The Pattaya Golf Society (IPGC) based at Rabbi’s Elephant Bar
Christmas Week began for the Pattaya Golf Society with a trip to Ban Chang to play a stableford competition on the Emerald course which was in fine condition with good pacy greens. The large field was divided into two flights at 16 and under and a clutch of new members were joining an IPGC competition for the first time.
In the top flight Ken Page, Helene Lindberg and Ray Banks all tied for second place with thirty points, leaving Sue Mawhinney to become the group’s first female top flight winner in a long time. Unused to tropical golf she showed she has learnt lessons from two tough days at Pattana in the IPGC annual championships the previous week and a whole day at the driving range the day before.
In the second flight Larry Ang’s confidence will have been boosted by a share of second place with a fine return of 34 points, with Ronnie Ramsay taking the other share. The flight winner was Roy Bassett who picked up his first honour with the group after just a few weeks of competitions.
Tony Thorne and Michael Lindberg shared the ‘2’s pot for their efforts on the short par three fifteenth and the Booby Bevy went to Mr Len after finding a malfunctioning zip as he teed off caused him to spend more of his efforts trying to keep his niblick out of the public eye during his round. IPGC bag towels have their uses after all!
Down under, on top
The Pattaya Golf Society visited Greenwood on Wednesday, 21st December to play a stableford competition on the A and B nines on a course which currently offers the best value for money deal in the whole province, or even wider. The course was in excellent condition with very consistent greens with a pace all could enjoy.
The large field was divided into two flights at sixteen and under and the second flight saw Michael Sim and Bobby Shirkey emerge from the shadows to share second place with Masashi Iizumi on 34 points. The flight winner was New Zealander Evan Millar whose current good form continues with 36 well deserved points.
In the top flight Rick Schramm tied with Aussie Robbie Taylor for third place on 34 points, leaving the two best rounds of the day to the Australian duo of Peter Masters and Stuart Thompson. Thirty seven points each was an excellent return on the testing course.
Larry Slattery cupped the only birdie ‘2’ of the day on the par three B5th hole.
Following a delayed start the Rabbi received the Booby Bevy for taking an hour and a half to find the course, having decided on a short cut, and engaged in a sharp and testy dialogue with the darling of his GPS system. Needless to say the lady won! But the day really belonged to the golfers from the southern hemisphere who certainly knew their way around Greenwood.
Christmas cheer for the kids
The Pattaya Golf Society’s pre-Christmas “Golf for Fr. Ray Day” was held at Eastern Star on Friday, 23rd December when the group turned out in its final monthly charity golf day of the year. So far this year the Soi Buakhao based golf group has raised almost 140K for the Fr. Ray Foundation Outreach Center on Soi Thepprasit and another large turnout took part in a stableford pairs multiplier at the Ban Chang course.
Whilst the course was generally in good condition the greens were painfully slow again, adding to the challenge this particular format brings. Technical prizes had been donated by Larry Slattery, Peter Duncan, Ronnie Ramsay, Rabbi and Mr Len and the par three near pin winners were Pat Murphy, Larry Ang and Masashi Iizumi, while Andrew Purdie took the par four near pin prize.
In the competition proper Pat Murphy and Barry Dunne combined well to make third place with 51 points but they were a long way behind the second placed duo of Dave Cadwallader and Larry Ang, with 61 points, the latter being in particular good form with an individual contribution of 39 points. They were pipped by the narrowest of margins by the pairing of Helene Lindberg and Mr Len which recorded 62 points, the “boss” also contributing 39 individual points.
The generosity of the PGS members shows no bounds as all the winnings were donated to Fr. Ray’s Work, along with other individual donations making the first year of charity golf an absolute success after a tentative target of 100k was reached in October.
At the presentation Mr Len placed on record his thanks to all the members and friends who have contributed on and off the golf course this year and all are looking forward to a prosperous New Year with the continuation of the monthly charity day programme. The real winners, as always, are the kids in the care of the Fr. Ray Foundation Outreach Center. God bless you all!
