PSC Golf from The Outback Golf Bar
Monday, April 25, Burapha C & D – Stableford
1st Peter Stonebridge (19) 39pts
2nd Maurice Copan (9) 38pts
3rd James Brackett (8) 37pts
4th John Cunningham (8) 35pts
Dave Atkinson, a.k.a. Acco, became the fourth to achieve a hole in one playing with the Outback in the last 4 months. Acco scored a perfect Ace on hole C5 measuring 129 yards and in his own words, “it was a proper shot, not some thinned bullet that got lucky”, referring perhaps to some of the other hole-in-one’s in recent weeks? The days of 10,000 baht medical checkups for hole in ones are over, but still a nice gesture of Burapha to give Acco a free golf voucher for his achievement. Well done Acco!
David Atkinson celebrates his hole in one at Burapha.
With A & B courses closed and our numbers still good but less than the pre-Songkran months, C & D posed somewhat of a challenge with the rough thick in places although the greens were not as fast as usual, making things a little easier.
Taking fourth place was John Cunningham with another consistent performance of 35 points, winning that position on count back. In third, and also playing from an 8 handicap, was Jimmy Bracket with 37 points while Maurice Copan went one better to take second. Out in front though was Peter Stonebridge, the man of the day, with a fine 39 point total.
Tuesday, April 26, Laem Chabang – Stableford
1st Andy Butterworth (12) 40pts
2nd Brian Wilkinson (18) 39pts
3rd Dave Atkinson (17) 38pts
Laem Chabang is in great condition at the moment, and with the low season rates making it an affordable option this course is definitely worth every cent for those willing to play on a Tuesday.
Medal winner Kazuo Sagaya.
Playing the short A & B courses from the whites, scoring was brisk today and Acco continued his good form with 38 points to finish third. In second place was Brian Wilkinson, playing from the silver tees and scoring a very good 39 points, but the winner on the day was Andy Butterworth who loves this course and finished with a great 40 points.
There were four ‘2’s coming from Andy Butterworth, Brian Wilkinson, Tom Hislop, and Dave Atkinson.
Wednesday, April 27, Bangpra – Stableford
1st Andre Coetzee (11) 34pts
2nd Peter Lenoury (13) 33pts
3rd James Brackett (8) 32pts
Not having played Bangpra since October last year, we were looking forward to making it out there again and enjoying the beauty of the “monkey course”. Unfortunately we were disappointed, since the drought is having a severe affect on the condition of the course. What’s worse is that several of the lakes have completely dried up, making irrigation and course management a nightmare. The greens were OK, running very slow by Bangpra standards with the groundskeeper no doubt keeping the mowers a bit higher to preserve the grass.
The fairways were barely kept alive and hard and thin as a result, but the rough was completely barren in most cases. To illustrate the point, I hit a fairly poor low draw hook on the 16th index 4 hole which barely cleared the left bunker but we found my ball 120 yards from where it landed, just left of the greenside bunker and just short of the green – a distance of near 340 yards on a carry of only 220 from the blue tees. That’s how barren and hard the rough was!
As a result, scoring was difficult for our field, and it seems that the lower handicappers coped better from the conditions, probably due to being able to handle the hard playing surface a little better than the higher handicappers.
In third place was Jimmy Brackett who finished with 32 points, trailing Peter Le Noury in second on 33 while Andre won the day with 34, getting good benefit from the extra shots on offer from the blue tees and the poor conditions.
Friday, April 29, Green Valley – monthly medal
1st Kazuo Sugaya (24) net 63
2nd Stephen Mann (12) net 68
3rd Eddy Beilby (19) net 68
4th Peter Lenoury (13) net 68
5th Steve Plant (13) net 69
6th John Stafford (19) net 69
With a good low season turnout and welcoming back Geoff Braithwaite, John Leonard, and Kazuo Sagaya from Japan, Green Valley was the usual venue for our monthly medal. This course seems to be holding up reasonably well apart from the dry and barren patches, but doing better than most of the other B grade courses that we play.
Scoring was particularly good on this medal day, with 9 players beating par but the big surprise was that out of a sizable field not a single ‘2’ was to be had all day, so that prompted a “bell ring” and a drink for everyone that was kind enough to be present at the prize presentation.
Prize awards extended all the way down to sixth position, with John Stafford filing that spot and Steve Plant taking fifth on the same score of net 69. Steve Mann, Eddy Beilby and Peter Lenoury were all locked on net 68’s, but the man that no one could catch was Kazuo Sagaya from Japan, scoring an outrageous net 63. Kazuo played a few times with us before and with a verified Japanese handicap of 24 (Outback Index 22) he will be slashed to 17 hcp in future competitions with the Outback. Well done on a remarkable achievement!
