IPGC Pattaya Golf Society at The Links Bar
Monday, 11th January dawned grey and brooding and the Pattaya Golf Society golfers had to avoid a sharp storm to arrive on time for a visit to Eastern Star to play a stableford competition. As with the previous visit an overbooked group of Scandinavian golfers occupied the yellow(!) tees fifteen minutes late and proceeded to crawl around, leading the PGS golfers to endure a five-and-a-half hour round, punctuated by a sharp storm halfway around. “Cancellation” is a word which sprung to mind for our next proposed Monday visit.
PGS Champs – Mark Lang (net), Chris Smith (gross) & Jon Batty (player of the year).
In the event scoring was difficult, with the back nine holes soft after the rain and greens slower than the front nine. Mike Wilsher made an appearance on the podium in third place with a solid 30 points. Ahead on 34 points was the currently very consistent Larry Slattery and his round was enhanced with a birdie ‘2’ on the third hole. The winner was Simon Kendall, playing his last round this trip and his score of 39 points matched his winning score five days previously at Mountain Shadow. Two tough courses and one tough golfer.
The non-winners beer went to Chris Walsh and the Booby Bevy went to the low marker of the day Tony Browne. And what a long day it was!
The ultimate test at Khao Kheow
The Pattaya Golf Society held its Annual Championship at Khao Kheow on Weds and Friday, 13th – 15th January. The course was the perfect venue for the event and the A and B nines were well prepared and presented.
The field was well populated and for the daily pools the two flights were divided at twelve and under. Daily flight winners were Mark Lang and Tony Browne on the first day and Andrew Purdie and Larry Slattery on the second day.
At the end of the first day it was obvious that current champion Chris Smith, an accomplished zero handicapper, would not have things his own way as a serious challenge was mounted by Mark Lang who finished the day with gross 76, only one behind Chris. Former champion Peter Sumner was also waiting in the wings a few shots back.
The second day was set for some fireworks but all that was forgotten as two strong storms seriously affected the performances of most of the field. Indeed, the final two groups finished by putting on a flooded B9 green.
The big improvers on the second day were Brian Beaupre, Peter Wilson and Andrew Purdie. Significantly though of the two first day leaders Chris Smith performed the better, recording a gross 74 in the difficult conditions whilst three sixes on the back nine put paid to Mark Lang’s challenge.
The gross champion for the third year in succession was Chris Smith (149) with the runner-up Mark Lang six shots back on 155. In the net championship roles were reversed with Mark Lang finishing top of the board with 143, whilst Chris followed six shots behind.
The presentation at The Links saw PGS Captain Mike King present awards to the winners as well as honouring the group’s Player of the Year for 2015, Jon Batty, and the individual monthly winners as well. Mr Len warmly thanked all those who had played their part over the year with a special mention for the staff at The Links and the members who had supported the group so well throughout the year. Well done everyone, here’s to the next one!
