PSC Bunker Boys Golf
Monday, February 3rd Emerald White tees Stableford
1st Stuart Tinkler (17) 37 points
2nd Kob Glover (26) 36 points
3rd Neil Jones (22) 35 points
4th Dave Ashman (22) 34 points
5th Niall Glover (19) 34 points
6th Ken Elmore (19) 33 points
Near pins Lance Conway-Jones, Tony Berry, Keith Hemmings, & Neil Jones.
The Emerald course was in poor shape some months ago for our last visit and sadly it was only marginally better today, certainly not good enough to warrant the current green/caddie fees being charged. Throughout the round, we never encountered any maintenance staff mowing fairways or greens or doing any type of maintenance whatsoever, so one can only assume things will stay the same. If there was any improvement in the course it was that there seemed to be less “cow grass” than before. On a positive note, several players expressed their satisfaction with the caddies who on the whole were very knowledgeable and professional.
Another good rollup of twenty-five for the first game of a new month played in hot windy conditions. All things considered, not bad scoring from our winners with Stuart Tinkler having his first win of the year after a decent score of thirty-seven points. Our only lady member, Kob Glover, who hasn’t played much lately took second with a very good thirty-six points, one ahead of Neil Jones in third. Dave Ashman shaded the other Glover member Niall in fourth and fifth respectively, with Ken Elmore bringing up the rear. All the near pins were taken with one each to Lance Conway-Jones, Tony Berry, Keith Hemmings & Neil Jones.
Wednesday, February 5th Greenwood A& B Annual Memorial Competition
1st Tinkler 43 points
2nd Aaron Peglam 42 points
3rd Roger Tuohy 42 points
4th Tony Robbins 40 points
5th Gary Smith 40 points
6th Paul Smith 40 points
7th Tony Berry 40 points
8th Craig Dow 39 points
Winning Team Jimmy Carr, Craig Dow, Geoff Parker, & Robby Watts 130 points.
Near pins Jason Periera, Martin Cook, Jimmy Carr, & Kob Glover.
The Annual Memorial Competition was held at the Greenwood course on the A & B nines. This competition is held to honour the memory of friends and fellow golfers who have departed this life. There are far too many to list but a few notables include John Preddy, Reg Smart, Dave Gow, Jack Robertson, Jan-Yves Morel, & Ken Young. No doubt they are looking down on us and wondering which is the better place.
A total of sixty-eight golfers participated and the game was played in both individual Stableford and team format. We were allocated a two tee start to speed up play which worked well, and most were finished in about four hours. As always Greenwood was in fine shape and most expressed delight at the quality of the course. Even as we played maintenance was being carried out, one bit we could have done without was a leaf blower on the opening holes which made a hell of a racket.
Following major open-heart surgery last year, Stuart Tinkler found a new lease on life in more ways than one with a superb score of forty-three points to take first place albeit off a generous handicap by his regular standard. This followed hot on the heels of a thirty-seven on Monday. Second place went to Aaron Peglam on forty-two beating Roger Tuohy into third on countback. A countback also for fourth & fifth with Tony Robbins edging out Gary Smith, hard luck for both as they should have been in the reckoning for the team prize with a better contribution from the rest of their team. Paul Smith had a par round of forty also in sixth place edging out Tony Berry into seventh with Craig Dows bringing up the rear with thirty-nine. Near pins went to Kob Glover (again) Jimmy Carr, Martin Cooke & Jason Periera.
The South African, Aussie and English combo of Jimmy Carr, Robby Watts, Craig Dow, and Geoff Parker won the team event with a score of one hundred and thirty points.
A great night at Woody’s Bar for the after-golf dinner and presentation of prizes. The catering provided by Colin’s Bar, farang and Thai food was delicious. The next big event is next week’s trip to Soi Dao followed at the end of the month by Daryl Vernon’s Ironman competition of golf, killer pool, and dominoes.
Friday, February 7th Crystal Bay C & A Medal Medal
1st Jimmy Carr (17) Net 70
2nd Roger Tuohy (13) Net 71
3rd Mike Lloyd (18) Net 71
4th Ken Elmore (19) Net 73
5th Keith Norman (14) Net 74
Near pins, Tony Berry, Mike Lloyd, & Niall Glover X 2.
Following the excitement of a major competition on Wednesday, it was back to the more mundane form of the game today with a medal round at Crystal Bay.
For some reason, it was not announced prior to playing that it was medal format, so several players played Stableford which led to controversy later at a prize-giving time, no doubt there will be repercussions down the track. The club rules need to apply fairly and equally all the time as discretionary exceptions only lead to resentment by those who feel aggrieved.
The Crystal Bay course had deteriorated markedly since our last visit and should fall off our roster until we get significant rainfall and things improve. Many of our group expressed the view that they do not wish to play this course again. Bone dry best describes the course with several bare areas and large tracts of brown withered grass. The greens were a nightmare with significant variations in speed, overall very slow as they were overwatered and not mowed for some time, obviously to retain moisture in the soil but not good for putting. This combination not only made putting difficult but also chipping as it was nigh impossible to gauge how much runout there might be, with some pitch shots stopping dead whilst others ran out to varying degrees.
Nominally the winner on the day was Jimmy Carr with a net seventy, one ahead of Roger Tuohy in second a stroke back. In his last game of this visit, Mike Lloyd took third also with seventy-one. Ken Elmore had a net seventy-three to take fourth with Keith Norman bringing up the rear. The unfortunate one in all this was Craig Dow who had the best score of the day but suffered a dubious and harsh disqualification in the eyes of many.
Near pins went to Tony Berry, Mike Lloyd and two to Niall Glover. Where was Kob?
