhotra commenced the announcements by thanking all who had participated in the day and also of course the sponsors and helpers. He then presented a cheque for 100,000 baht to Mike, President of the East Coast Golf Courses Management Association (EGA) as sponsorship for the EGA Amazing Thailand Caddy Championship 2015 and then made a special presentation to Kit, a 10-year employee at PSC who will shortly be leaving and will be sorely missed. Golf Chairman Mark West also thanked all who participated in the day’s tournament with a special thanks to the support of all the sponsors who were as follows:
Platinum Sponsors: Singha Corp., Amari, Pleasant Valley, Burapha (EGA), TBX (200,000 pts), Phoenix Gold, Pattana Golf Club, Sinto Shirts.
Hole Sponsors: The Golf Club, The Player’s Lounge, Casa Pascal, YWCA, Lewiinski’s Golf & Restaurant Bar, Jesters Care for Kids, TQ Master’s, Thomas Cotton, Walter Baechli, Café Kronborg Golfers, Pattaya Car Rental, Jackalope, BJ’s Holiday Lodge, Kurt Ebentheuer.
Mark also gave a very big thanks to the PSC staff who did most of the preparatory work for the tournament. Special appreciation went to Mark’s Golf Committee, namely Peter Blackburn, Dick Warberg, Gerd Reidler, Andre Van Dyk and new recruitee Marcus Earp who all spent an afternoon erecting all the signage on the golf course.
Following the presentation to the many winners, it was time for the raffle with 66 prizes being available. A total of 80,000 baht was raised from this raffle and then Mark gave everyone who had not won a prize a voucher for the Breakfast & Lunch Buffet at Casa Pascal Restaurant.
Mark then again thanked everyone and Peter Blackburn announced that in excess of 1,400,000 baht was raised from this wonderful Pattaya Sports Club tournament. This was a new record and a fantastic result and every baht will be donated to the benefit of those in need.
