PSC golf from The Growling Swan
Monday, June 23, Pleasant Valley – Stableford
Pleasant Valley was the venue for our first game of this particular week and after one late withdrawal due to a family bereavement we were left with 24 on the starting sheet.
Buckers was back from the UK and his “driver” Tom Cotton also presented himself again. We also welcomed back Alan Ray from Melbourne and Steve Truelove from Sydney. It was sadly time to say farewell to Greg Preferment who will shortly be returning to Sydney.
When we arrived at the golf course the car park was nearly empty so after a quick check-in we were all raring to go and told that we would be starting on the 10th tee, which quite frankly is not my first option but “it is what it is”!
Ian Parry, Peter Blackburn & Dave Fletcher.
The weather was good, hot with some breeze and the course was looking in very good shape with of course the spectacular scenery.
Our first four-ball got away 15 minutes ahead of our allotted time at 9.45 am and with no-one directly in front of us we proceeded at a reasonable pace. As mentioned earlier the course was very good although damp in parts so we played preferred lies through the greens and the greens were somewhat slow with a couple of them having residual sand on them. We stopped for a drinks break just before the fourth tee and after continuing managed to complete an enjoyable round of golf with good company in four hours & fifteen minutes.
We had 2 Divisions – Division A for handicaps 0 to 17 & Division B for golfers on handicaps of 18 and over with three places in each Division. There were also rewards for nearest the pin on all the par threes and longest first putts on the 9th & 18th greens.
It was close at the top of Division A with 2 golfers on 43 points and the resultant count back saw first place being awarded to Mike “Hunter” Gosden (23 point back nine) with Bob Akapita (18 point back nine) finishing second. Another count back with 2 golfers on 38 points resulted in Gerd Riedler (20 point back nine) being awarded third place with Mike Allidi (19 point back nine) just missing out.
Ken Hole lost 2 shots off his handicap after the previous Thursday’s 49 points at Bangpakong but it didn’t seem to bother him as he scored 41 points and was the winner in B Division. With 2 golfers on 40 points another count back was needed and resulted in second spot going to Patrick Poussier (19 point back nine) with Sandy “Cindy Lauper” Leiper (18 point back nine) finishing third.
The Growling Swan NAGA Award, (awarded to the golfer who has the worst score on the day and discreetly their score is not made public) was won by Tom Cotton and he accepted the award like the good sport that he i
Division A (0-17)
1st Mike Gosden (13) 43pts
2nd Bob Akapita (17) 43pts
3rd Gerd Riedler (7) 38pts
Division B (18+)
1st Ken Hole (18) 41pts
2nd Patrick Poussier (23) 40pts
3rd Sandy Leiper (33) 40pts
Near Pins: 5th – Ken Hole, 8th – Gerd Riedler, 13th – Steve Truelove, 17th – Ken Hole
Long Putts: 9th – Steve Truelove, 18th – Paul Kennedy
Thursday, June 26, Burapha – Monthly Mug
It was that time again when we play our one and only stroke round of the month for the Growling Swan Monthly Mug and this month’s challenge was at the classy Burapha Golf Course.
Ken Hole & Mike Gosden.
After a late withdrawal due to illness we were left with a terrific low season field of 33 golfers and we assembled at the bar in readiness for our departure. There were old & new faces and welcomes were handed out to Trevor McLeod & Peter Booth from Bundaberg in Queensland, Gerry Swan from Jersey in the Channel Islands, Martin Kempton from London, Ian Parry from Melbourne, Dave Fletcher from his work in Western Australia back with us again, Steve Newton on a “flying” visit from his work in Singapore and Growling Swan stalwart Martin “Toddy” Todd back again from Mandurah in Western Australia for another 3 months.
After a 30 minute drive we arrived at the course where it was surprisingly quiet. After the downpours of the previous day most eyes kept glancing upwards at the overcast skies but we all knew deep down that the “rain gods” would look after us and indeed they did! After checking in and getting ready we went down to the assembly area and after a quick practice putt for some we were caught off guard a little bit when told we could start, a very rare occurrence at Burapha.
C & D were our designated nines so off we went to C1 where there were no other groups ahead to be seen and our first four-ball got away 15 minutes ahead of schedule at 9.45 am. I must mention that the first group consisted of T.C., Buckers, the amazingly colorful Walter Baechli and myself so I knew that regardless of the standard of golf played it would be a very enjoyable day and indeed it was.
The weather was perfect, not very hot with a nice breeze and the golf course was in absolutely superb condition with the greens on these two nines being among the best anywhere. We proceeded at a very good pace and after completing the first nine in two hours we maintained that rate of progress and completed the round in just a tad over four hours. It had been a fabulous day with top class company and lots of laughs on a super golf course.
In addition to the Monthly Mug award we were able to have 2 divisions with A Division being for handicaps 0 to 18 & B Division for handicaps of 19 and over with 6 prizes in each. There were also rewards for nearest the pins all the par threes and longest first putts on the C9 & D9 greens.
I’m convinced that it was the good company that I had that enabled me, your writer, Peter “Blacky” Blackburn to score a net 68 and win my second Growling Swan Monthly Mug, having won the very first one two years previous.
In Division A the winner was Ian Parry with a net 71 and with three golfers on net 72 it was count back time. This resulted in second place going to Steve Truelove (net 34 back nine and net 19 on the last 6 holes) with “Big” Bill Steinman (net 34 back nine and net 24 on the last 6 holes) finishing third and Mashi Kaneta (net 36 back nine) was fourth. In another count back fifth place was awarded to Mike “Hunter” Gosden (net 38 back nine) and sixth place went to Trevor McLeod (net 38 back nine) both having carded a net 74.
In B Division it was Dave “Fletch” Fletcher who emerged for his first ever win with us after shooting net 73. There were 2 golfers with net 76 and the count back saw second place going to Steve Newton (net 36 back nine) and Sandy “Cindy Lauper” Leiper (net 37 back nine) was third. In fourth place was Lindsay Slender with net 77 (those daily visits to the Driving Range are starting to pay off!) followed by Gary Monley in fifth spot after a net 78 and Geri Crilly finished sixth with a net 79.
The Growling Swan NAGA Award was won by Growling Swan Mine Host Peter Grey.
Monthly Mug
1st Peter Blackburn (12) net 68
A Division (0-18)
1st Ian Parry (8) net 71
2nd Steve Truelove (9) net 72
3rd Bill Steinman (8) net 72
4th Mashi Kaneta (13) net 72
5th Mike Gosden (13) net 74
6th Trevor McLeod (8) net 74
B Division (19+)
1st Dave Fletcher (35) net 73
2nd Steve Newton (28) net 76
3rd Sandy Leiper (33) net 76
4th Lindsay (25) net 77
5th Gary Monley (33) net 78
6th Geri Crilly (25) net 79
Near Pins: C5 – Gerd Riedler, C8 – Mike Gosden, D2 – Steve Truelove
Long Putts: C9 – Dick Braimbridge, D9 – Bob Akapita
Note: Growling Swan Golf welcomes golfers of any persuasion – low & high handicappers alike, female golfers and beginners. We generally play Mondays & Thursdays, meeting at The Growling Swan in Soi Chaiyapoon at 8.00 am with transport departing at 8.30 am. For bookings or more information please contact Peter on 0806 351 386 or email to petermalcolmblackburn @gmail.com.
We also play bowls out of the Growling Swan every Wednesday and Sunday. Sunday is Lawn Bowls and Wednesday is Indoor Bowls. All are welcome and for anyone that is interested the transport leaves The Growling Swan at 10.00am on each of those mornings. For more information please contact Paul Rennison on 0843 454 005.
