The Golf Club weekly review
Monday, June 5, St. Andrews (white tees) – Stableford
1st Fred Birch (18) 39pts
2nd Ken Grimes (25) 37pts
3rd John Deardon (27) 36pts
The hills and valleys of St. Andrews were on the agenda for today as Green Valley (our usual Monday venue) is having a coring and sanding party. The course was in great condition and the weather was pretty decent for June, as we have experienced much warmer days in years past.
Long time Pattaya frequent/occasional resident John Deardon showed up in great shape after shedding a few kilos and many sit-ups later, the fruits of his labour are evident. Seems to also have helped his golf game and today a fine showing of 36 points gave him third place in a tough field.
Kenny Grimes also had a good day out there and 37 on the card bought him second here today. The winner was RGV member Freddy Birch, playing off 18, who scored 39 points. Fortunately, the wife was right there when Phil was handing out the happy cards and off to Central she went for a bit of shopping.
Tuesday, June 6, Bangpra (white tees) – Stableford
1st Dan Evans (18) 37pts
T2nd Phil Smedley (12) 36pts
T2nd Thomas Erikson (31) 36pts
You just never know what to expect on this course. Being tucked away up on the hills of Chonburi, there is nature all around.
On to the scoring and we find a dead heat with Thomas Erikson and Captain Phil. 36 points saw them tied for second place today but visiting us from his base in Phuket, semi-retired American Dan Evans just squeaked in with his 37 point tally as well as our near pin.
Thursday, June 8, Pattavia (white tees) – Stableford
T1st Peter Thomas (19) 32pts
T1st Phil Smedley (12) 32pts
3rd Dan Evans (18) 30pts
It just keeps getting better and better. This is a unique and very special little gem of a golf course and right now is the time to play here. You are crazy if you don’t, period (full stop).
He won on Tuesday and was back on the podium again. Yes, it was Dan Evans taking third place with 30 points on the card while dueling it out for the win were Peter Thomas alongside our own Captain Phil Smedley. Phil got the edge on Pete with his near pin, the convict! The course record never seemed to be in jeopardy, a mere 32 points had the boys share today’s win. It is a little gem all right, but a tough one!
It must be noted that the greens were now rated as very fair. In the past, if you were above or to the side of the hole it was big trouble. Now running at roughly a 9 on the stimp, it was far more playable and infinitely more enjoyable. Thanks go to the management for listening, and the greenskeeping staff for implementing, a better quality putting surface running true and fair.
Friday, June 9, Eastern Star (yellow tees) – Stableford
1st Ken Grimes (21) 38pts
T2nd Robbie Taylor (14) 35pts
T2nd Kenny Aihara (6) 35pts
It would have been so nice to provide a good, positive write up for this golf course. I personally really enjoy many of the holes here and relish this Robert Trent Jones, Jr. layout. Unfortunately, half the greens were poorly sanded and the other half were inconsistent so no five-star review this time out, sorry.
In any event, we had a good time and the weather was cooperating, so like the bumper sticker says “A bad day on the golf course is better than a good one in the office”. When you have 25 courses on your doorstep, one does tend to get somewhat spoiled.
Kenny Aihara had a shankless day for once, and seems to have shaken off that bugaboo finally. It happens to the best of us, but we try not to use “the S-word” here at TGC as an olde Scottish saying states that the mere mention of the word can curse the entire membership. Our lips are sealed Mr. Wood.
Robbie Taylor and Kenny A. avoided all that and came away with 35’s on the card to tie for second place. Another Ken was lurking about and with a fine 38 points out there, Darwinite Kenny Grimes walked away with the winnings.
Mr. Aihara had the good fortune of taking our Caddy Smile near pin so all in all, a good performance saw Kenny winding down this years’ Pattaya Tour for 2017.
