PSC Golf from the Tropical Golf Group
Tuesday, Nov. 6, Pattana – Stableford
This was our 4th year anniversary at BJ’s and we were away pretty much on time and the weather looked perfect. The drive up to Pattana was quick and easy and we were soon booked in and onto the first tee to play the B & C nines.
Possibly the worst hole to tee off on at any golf course in the area is B1 here at Pattana, with water either side and a ditch in front of the green. Sure enough, many of us found the water today.
We ploughed on and with the fairways nice and dry and the rough quite good it turned out to be a great day. The greens were not the main problem on the day (that was the heat), put the putting surfaces were firm and the trickiest we have played on for some time.
In the A Flight, 0 to 23, the winner was John Davies with 36 points ahead of a countback on 35 points that put John Pierrel in second and Ross Nicholson in third. In fourth was Julian Preissinger with 34 points.
The winner in the B Flight, 24 up, was Mick Coghlan with the best score of the day, 39 points. In second was Fred Tam with 38 points ahead of Don Carmody in third on 36 and in fourth spot Gordon Clegg came in with 34.
The best front nine by non-winners was returned by Dick Warberg with 18 points and the best back nine by Mashi Kaneta with 19.
Friday, Nov. 9, King Naga – Stableford
The King Naga course is often a controversial choice. It was previously known as Great Lakes, and then as Rayong Country Club. Yes, I’ve heard some reports that the course had been upgraded when the name was last changed, however I was not able to find any significant improvements to the clubhouse or the course.
That being said, with the exception of the bunkers that had not seen a rake for some time, most players enjoyed a nice round of golf at Naga’s affordable rates. The broad leaf grass was in about as good a condition as it gets, and while there are some patches of bare ground around the course, they did not seem to come into play.
Gathering at BJ’s first thing in the morning, and motoring to King Naga we were greeted by friendly caddies sporting their green uniforms with yellow trim. This was a significant improvement, not the color combination, but there had been previous reports of King Naga not having enough caddies or riding carts available. Today, no problem. The weather was quite humid and there was a little very light rain, but nothing that would even be close to disrupting play.
Don Carmody had the top score of the day and was three points better than his course handicap of 30, for a fine 39 stableford points total. Second place went to Otto Schmid (36) with 37 points. Takeshi Hakozaki (14) tallied 34 points, winning third on countback over Kurt Ebentheuer’s (36) 34 points. Best 9’s (non-winners) went to Dick Warberg and Bob Britton.
