Pattaya Country Club was the venue for this year’s event with a field of 82 contestants. The first day of competition was one of the hottest days on the calendar, and a few players struggled to complete their round.
After day one, Senior division leader Martin Allard (30) had the stableford score of the day with 46 points, followed by A flight leader Robert Austin (12) with 45 points, B flight leader Greg Berry (19) with 44 points, Ladies flight leader Buppha Suriye (17) with 44 points, and the stroke play leader Paul Smith (2) shooting a gross score of 75 for the day. The greens had been aerated 3 weeks prior to the event and probably could have used a few more days to heal; however, it didn’t seem to be an issue for the first day leaders.
Day two, we had heavy rain in the morning hours prior to our 12:30 shotgun start and decided to go with preferred lies in the fairway. It was another hot one with additional rain forecast most of the day. Fortunately, with the thunder and lightning all around us, we only had a very brief sprinkle and no disruption in play. The flight leaders were paired together for day two of the competition and some of the leaders struggled.
The leader of the Senior division Martin Allard (30) couldn’t stay in first day form scoring only 33 stableford points, 13 off the previous score. Fortunately for him, none of the others in his fourball were able to beat their handicap on the day, and Martin won the division with a two-day total of 79 points becoming the 2023 Senior Club Champion, followed by Eddie Beilby (24) in second place with 75 points, and Walter Baechli (21) coming in third with 73 stableford points.
The A flight saw Robert Austin (12) following up his first day performance with a good score of 35 stableford points, and with none of his playing partners reaching the thirty-point level he was able to cruise to first place victory with a two-day total of 80 stableford points. He was followed up by Choon Goh (16) squeezing out a second-place finish with a two day total of 71 points, and coming in a respectable third place was John Best (13) totaling 70 stableford points over the two days.
The B flight saw the leader Greg Berry (19) hold off his competitors by posting a solid second day score of 35 points and winning the flight with a total of 79 points. The battle for second went to Ross Schiffke (23) who beat James Telford (24) on the countback, both players having a total of 76 stableford points.
The Ladies flight saw some spectacular play by the entire field, with the top three finishers beating their handicap both days.
Buppha Suriye (17) had an excellent second day performance following up her first day score of 44 points with 41, for a two-day total of 85 points winning the Ladies Club Championship by 5 shots.
Coming in second was Yuparat Prachan (24) with a spectacular showing with a total of 80 points, and one shot behind taking third place was Dachthuyawat Boonchaey (33) with a two-day total of 79 stableford points. Well played ladies!
The Championship division saw Paul Smith (2) have another good performance following up his first day score with another gross 75 and winning the Men’s Club Championship by seven shots over Russell Goldsworthy (5) who came in second place with a two-day total of 157, followed by third place finisher Craig Dows (3) with a total of 160. First low net in stroke play was Nigel Irvine playing off (7) having a two-day total 170, followed by second low net Aureliew Fabien playing off (5) and a two day total of 171
The Pattaya Country Club and staff topped off the day with a delicious buffet of Thai and Western cuisine and most players drinking their favorite adult beverages while we tallied their scores and prepared for the trophy presentation sponsored by Todd and Nok Givens.
I would like to give a special thanks to our sponsors that enabled us to provide raffle prizes valued over 70,000 baht in Lucky Draw, with the grand prize of a 2023 Yamaha Fino won by Dean McCarry. Special thanks to Pleasant Valley Golf course for their green fee voucher donation, as well as Audi of Pattaya for their generous donation. Thank you to all the participants, and especially the golf societies Bunker Boys, Tropical Golf, Durty Nellies and Mabprachan Golf for putting this event on your golf schedule, we appreciate your support. I would also like to thank the Pattaya Sports Club office staff, Wandy, Fang, Air and Molly, as well as the committee members president Tim Knight, our treasurer Dick Bainbridge and Dave Smith for their hard work and contribution to the event. I hope to see you at the next event.
Thank you to all sponsors.
