The Golf Club weekly review
Monday, Feb. 27, Green Valley (white tees) – Stableford
T1st Gary Emmett (17) 43pts
T1st Kevin Peggs (17) 43pts
T3rd Peter Thomas (19) 40pts
T3rd Fred Birch (19) 40pts
A hole-in-one for Fred Birch was the talk of the town as the vans pulled in from today’s comp. It was on the 13th and about 148 yards with a handy 7-iron that flew the ball on the righteous path to glory. This was Freddy’s second ace and hopefully not the last.
The boys were tearin’ it up out there today and if you didn’t have at least 40 on the card, then no handsome man vouchers for you on this trip. Freddy added to his ace with 17 more good holes, as did his pal Peter Thomas, and they shared third place with 40 points.
A tie at 43 (yikes!) saw visiting Kevin Peggs and local lad Gary Emmett (both off 17) share the bounty of the comp.
Doctor Dan Dietz hit a lovely tee shot on the 157-yard 16th to win the Caddy Smile near pin and for once I was happy to buy the good doctor a drink for draining that 10 foot birdie putt.
Tuesday, Feb. 28, Khao Kheow A & B (yellow tees) – Stableford
T1st Daniel Dietz (11) 36pts
T1st Mark Wood (11) 36pts
3rd Brett Chan (20) 34pts
Boy was it windy out there! It sure is nice to get that cooling effect from steady and strong breezes but it wreaks havoc for the golf game. Only two blokes shot to their handicap today, and that was just the excuse the rest of the field needed.
Khao Kheow was in great shape and in fact those high winds finally did die down after we started the back nine. Former medal winner Brett Chan is back in town for an R&R session and his 34 got him on the podium for third place.
A tie at 36 saw 11-handicappers Mark Wood and Dan Dietz in a dead heat to share the win here today. I suppose that under the circumstances, that was as good as one could expect, so well played to the both of you.
Shot of the day must belong to Steve Sweeney as he stood on the tee box of one of the most intimidating holes in Pattaya, the B-8 island green that designer Pete Dye is so famous for. Stevie knocked it to 14 feet to lay claim on the Caddy Smile near pin, so well done sir!
Thursday, March 2, Pattana (yellow tees) – Stableford
1st Bill Sheply (6) 40pts
T2nd Robbie Taylor (14) 38pts
T2nd Masao “Ishi” Ishikawa (17) 38pts
4th Garry Bright (13) 37pts
The links at Pattana were turned out beautifully for us today and the 6,320 yard B & C nines were our assignment at this lovely golf course. Pattana has evolved to the level of being one of the better courses in the Pattaya area. The clubhouse has always been a showcase for how it should be done (if you have that kind of money to spend!) and now the greenskeeping crews are also top notch. Some great weather also added to the enjoyment of the day.
Good shooting saw Bill Sheply hit that 40-point mark and in a class of his own. Tied for second was “the other” Robbie Taylor and Ishi with Garry Bright for 4th just a shot back. Ishi also took the Caddy Smile near pin and unfortunately made that birdie for a drink on the house! I think I will stick that in McHugh’s bin.
Friday, March 3, Parichat Links (white tees) – 1-Man Scramble
1st Rob Taylor (10) net 60
T2nd Peter Thomas (17) net 69
T2nd Al Marumoto (12) net 69
The 1-man scramble turned out to be a 1-man contest as a full 9 strokes separated the winner from second place. Parichat Links was again chosen to host this quarterly contest as a Mulligan per hole was given for all holes in this interesting format. The basic rule is that you get one free shot per hole and you can use it on your drive, approach or putting and once selected, the ball is then in play and no turning back.
Obviously, scoring should be very good with this allowance but most of the field failed to capitalize on the assistance. Tied for second, our returning Hawaiian pal Al Marumoto equalled local Peter Thomas at 69 net. Others fared even worse so we shall not go into all the gory details.
Man of the match was Englishman Rob Taylor (not to be confused with Aussie Robbie Taylor!) Rob must have used his “strategy” to close out the field as his net 60 actually tied the winning score the last time we did a 1-man scramble in a stableford format. Be that as it may (where have I heard that line before?) it was a fun day of golf and gave us all an opportunity to play that shot again that we all wished for.
