Pattaya Sports Club Bunker Boys Golf
Monday, October 11th
Emerald Golf Club
Medal, White tees
1st Niall Glover (16) Net 70
2nd Les Cobban (8) Net 73
3rd Gerry Cooney (19) Net 74
Near pins Jay Babin, Geoff Parker, Geoff Cox, & Gerry Cooney
An overcast and slightly windy day for our game at Emerald. The course was in excellent condition and continues to improve with every visit. A lot of work is continually being done to make sure the playing surfaces are well trimmed and maintained. Moreover, an all-in fee of nine-hundred and fifty baht represents excellent value. It seems like many of the local courses are now getting the message that good value will bring players to their courses whilst those that live in the Disneyland of high season pricing are not well patronised.
Continuing on his merry way from last week Niall Glover took the chocolates Monday with a net seventy. It seems like he is not quitting in his quest for the golfer of the month, albeit early days.
Another in a rich vein of form is Les Cobban who took second place with a net seventy-three whilst Gerry Cooney brought up the rear with a seventy-four. All the near pins were taken with one each going to Gerry Cooney, Geoff Cox, Geoff Parker, and Jay Babin. Jay distinguished himself by taking five putts to get his near pin in the hole, perhaps it’s a Canadian thing.
We had one of the more unusual occurrences of this pandemic period after golf when we returned to the locker rooms to find we could shower but there were no towels available. Is this what is meant by new normal? Perhaps the new way forward is to drip dry.
Wednesday, October 13th
Greenwood Golf Club
C & A White tees.
1st Geoff Cox (18) 36 points
2nd Geoff Parker (20) 35 points
3rd Steve Durey (19) 33 points
Near pins Steve Durey & Michael Brett.
Early morning rain and heavy skies didn’t bode well for a dry day of golf. However, our resident weather guru Geoff Parker assured us that all would be ok and as it turned out he was spot on. Despite the course allowing carts on the fairways, it turned out that the fairways were much wetter than it appeared so no pick, clean, and place under PSC rules. This was one occasion when the rule should have been ignored as mud balls and plugged balls were very common, perhaps a bit of discretion should have been applied.
The course was surprisingly busy, partly due to the excellent green/caddie fee of seven hundred and fifty baht. A very slow round as we followed a very slow five-ball, so frustration grew as the round progressed. One player, overcome with frustration, decided to throw everything but the kitchen sink at the ball and in the process completely duffed the shot. One of his playing partners, in an unsolicited critique of that swing, proffered the opinion that everything was moving except his bowels; an interesting observation!
With only ten points on the front nine, Steve Durey made a remarkable recovery to take third place with thirty-three points, edging out Mashi Kaneta on countback. Off a never-before-seen handicap of twenty from Geoff Parker, thirty-five points was good enough to take second place. Playing in the same group, Geoff Cox was the winner with thirty-six points in his second game in a row. Perhaps with a taste of victory, he may decide to play more often. Surprisingly only two near pins were taken with one each to Steve Durey and Michael Brett.
Friday, October 15th
Parichat International Golf Links
White tees
1st Steve Durey (19) 37 points
2nd Geoff Atwell (23) 36 points
3rd Jimmy Carr (18) 31 points
Near pins Kevin LeBar & Niall Glover
For a change at Parichat we played normal Stableford off the white tees instead of our usual rainbow. Once again quite a strong breeze blew all day making an already difficult course even more so. The greens at Parichat have to be the most difficult of any course we play, even more so today when they were very slippery. We started on the back nine, a move that found favour with many. It seems people are warmed up and ready to play by the time they reach the more difficult front nine.
Some very modest scores, as only two golfers managed to acquit themselves with any glory. First place went to Steve Durey who took the honours with thirty-seven points with Geoff Atwell one point adrift in second. Jimmy Carr managed to come out on top in a bunch of very average scores with thirty-one points in third place. He also managed to bag all three sixes, so all in all a good day for Jimmy. Only two near pins were won going to Niall Glover and Kevin LeBar.
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