PSC Golf from the Tropical Golf Group
Tuesday, Feb. 3, Khao Kheow – Stableford
A Flight
1st Richard Kubicki (10) 33pts
2nd Tom McDowell (20) 32pts
3rd Colm Mullen (16) 32pts
B Flight
1st Carole Kubicki (21) 38pts
2nd Mike O’Brien (22) 37pts
3rd Kurt Ebentheuer (34) 31pts
Near Pins: Don Carmody, Carole Kubicki, Tom McDowell, Judi Christopherson
So here we were, first Tuesday of the month and off to one of our favorite courses, Khao Kheow. No one wonders about the condition of the course as it always seems to be a cut above the norm and the only question is, “which nines will we be assigned to play this day?” Everyone seems to have a favorite pair, or at least one nine they do not like very much.
Brian Gabe (left) with Landis Brooks.
So after breakfast and last minute adjustments to the transport assignments and playing order due to a couple late “no-shows”, we were off up the “7” and soon at the course. The trip doesn’t seem to take very long anymore even with the detours due to all the highway construction projects underway.
Arriving at Khao Kheow there was a bit of a back up at the bag-drop, but with many caddies ready to go we were soon at B-1 after being assigned to play the “B” and “C” nines and the starter had the first group off under sunny skies and a bit of a breeze. The pace of play was steady and with most of the walkers getting a lift between nines, the groups finished their round in 4½ hours.
Sat in the restaurant, great view, we collected the scorecards and wondered who was going to win the day, the players or the course. As the cards rolled in it became obvious that the higher handicappers did better than the lower ones on this day. Even the technical prizes were following this norm.
Back in Pattaya at BJ’s it was soon time for the results to be announced. Congratulations went to “B-flighters” Carole and Mike for beating their handicaps and to the Kubicki’s for each winning their respective flights. We’ll return to Khao Kheow next month and see if we can do a bit better against the course.
Friday, Feb. 6, Pattana – Stableford
The Tropical Golf Group had a treat in store on Friday as the schedule called for a trip to Pattana. It was a full house at BJ’s Lodge as 34 golfers gathered and the organizer did a good job to get everyone into the transport with a minimum of fuss.
Pattana is a fine course, and is there any better clubhouse to come back to after a round? Conditions this day were good all around, even the weather cooperated, and we were assigned the “A” and “C” nines. It was great to have a reasonable starting hole other than the dreaded B-1. Fairways were pretty good and mostly weed free.
Carole and Richard Kubicki were joint winners at Khao Kheow.
The greens at Pattana are challenging (to be polite) but that goes with the territory when playing a higher end course. The only complaint was some greens were quite hard – as in solid, making many approach shots nearly impossible to hold. They were also quite contoured and three-putts were common.
Playing off the yellow tees compensated somewhat for the course difficulty and back at BJ’s it took a while to tabulate so many scores, but finally the results came out.
In the A-Flight (0-16), Landis Brooks (H/cap 9) showed why he is a “single digiter” with the best score of the day, racking up an impressive 40 points. Great playing and putting Landis! Next in line was Bob Edwards (11) with a close 39 points, followed by Andre Van Dyk (16) with 37, and then Ted Morris (14) and Richard Kubicki (10), each with 36.
In B-Flight (17+) it was a day of 37 points with a 4-way count back on that score. Brian Gabe (17) took first in the flight, barely beating Paolo DeGrandis (31), Mick Coghlan (20), and Dick Warberg (18) all with the same total. It pays to finish strong. Mike O’Brien (22) finished with a fine 36 points for fifth.
Near pins went to Brian Parish, Gerhardt Bauer, Mashi Kaneta, Henry Wong, Mike O’Brien and George King (2)
