PSC Bunker Boys Golf
Monday, April 19th
Greenwood B & A
Medal
1st Geoff Atwell (23) Net 72
2nd Geoff Cox (18) Net 76
3rd Jimmy Carr (18) Net 76
Near pins Geoff Atwell, Peter Kelly, Steve Durey, & Michael Brett.
The monthly medal round was played at the Greenwood course where we were allocated the B & A nines. As ever the course was in beautiful condition, lush green, perhaps a little wet underfoot as we have had significant rain recently. The greens were a bit inconsistent with the A nine much faster than the B; also the bunkers were variable, some with soft fluffy sand while others were wet and compacted.
The weather threatened to undo us on the front nine with light rain falling and thunder and lightning all around, luckily it blew away and we finished the game in pleasant conditions.
Medal is a format that screws with some people’s heads. One bad hole can ruin a round, unlike Stableford where there is always a way to recover. Scores on Monday were very poor with only Geoff Atwell’s net seventy-two making a go of it.
Geoff Cox and Jimmy Carr were tied on net seventy-six in second and third in that order. All the near pins were taken with one each going to Steve Durey, Geoff Atwell, Peter Kelly, and Michael Brett.
Wednesday, April 21st
Bangpra
1st Michael Brett (15) 35 points
2nd Jimmy Carr (18) 34 points
3rd Geoff Cox (18) 32 points
Near pins Jimmy Carr, & Gerry Cooney X 2.
Our Wednesday game had to be transferred to Bangpra as the Barcelona Valley complex has been closed for two days for disinfection as a result of the latest Covid numbers, a precautionary measure which most would applaud.
Bangpra was a decent substitute for our scheduled game at Green Valley with the course in good condition and an all-in fee of twelve hundred baht using PSC vouchers a good value. Despite another society being out before us, the pace of play was acceptable and a finish time of three o clock was achieved.
Wednesday was our first day for some time without any rain, it was bright and sunny and extremely hot for a while. The fatigue effect was minimized to a large extent as everyone had a cart.
A field of only ten, with several locals missing either through injury or illness. Barry Murnin has a mysterious back injury, and we are unsure if Roger is still on the throne or not after a serious bout of Deli belly. Bob Innes is back in his native Scotland and a few others are reduced to two games per week.
Geoff Cox had a poor front nine but recovered well assisted by a four-point birdie to take third place with thirty-two points (eighteen on the back). Jimmy Carr started in great shape with twenty points on the front nine and looked like blowing everybody away but stumbled on the back to take second place with thirty-four. With a freakish bunker shot on the eighteenth that almost went in for a birdie and stopped an inch from the hole, Michael Brett snuck through to take first place with thirty-five. Jimmy had some consolation with a near pin, Gerry Cooney got two and one unclaimed.
Friday, April 23rd
Emerald
1st Jimmy Carr (18) 36 points
2nd Michael Brett (15) 33 points
3rd Dave Ashman (25) 32 points
Near pins Geoff Parker, Tony Robbins & Michael Brett.
The Emerald course was in excellent condition for Friday’s game, with lush green fairways, and tidy bunkers, but the greens were deceptively slow compared to how they looked and some of the pin placements were simply evil, in just about the most difficult positions the greenkeeper could find.
The weather was threatening all day, overcast and humid; however, the rain luckily stayed away. Having been rained on several times lately it was nice to get through dry. Despite all the rain lately, the water catchments were very low for some reason. With the benefit of hindsight, we should perhaps have played pick, clean, and place as there were several plugged balls.
The only one to master the course was Jimmy Carr who took first place with thirty-six points; no second nine collapse Friday. This is the third time this week that Jimmy has appeared in the winner’s circle – is he about to go on one of his extended runs of good form?
Second-placed Michael Brett had a shocker on the front nine with only twelve points but turned it around on the back with twenty-one to take second on thirty-three, one ahead of third-placed Dave Ashman.
Three near pins were claimed with one each to Tony Robbins, Geoff Parker, and Michael Brett.
