IPGC golf from The Haven
Sunday, Sept. 4, Green Valley – Stableford
CSS 72
1st Russell Exley (7) 38pts
2nd Sid Ottaway (22) 35pts
3rd Sean Connolly (10) 34pts
4th Alan Mawer (12) 34pts
5th Joe McArdle (11) 32pts
After a couple of weeks when there were not enough players to have a meaningful competition, the numbers this week returned to almost normal.
Russell Exley, having done most of the hard work organising the day, also got the best reward as he took home the top honours for the day with a solid two under handicap return.
Sid Ottaway slipped in under the radar to claim second spot three shots back leaving Sean Connolly and Alan Mawer disputing third and fourth, with Sean getting the nod after a count back which he won by 18 to 14.
Joe McArdle, who did almost as much as Russell to make the day happen, did not quite get the same return and had to settle for a very honourable mention in fifth place.
The 2’s were shared between Joe McArdle and Alan Mawer.
Monday, Sept. 5, Pattana B & C – Stableford
CSS 72
1st Trevor Schirmer (15) 34pts
2nd Rod Howett (22) 32pts
3rd Alan Pilkington (8) 29pts
4th Alan Hanlon (12) 29pts
5th Yoshitaka Iketani (19) 28pts
With the month’s IPGC Medals being held at Pattana on the following Wednesday the day’s competition should have been re-scheduled, but during something or other The Doc completely missed the chance to excel and so the hopefuls from Soi 13 had an unexpected chance to practice over the planned medal course.
Barry Winton.
It did not seem to help either on the day or later in the week as the scoring was not quite up to standard with only Trevor Schirmer managing to get within two of his handicap, only the makeup of the field kept the CSS from spiraling upwards.
Trevor’s round was good by two to win the top step of the podium, with Rod Howett slogging round for a hard fought second place, as the very wet conditions ensured that the course played to its maximum distance with absolutely zero run on any ball on any fairway.
It was fortunate that the local rule for the day was ‘lift and place’ in the fairways, with buggies being allowed on the cart paths only, as that at least made the day a little more bearable. It would have been fair to say, that the course was otherwise in excellent condition, considering the amount of water that had been dumped on it in the previous few days.
Alan Pilkington struggled to win the count back with Alan Hanlon but found that 15 to 13 was enough over the back nine to take third place.
Yoshitaka Iketani claimed the last counting spot another point back in fifth behind them.
Trevor Schirmer picked up the only 2 of the day and that was in the first division.
Friday, Sept. 9, Rayong C.C. – Stableford
CSS 71
1st Barry Winton (5) 39pts
2nd Al Keith (5) 37pts
3rd Shuichi Kodaka (18) 35pts
4th Trevor Schirmer (15) 35pts
5th Grant Cadell (14) 33pts
After the rigours of the week’s earlier competitions things got a lot easier when the group travelled to the renamed Great Lakes course where the going was distinctly better, although ‘lift and place’ in the fairways was still the order of the day. The greens were also found to be a lot improved, from the last visit, although with the inability of the greens staff to get much equipment onto the course often enough, they were a bit on the long side but they putted well and were true, which was all that could be fairly asked of them.
Barry Winton returned to something like his old form with a very tidy two over gross that could have been even better after he went out in level par even with having missed a couple of short ones, but although the inward nine was not quite up to the standard of the outward half, it still proved to be sufficient for the day’s top honour.
Al Keith also had a very nice day with a gross 76 to take second place to add extra weight to the argument for the course’s playability on the day.
Shuichi Kodaka did enough over the back nine to win a count back with Trevor Schirmer with a better 18 to 16 to take third place leaving Trevor in fourth, and Grant Cadell claiming fifth after seeing his handicap drop by two in the previous week following an outstanding winning round of six under handicap in a Golf Club competition.
There were no 2’s in the second division but the first division was shared between Barry Winton, Al Keith and Trevor Schirmer.
Before presenting the prizes The Doc had farewells for Alan Hanlon and Mark Armstrong.
Note: The Haven group now departs Soi 13 at the earlier time of 9 am until further notice. If you would like to play with the group you can contact mobile 082 219 0965 or call in to the 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 8.30 on Mondays, Wednesday, Fridays and 9.00am on Sundays on the days you wish to play. A schedule of courses to be played can be found on our web site at www.thehaven-hotel.com.
