IPGC golf from The Haven
Monday, Feb. 18, Mt. Shadow (Blue Tees) – Stableford
CSS 73
Division 1 (0-15)
1st Phil Mitchell (7) 36pts
2nd Alan Pilkington (8) 35pts
3rd Martin Grimoldby (5) 35pts
Division 2 (16+)
1st Konrad Klama (26) 38pts
2nd Seppo Sadeharju (26) 36pts
3rd Markku Tynell (26) 32pts
With the rainy weather now a distant memory, the courses are beginning to be presented more as would be expected at this time of the year and so it was surprising to find that today’s course was rather below the standard we have come to expect, with the greens slower than could be remembered by even the longest-standing player. In fact the ground-staff were out mowing the greens later but behind the last groups of the day.
So with the course not quite up to scratch it was not surprising that the CSS went out to 73 as scoring was at a premium for the majority of the competitors, with only the top winners playing to the required standard.
Alan Pilkington.
The first division was led in by Phil Mitchell whose level handicap round proved sufficient to see off the challenges of Alan Pilkington and Martin Grimoldby, with Alan winning a count back for second place with a better 20 to 18 after starting slowly over the outward nine. Martin dropped two shots to his handicap on the last two holes when two pars would have won the division.
The second division was more open with Konrad Klama adding to his haul from a recent spate of 2’s with a two-under return, leaving Seppo Sadeharju in second after he had had a very solid round at level handicap. There then followed a massive count back for third place in which Markku Tynell proved the best with 19 points with Mike Hill making 18, Alwyne Burley 17 and Trevor Schirmer 14.
There were no 2’s in the second division but there were three in the first shared between Alan Pilkington, Martin Grimoldby and Peter Skinner.
Before the presentations were made the were welcome backs for Dean Peterson, Bill Roycroft and Mick Bogunovich together with a couple of farewells to Bill Hurd and Walter O’Keefe.
Wednesday, Feb. 20, Greenwood – Stableford
CSS 72
Division 1 (0–15)
1st Alan Pilkington (8) 38pts
2nd Alan Thomas (5) 35pts
3rd Phil Mitchell (7) 35pts
4th Martin Grimoldby (5) 33pts
Division 2 (16+)
1st Hal Hart (24) 34pts
2nd Don Everett (21) 28pts
3rd Trevor Schirmer (18) 28pts
4th Mike Hill (22) 28pts
5th Seppo Sadeharju (26) 28pts
Konrad Klama.
It is certainly well worth the extra distance travelling to Greenwood at the moment as the course is in tip top condition in every area from tee to green on all holes. With the courses today being C & A, any necessary count backs were taken over the C course as usual being the last nine played on the card, requiring a fast start which proved mostly to be beyond the second divisions powers.
At first sight it would appear that the CSS for the day should have risen, but with the Pattaya Golf Society playing the same nines and generally playing better to handicap scoring, it remained at 72 for the day.
The first division podium was again populated by the usual suspects with the top three from Monday’s outing featuring again, led this time by Alan Pilkington with a very good two under handicap return. His score was rather marred by a weak four points from the last three holes on the A course, being his final holes played, but otherwise a splendid round.
New member Alan Thomas took second place after winning a count back over Phil Mitchell with a better 19 to 17, even including a couple of blobs. Martin Grimoldby rounded out the division podium another two behind them.
The second division was claimed by Hal Hart whose two over handicap return proved to be enough to see off the rest of the division by a considerable margin, leaving them trailing by at least six points. The stragglers were led by Don Everett who won the count back for second with 14 and Trevor Schirmer in third spot having scored 13. Mike Hill with 12 was in fourth and Seppo Sadeharju fifth with 10 points.
Once again there were no 2’s in the second division whilst Phil Mitchell and Alan Thomas shared the first division pool.
Prior to the presentations there was a welcome for new member Alan Thomas and welcome backs for Jim Lanzo, Mike Armstrong, Benny Hansen, Jan Deenoi, Toshihiro Aoki and the group from South Herts, Bob Heath known back home as “Captain 2000”, and “Big Hearted” Jim Slattery.
Friday, Feb. 22, Pattaya Country Club – Stableford
CSS 71
1st Trevor Schirmer (18) 36pts
2nd Mike Remington (18) 36pts
3rd Bob Heath (12) 35pts
4th Alan Pilkington (8) 35pts
5th Rick Holmes (16) 34pts
Following the extensive renovations and redesign of the back nine the group has continued to support the course in its efforts to improve the golfing experience at Pattaya Country Club. Unfortunately the good intentions of the management are being undermined by an almost complete lack of follow up regarding the maintenance, with the newly renovated areas suffering extremely badly through lack of watering and the greens looking more like poorly tended fairways with holes that have all the appearance of not having been repositioned for a least a couple of weeks.
Hal Hart
All of this makes for a poor day’s golf at premium prices. The course is due to close the front nine sometime in March to redesign and renovate that although the management do not envisage any type of reduction in green fees during this period, with players having to play the back nine twice and given the foregoing it will be interesting to see the results of that decision during the low season.
Having regard for the conditions encountered during the group’s last visit, once again a tournament rule of ‘lift and place’ through the green within one club length meant that the scoring was at least reasonable, with most of the entries playing well enough for the CSS on the day to be reduced by one to 71 which was a fair reflection of the added benefit to the players.
Trevor Schirmer at last returned to the top with a solid return having won once previously, when the competition was not quite so stiff as today’s, but needed to win a count back with Mike Remington to prevail and take the top spot, which he did with a better 20 to 16.
Bob Heath got straight back into the Pattaya swing with a very nice one over handicap round for third place after he had also won a count back over the in-form Alan Pilkington, scoring 11 on the last six to Alan’s 10 after they had tied the back nine on 15 a piece.
Rick Holmes just failed to keep his fine run of form going at the highest rate with a two over handicap round for fifth place.
Once again there were no 2’s in the second division but Jim Slattery slipped one in for the first division to sweep the pool.
Back at The Haven there was a belated welcome back for Bruce Horne who had missed most of the previous days golf after suffering from a severe dose of jetlag and Singha, but had slipped in almost unnoticed into the prize giving.
Note: If you would like to play with The Haven group, you can contact mobile 082 219 0965 or call in to The Haven Hotel, at 185 Soi 13, between Beach Road and 2nd Road. All transportation to the course is arranged and you do not need to sign up prior to the day, but you should be there by 8.15 on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday on the days that you wish to play. A schedule of courses to be played can be found on our web site at www.thehaven-hotel.com.
