The Traveller’s Rest Golf Group
Monday, July 30, Khao Kheow – Stableford
1st Michael Prideaux (12) 41pts
2nd Bart Bingham (20) 38pts
3rd Don Hawkins (15) 36pts
“Today is a holiday” the management at Bangpra said, “and the price is 900 baht extra”. In response we produced an email showing the price they had quoted previously but after 20 minutes of getting nowhere we gave up and drove our group of 24 players over to Khao Kheow instead.
Not everyone was happy with the change of venue and initially one of those was Michael Prideaux, who hasn’t been playing well lately and the layout at Khao Kheow doesn’t normally suit his game. After he wiped the first hole he thought, “this is going to be a long day”, but over the next eight holes he scored twenty one points and shot a further twenty points on the back nine to finish with an incredible 41 points.
Tuesday, July 31, Plutaluang – Stableford
1st Daniel Willits (12) 36pts
2nd Bob Cannon (18) 35pts
3rd Gerard Dogge (19) 35pts
On Tuesday we visited Plutaluang and played East & South. ‘Lift clean and place’ was the order of the day and under this format you would expect some pretty high scores. Not so today as the best score in came from Danny Willits whose 36 points was enough to beat the field and take top spot.
Wednesday, August 1, Greenwood – Stableford
1st Darren Stanton (14) 38pts
2nd Richard Moore (15) 36pts
3rd Paul West (12) 36pts
Travelling up the 331 to Greenwood and not many of us thought we were going to get to play today. The black clouds had rolled in of the mountains and the weather looked ominous. About ten minutes out from Greenwood and the heavens opened up and boy did it rain? We decided to leave the clubs in the van and sit it out for an hour to see if it cleared up. Miraculously five minutes later the storm passed and fifteen after that we were out on the course.
Due to the wet conditions we once again played ‘lift clean and place’ and with no run on the ball we weren’t expecting any big scores, however if you hit the ball as long as Darren Stanton hits it, you don’t need any run, his drives were 250yards plus and was probably the only one hitting nine irons and wedges into the green? With support from his handpicked caddy, otherwise known as the “A Team” and only one wipe on his card, Darren cruised to first place with a very impressive 38 points.
Thursday, August 2, Phoenix – Stableford
1st Bart Bingham (19) 38pts
2nd Roger Wilkinson (16) 37pts
3rd Daniel Willits (12) 36pts
The all American boy, Bart Bingham, was out to prove that the U.S of A is still a force to be reckoned with. Still riding on the euphoria of qualifying for the TRGG-Ferdinand Cup, Bart posted a solid 38 points and treated those on the bus to a rendition of the American national anthem.
Friday, August 3, Burapha – Stableford
1st Gerard Dogge (19) 40pts
2nd Kazu Mochidome (11) 37pts
3rd John Baxter (19) 37pts
Today we played Burapha C & D courses, the weather was clear and the views over Pattaya were amazing. There was also some amazing golf being played and Gerard Dogge was the man doing it. Gerard has set up some great opportunities over the last couple of weeks with high scoring front nines but choked on the back nine. Today was different and he set up the win with twenty three points going out and nineteen coming back to equal his personal best round.
Saturday, August 4, Pattavia – Stableford
1st Billy Allan (20) 37pts
2nd Colin Smith (13) 36pts
3rd Mr. Petur (6) 35pts
We finished this week at Pattavia where our members witnessed a true miracle as another resurrection occurred akin to the one that took place over 2000 years ago at the foot of the Mount of Olives. After a long period of lifelessness, Billy Allan awakened from the dead, shook off his crown of thorns, healed his gaping wound and ascended to an almighty victory.
