Bunker Boys Golf Society
Monday, March 20, Bangpra (white tees) – Stableford
1st Les Cobban (9) 36pts
2nd Gerry Cooney (16) 34pts
3rd Trevor Preistly (21) 33pts
Near Pins: Jimmy Carr, Chris Depp, Akira Sekiya
It was nice to see a couple of new faces, one from Oz & one from Japan join the Bunker Boys for today’s round at Bangpra. Sixteen players made the trip so just one flight.
The course was all but deserted as we teed off in anticipation of a quick round, however the weather gods intervened and by the time we reached the fourth hole a combination of thunder, lightening, and heavy rain had us racing for cover. The ugly weather continued till the ninth when it cleared and became hot and steamy.
Most struggled with the conditions, with the exception of Les Cobban who on his favorite course returned the only par round.
One group had a turtle for company for a few holes, carried by a very caring caddie until we reached a pond where it was returned to a more appropriate setting. A benefit of Bangpra is that players have the opportunity to commune with nature if they tire of golf.
Wednesday, March 22, Royal Lakeside (blue tees) – Medal
1st Les Cobban (9) net 69
2nd Brad Gordon (27) net 69
3rd Dave Maw (13) net 72
Near Pins: Les Cobban, Dave Maw (2), Thomas Nyborg.
A very fine low-season turnout of twenty-three golfer made it to Royal Lakeside for today’s round. Four did not want to participate in the competition so a field of nineteen meant only one flight.
A fifty-minute drive to a course in pristine condition made the trip worthwhile. Today was the second medal comp of the month, a format that always generates angst amongst some of our members.
Les Cobban continued where he left off on Monday, returning an impressive net sixty-nine off an 8.7 handicap. In second place and losing the count back on the back-nine, having one shot more than Les, was a new member Brad Gordon, unkindly referred to by some as the burglar from down under.
Already we are starting to see courses offer special low season deals with the introduction of “Sports Day” pricing and most players will relish the prospect of more affordable and faster golf. Preparations are already underway for our annual Songkran getaway, this time to Kao Yai, so a good time is expected by all those venturing forth.
Friday, March 24, Pleasant Valley (white tees) – Stableford
1st Jimmy Carr (18) 40pts
2nd Neil Carter (12) 37pts
3rd Keith Smithson (2) 35pts
Near Pins: Geoff Parker, Neil Griffin, Keith Smithson, Roy.
Life is full of surprises and golfing in Pattaya throws up more than its fair share. Our first surprise happened at check-in at Pleasant Valley where we discovered it cost 200 baht more to walk than use a cart, so naturally everyone had a cart and those in need of exercise walked. Another surprise occurred on the 160-meter par-three 13th where Neil Griffin took out the ‘big dog’ and proceeded to nail down a near pin.
It’s easy to tell when some are having a good round, in Raleigh Gosney’s case it is marked by the absence of regular ” Damn it” and in his last round for the present tour of duty he was on best behavior but unfortunately lost third place on a count back to Keith Smithson who had 18 on the back nine to Raleigh’s 15.
Following his first win in a while, last week’s winner Jimmy Carr continued his resurgence with a well compiled forty points to take first place (are we seeing the beginnings of a sustained run of good form from Jimmy or is this just a “flash in the pan”?). Time will tell!
Despite some firmly held beliefs that Pleasant Valley is in fact not pleasant, the course was in very good order and continues to improve with every visit and many of our golfers continue to enjoy playing here. Heavy overnight rain made the course long and the greens, particularly on the front nine were among the slowest we have encountered in a while and were in need of a visit from a mower, which was not possible due to the rain. Despite that, scores were not adversely affected.
