PSC Golf from the Tropical Golf Group
Tuesday, Jan. 5, Mt. Shadow – Stableford
This was supposed to be just a fill in for those who did not want to play in The PSC Club Championship, so to give all the players an option we booked 4 tee times at this course. Naturally on the morning of the game we had 6 four-balls and not enough time to tell the course, so we left with hopes that they had a slack day. But of course Mountain Shadow was busy. We do have fun!
Fortunately a brief window occurred before we teed off so we managed to slip the extras in and we were all off by the time we were supposed to be. It was obvious this would be a slow day with our 4-ball waiting for many shots. Still the wind was not too strong and the weather was nice and warm so a great day was expected.
Takeshi Hakozaki.
The course was in good condition, even if the fairways were a little worn, but the greens were fast and true and very tricky. All in all it was a good, if slow, walk around.
Round over we were soon back at BJ’s and we got into the results at a decent time. Surprisingly the B Flight had played better than the A Flight.
In the A Flight, 0 to 20, the winner was Mashi Kaneta with 34 points ahead of a count back on 32 points that saw Tom Herrington in second and John Davis in third. In the B Flight the winner was Dave Cooper with 38 points, ahead of Mick Coghlan in second on count back. In third was Graham Buckingham with 34 points.
Near Pins: Tom Herrington, Dave Cooper (2), Brian Gabe.
Long Putts: Derek Brook, Brian Gabe.
Friday, Jan 8, Pluataluang E & S – Stableford
It had been a while since the Topical Golfers visited the Thai Navy Plutaluang, golf course so this Friday it was finally in the rotation. Even though the Pattaya Sports Club annual tournament was going on the same day, the sheet still filled up with 28 golfers hoping to give this most interesting golf course a try.
On this day we were assigned the East and South courses. Love it or hate it, this course is never boring; several holes have trees splitting the fairway, testing driving accuracy, and there is enough water to make one wish for floating golf balls. The course was in overall fair to good condition.
Unfortunately it was busy and there were not enough caddies to go around. A few groups got lucky, but most waited quite a while with no clubs or caddies in sight. Finally golfers started to put bags on trolleys themselves and start the round. Well… this didn’t sit well with the “Powers-that- Be”, and soon buggies appeared filled with Navy cadets who might have been pulled out of class in order to pull the carts.
Interesting that the term “caddie” is thought to have originated from “cadet” who, in the early days of golf, were assigned bag toting duties. Most had never been on a golf course before, so the stories at the end of the day varied from frustrating to amusing. Still, everyone made it around fine and it is good practice to read your own greens once in a while.
Dave Cooper (left) and Mashi Kaneta (right) with one of BJ Lodge’s finest.
In the A-Flight, 0-20, regular player Takeshi Hakozaki (H/cap 16) had the best round of the day with an excellent 38 points on a challenging course. Brad Robbins (19) was next with a fine 36 points, followed by Brian Gabe (17) with 35, and Richard Kubicki (10) winning some count-backs with 34 points.
In B-Flight, 21+, Dave Cooper (26) won on count-back over Karen Brown (34) at 32 points. Then returning visitor Paul Weatherley (21) won the count-back over Jim Ferris, each with 30 points. Just goes to show that you never know and never give up.
Near Pins: Jim Ferris, Ted Morris, Mike O’Brien, Takeshi Hakozaki.
Long Putts: Brad Robbins, Jim Ferris
