PSC Golf from The Growling Swan
Monday, Oct. 26, Pleasant Valley – Stableford
All the players showed up enthusiastically today with eager anticipation on checking out Pleasant Valley after such a long spell away from this delightful course. There have been many improvements since our last visit, well over a year ago, and the new coffee shop downstairs was a delight to see and patronized by many of the golfers from our crowd.
Noticeable also were the addition of new plants and shrubbery and trimming of thick vegetation that used to border many of the holes. Unfortunately the holes that have out of bounds adjacent to other holes within the confines of the course are still in play…..damn!
(L to R) Martin Kempton, Pierre Cere, John Davis and The Right Honorable Eric Black.
We teed off the white tees, which was the smart choice of the day given the amount of rain that has been soaking all the courses lately and resulting in very little run.
The presentation of the course was very good and whilst the greens were a bit slow they were true and in good condition. The sun was shining and consequently many felt the humidity which was up in the 90% range.
This course is definitely improving as the years go by and with the very affordable golfing prices, friendly staff and caddies all eager to help, it would be no surprise to see this course frequented by us again soon.
John Anderson had a torrid time with the cards to work out who would be in the prize pool today, however eventually Peter Grey (our host) announced that John Davis had managed to pip the others by a shot to take out first spot with 37 points. Second on a count back from four others was Eric ‘the Judge’ Black (freshly back in Pattaya after sending many more baddies to the slammer in Oz) with 36 points, followed Martin Kemp and Piere Cere.
Perhaps the unluckiest person in the field was Stu Rifkin who, whilst having his Sangsoms and expecting to take home some baht for his family to share after scoring 37 points, was quietly interrupted by John Anderson informing him that he had played off an incorrect handicap! He was slightly perplexed, as the starters sheet for the day had his handicap as per the previous week’s rating at 17, but soon mollified when John showed him the revised PSC handicap list which indicated that his handicap was now 16.4. Despite offering to disqualify himself for handing in an incorrect card, John said no, he would keep him in the mix and he was reduced to a score of 36 points but missed out on the count back!
1st John Davis (15) 37pts
2nd Eric Black (14) 36pts
3rd Martin Kempton (12) 36pts
4th Piere Cere (9) 36pts
Near Pins: 5th – Stu Rifkin, 8th – Bill McGarvie, 13th– Martin Kempton, 17th– Alex Field.
Long Putts: 9th – Martin Kempton, 18th – Keith Buchanan
Note: The GS is a “friendly” golf outlet and caters for and encourages all golfers, young and old, male or female to have a hit on any of our weekly outings. We generally play Mondays and Thursdays at one of the many fine golf courses in and around Pattaya. Please contact Peter Grey if you are interested in playing on 0861 503086
The Growling Swan also caters to the bowls enthusiasts. Bus transport departs the GS on Sundaysat 10 AM when they go for open, grass bowling at The Retreat. Please contact Paul Rennison on 0843 454005 if you wish to partake. The cost including return bus transport, bowling fees and a hot lunch is about 350 baht, so great value for a day out!
