PSC Golf from The Outback Golf Bar
Monday, May 4, Burapha – 4P better-ball
This was General Jack’s big 65th, now officially retired although he did that when he came here to live in 2001, came out of retirement to help Bob start the Outback in 2007 and both he (Jack) and the Outback are still going strong.
An untried yet interesting format was chosen for the day, teams of four all playing their own ball, but as the round progresses a different number of scores counted on each hole in a 1, 2 and 3 sequence, hence being known as a waltz. So hole 1, one score to count, hole 2, two scores to count and hole 3, three scores to count and so on. We also had an overall winner and runner-up and, somewhat controversially, we played from the blue tees on A & B.
(From left) Andre Coetzee, Keith Allen and Sugar Ray Handford with Greg Hirst from DeVere.
With the benefit of a two-tee start we were away on time with the course in great condition and the weather fine; however as the round progressed the clouds began to appear and thunder rumbles could be heard in the background. The last group was playing the eleventh when General Jack decided that a rogue bolt of lightning was just a little too close for comfort and headed for the drink stop. Others followed shortly after as the heavens opened, giving way to a spectacular display of lightning which went on for nearly an hour.
Ten minutes after the rain stopped the greens were very playable and, with the help of preferred lies, so was the course generally, apart from a bit of casual water and some very wet bunkers.
Well you can’t keep a good team down and the Courtyard Cavaliers (Geoff Couch, Jeff North, Graham Beaumont & David Done) showed once again why they are the kings of these team games by returning an excellent 91pts, beating the Jomtien Jostlers (Phil Mitchell, Martin Grimoldby, Bob Poole & John Poole) by just one point.
Third equal were two teams on 87pts, consisting of Phil Payne, Erik Persson, Les Easton & Gordon Clegg and Mick Leighton, Dah, Ed Turner and Tony Cobb.
The individual competition was won by John Poole with an excellent 44pts ahead of JP Maffray with 42.
Near pin prizes, sponsored by Bob St Aubin as a result as Jack’s lost handicap bet, were won by Andy Butterworth (A3), David Done (A6), Phil Mitchell (B3) and John Poole (B8). There were four ‘2’s from Mike Missler, Andy Butterworth and Jeff North (A3) and Phil Mitchell (B3).
As we were delayed returning from the course, the results were also delayed, so the live music, from the seriously talented “The Band of Smiles”, got the party underway as the food for all participants was served. Many stayed late into the evening as the amber nectar flowed, the music was great and once again the band played virtually non-stop for four hours.
Friday, May 8, Green Valley – DeVere Monthly Medal
It’s May, and that means we’re gonna get plenty of thunderstorms. We were made well aware of that on Friday with play interrupted for an hour and a bit as the thunderstorm that we thought missed us, returned, unleashed it’s fury on our 26 players on the last few holes, and even caused a few punters to pack it in for the day.
The course was in better condition than a few weeks prior, but the weather did make things difficult, and scoring was not the greatest. Nobody broke handicap on their net medal scores which is unusual to say the least.
Lowest gross for the day was a fairly average 80, nonetheless beating the next lowest gross by a full 5 shots, and no wonder Andre Coetzee thinks more credit should go to the gross winners in this format.
We will however ignore that bias since the real heroes of the day were Keith Allen, Barry Copestake and Sugar Ray, all scoring a fabulous net 72. Keith took honors on the count back, scoring best after the rain and including a gross birdie and a par on the difficult last 2 holes. Well done Keith!
Acknowledgment and a welcome must also be given to one of our visitors today, Shaun Bray, who does not have an official handicap but played very well indeed with his unofficial one.
We also had two ‘2’s, recorde, by Bruce McAdam and Jim Bell.
1st Keith Allen (16) net 72
2nd Barry Copestake (15) net 72
3rd Sugar Ray Handford (17) net 72
4th Andre Coetzee (6) net 74
5th JP Maffray (11) net 74
Note: The Outback Golf Bar is situated about 6km from Sukhumvit Road along Soi Siam Country. Call Jack on 081 578 1956.
