PSC Golf from The Billabong Golf Bar
Monday, Feb. 15, Phoenix – Stableford
Just a normal day out for the boys today at Phoenix, with a slightly earlier start and we finished in around 4 hours. The course was in great condition as usual with greens that were lightening fast.
We had 5 groups playing and Lloyd Shuttleworth was the team captain for the day. There were a few less than positive comments about the Lake course but it must not be forgotten that it is only very young and will develop into a very good nine holes of golf.
Monday winner Wayne Cotterell (right) with Bob Philp.
Coming in fourth place today was Freddy Starbeck with 35 points, third went to Geoff Couch on 36 and second to Thiery Petrement with 37. The runaway winner with an outstanding score of 41 points was Wayne Cotterell. There were no ‘2’s recorded.
Wednesday, Feb. 17, Green Valley – Stableford
Driving along the 36 to Green Valley, there were reminders of a typical November morning in UK – but perhaps a little warmer. Early morning fog cast an eerie effect on the landscape with the trees emerging as ghostly figures. But the sun soon had its way and the fog disappeared before we teed off.
Auke Engelkes with John Fitzgerald.
It is possible that the greens staff at Green Valley have created a problem for themselves which is not easily solved. They recently sprayed chemicals on the alien grass that is invading and taking over the fairways, which is all very well, but they now have large brown areas that are devoid of any growth at all and, apart from spoiling the appearance of the fairways, is penalizing the poor golfer having a bare lie even in the middle of the fairway. With rain not expected in any quantity until perhaps May, one wonders how long these areas will take to recover.
48 golfers made their way to Green Valley today which included 15 ladies. No problem with that though as most male golfers are unable to keep up with the pace when following a ladies group from the Billabong. Only 2 ladies who were in the competition failed to score 30 points or more today, with the gold medal going to newcomer Miss Nui with 39 points. She was closely followed by the most consistent golfer at the moment and podium regular, Miss Nu, with 37 points while Miss Yaow took third with 36.
The scores by the male participants were not quite so impressive as Gary Ritchie came fourth with 35 points, Auke Engelkes should have had a better score but came in with 37 points for third place and John Fitzgerald had a good round, handing in his card with 38 points but, unfortunately for him, losing on a count back to Alan Beck for the top spot.
Only three ‘2’s today, one going to Miss Sa that heralded by screams of delight from her group, and one each to Colin Goon and Jim Grieve.
Friday, Feb. 19, Burapha – Stableford
Friday we played the C and D loops at Burapha, and boy were those greens fast. If you got above the hole it was almost impossible to avoid a 3-putt.
Winning smiles from the Billabong ladies.
The evergreen lads from Ireland joined us today and were last seen heading back to town to pack their bags for their flight home. And it turned out to be an Irish day with the lads taking the prizes for first, third and fourth – not a bad day out at all.
The course was the real winner today with only 9 golfers out of 7 groups beating 30 points. First place went to John O’Neill with a fine 40 points, two ahead of Dave Bramley, playing his best golf for a long time, while in third spot on 37 points was Aiden Murray who just beat his good mate Vinnie Conellan on count back.
There was only one ‘2’ recorded, a fine chip in from Pat Regan.
