The Tropical Golf Group
Tuesday, March 21, Royal Lakeside – Stableford
I suppose most of our readers know where Royal Lakeside is; just in case you do not it is a long way up the rickety road, well on the way to Bangkok. It is just about as far as we go to play golf on a daily basis. On this day the road was not too bad and in fact we made good time and we were soon there.
The entrance to Royal Lakeside is quite ordinary, as is the ride to the clubhouse, however once inside it becomes quite impressive. Soon booked in and changed it was onto the start and we were on our way.
The course here is well designed with definite fairways and clearly defined rough. The greens were a test though and played true and fast. This is designed as a course to enjoy your golf and it will not destroy a golfer – unless they play really bad.
Soon finished it was back to Pattaya for the presentation. The best score of the day by far came from Landis Brooks who scored a gross 73 and 44 points to win the A Flight, 0 to 18. Back in the dust, a count back on 36 points saw Brian Parish in second and Steve Truelove third.
In the B Flight, another good score of 38 points saw Nigel Perry win ahead of Dick Warberg in second on 36 points, with John Fenwick taking third on 35.
The front nine best score was Mick Coghlan’s 20 points and best on the back nine was Walter Baechli with 16.
Near Pins: Landis Brooks, Gerd Riedlar, Doug Maiko, John Fenwick.
Friday, March 24, Pattana A & C – Stableford
Another Friday, and what better way to kick off the weekend than with a fine round of golf? With many regulars traveling or escaping the heat, we had a tidy seventeen golfers head out to Pattana, one of the best courses in the area. This day the Tropicals left extra early to get the round started before a Charity tournament at Pattana. Some liked the early and cooler time; others dragged themselves in at the last moment.
Pattana – what’s not to like? The layout is interesting; there are three nines to spread out the customers, and a clubhouse that rivals any in the area. Sure we’d like it a little cheaper, but it is competitive and near the top of what you get for the money. Even the caddies are overall well trained. Oh, did we forget to mention it’s usually in excellent condition? It was this day also.
Pattana is not overly easy, but fair, and the nice fairways assure you can get always get a clubhead on the ball. With one flight, the final scores had to be good.
It was a close finish, by which we mean a count-back was required. Finally John Davis (13) edged out Bob Watson (8) at the 38 point mark. The next two places were decided on a triple score count-back with Jerry Garcia (18) over Brian Parish (13) with 36 points, leaving Paul Weatherley (17) the job to clap and smile. Overall it was a great day.
Near Pins: Bob Watson (2), Dave Cooper, Jerry Garcia
Long Putts: John Davis
Best Nines (non-winner): Paul Weatherley, Nigel Perry
