IPGC Golf from The Haven
Monday, Oct. 24, Greenwood – Stableford
CSS 74
1st Darryl Kellett (15) 37pts
2nd Walter Creese (18) 33pts
3rd Mick Alleyne (9) 31pts
4th John Carlin (18) 26pts
5th Markku Tynell (20) 25pts
A week with many of the regulars away on a golf tour started out at the now not so inexpensive Greenwood, where the Bank Holiday green fee had increased by 300% since the last holiday event played there by the group. All of which came as a big surprise on arriving at the course, but too late to re-arrange so some disgruntled golfers set off for a day made slightly more bearable with a local rule ‘lift and place’ in the fairways, although the going was still pretty tough with little run on the fairways.
Darryl Kellett hardly hit a green in regulation but his chipping and putting were good enough to ensure the win as he returned the only card of the day not to show a zero.
Walter Creese was the closest contender four shots back with an excellent back nine of twenty points and might have been even closer but for four no-score holes.
Mick Alleyne, the lowest handicapper in the field, took third place after a good start to his round that unfortunately went downhill the longer it lasted, but he still stayed well ahead of many others.
John Carlin found the front nine almost unbelievable and needed a much better closing nine to take fourth place, one ahead of Markku Tynell in fifth. Markku had been particularly unfortunate to be in the last group that was held up by a heavy downpour.
There were no 2s in either of the divisions.
Wednesday, Oct. 26, Khao Kheow B & C (yellow tees) – Stableford
CSS 73
1st Yukio Kikuchi (19) 36pts
2nd Ian Lederhose (17) 35pts
3rd Pete Seil (6) 34pts
4th Mike Gloud (12) 33pts
5th Mike Korney (18) 32pts
6th Shuichi Kodaka (19) 31pts
Khao Kheow was as usual difficult, but that difficulty owed nothing to the condition of the course which was outstanding, especially considering the amount of rain it had absorbed during the days earlier. The greens were especially deserving of mention and the day was played without a ‘lift and place’ ruling.
Yukio Kikuchi had a good day that but for a mishap on the seventeenth, where he recorded a zero-pointer, could have been even better. An excellent recovery on the 18th earned him three points and led to the win by a slim margin of one and a happy memory to carry with him back to Japan.
Ian Lederhose also chose his last game with the group, prior to returning to OZ, to have his best result in second place although a stronger back nine after 20 points on the front would have perhaps seen him with his first win with the group.
Pete Seil, not quite the low handicapper of the day, took third place after returning a very tidy card that displayed just the one six, but he had done just enough to head fourth placed Mike Gloud by a single shot.
Mike Korney took fifth another shot adrift, with Shuichi Kodaka another shot back in sixth place.
There were no 2s in the second division but Billy Shepley, although not scoring well on many holes, showed his ability with the short irons when he had two in the first division to sweep the rollover pool clean.
Friday, Oct. 28, Phoenix (Lakes & Ocean) – Monthly Medals
Division 1 (0-15)
(Blue Tees) CSS 74
1st Jon Batty (6) net 84
Division 2 (16+)
(White Tees) CSS 72
1st John Carlin (18) net 72
2nd Shuichi Kodaka (19) net 75
3rd Markku Tynell (20) net 75
The penultimate qualifying competition for the end of year Gold and Silver Medals, to be held on the 23rd of December, was held once again at the busy Phoenix Gold club where the course was found to be in reasonable condition but with very little run on the fairways and rough that was punishingly deep and wet.
The first division was won by Jon Batty, as the only finisher in the division, after a hard day when very little appeared to go right from the moment he lost his long time caddy to another golfer in the group, through to the last nine holes when he just could not score better than a bogey on any hole. But at least he handed in a card to claim the top step and trousered a wad from the uncollected prize pool.
John Carlin won the second division medal by three clear, ahead of a count back for second place which Shuichi Kodaka won with a better 35.5 to 37 to leave Markku Tynell in third place.
There are now 18 qualifiers in the first division and 16 in the second division for the December play offs.
There were no 2s in the first division but John Carlin made it a double celebration with the sole one in the second division to clear out the multi rollover pool.
