PSC Golf from the Billabong Golf Bar
Tuesday, May 20, Green Valley – Stableford
On Tuesday evening the weather forecast on TV showed rain forecast throughout Thailand for the following 2 days. That did not bode well but we have all experienced some inconsistencies in the weather reporting in the past, and that was the case at Green Valley. No rain and a wall of heat like a dragons sneeze for the first few holes. Mercifully, a slight breeze then came to our rescue and the back nine was extremely pleasant.
Pin, Steve Balfour and Thip.
The grass is growing with the recent rain and the fairways here were like walking on a good quality carpet. The greens were also excellent and played as good as they looked.
Twenty-two members of the Billabong ventured out, all trying to emulate in some small way the record breaking achievements of Rory McIlroy at the recent Wells Fargo. Capt. Bob was obviously influenced by Rory’s performance on the first nine but, in his own words, played like a pregnant duck on the back nine and finished with just 25 points in total.
Auke Engelkes, hitting the driver farther than the scribe goes on holiday, won the day with 36 points, with Pat Regan taking second on a count back over Bob Finley, both with 35 points.
The ever-consistent Sa outpaced the other 6 ladies with 34 points, with Pin coming in second after edging Orn on count back.
Auke found that the shorter the putt the smaller the hole and missed recording a birdie 2 by the narrowest of margins, but Bob Newell had no such problems with two ‘2’s and was joined by one from Pat Regan.
Friday, May 22, Burapha C & D – Stableford
For a change we played the C and D loops at Burapha on Friday and the course was in magnificent condition with the greens being very fast on the first nine but a little slower on the backward half. A gusting wind made for a pleasant day out, not too hot and absolutely perfect conditions.
We had 5 groups playing and were away quite early as there was another group right behind us ready to go. The scores were very good considering how windy it was on the back nine, with 39 points from Saipin Woollett taking third place and second went to Thip with a fine 40, but the player of the day was Steve Balfour with a 41-point score that could easily have been 48 without any doubt at all.
There was only one ‘2’ today, coming from Saipin Woollett.
