IPGC golf from The Haven
Sunday, November 20, Green Valley – Stableford
CSS 72
1st Charlie Sheppard (17) 34pts
2nd J.J. Harney (10) 34pts
3rd Charley Lapsey (9) 33pts
4th John Connolly (21) 31pts
5th Peter Masters (8) 31pts
Having placed only fifth two weeks ago with a return of three better, Charlie Sheppard could not have been expecting to be amongst the winners on the day when he returned his card, but after the dust had settled and all the scores tallied, he not only figured in the final analysis but won with a better count back of 18 to 15 over the no doubt just as surprised J.J. Harney in second place.
Charley Lapsey slid into third a further shot worse than the leading duo and John Connolly got the better of Peter Masters in a count back for fourth with a better inward half of 18 to 15.
Joe McArdle swept the pool in the 2’s with the sole one on the day.
Monday, November 21, Bangpra – Stableford
CSS 74
Division 1 (0-12)
1st Barry Wellings (5) 37pts
2nd Rodney Nabbe (10) 35pts
3rd Alan Pilkington (9) 32pts
4th Peter Sumner (8) 32pts
5th Brian Libbey (9) 32pts
Division 2 (13+)
1st Frank Hughes (16) 32pts
2nd Stephen Lewis (18) 30pts
3rd Hideo Akiyama (14) 29pts
4th Mike Spear (22) 28pts
5th Mark Armstrong (21) 28pts
An exceptionally strong field assembled for the month’s trip to Bangpra where the greens continue to confound the best of them, and with just one player able to better par the CSS for the day moved out two strokes to 74, staying just above the required standard to avoid making it a non-counting for upward review event.
Dave Howden.
It was only marginally easier for the first division, with the cut coming at 12, as Barry Wellings, the lowest handicapper in the field, underscored his class with a two stroke win at one under handicap with a round that was tightly controlled and just the one three putt on the day, which was about 4 better than the next best putter on the day.
Rodney Nabbe was the only other competitor to make the standard of within two of handicap, which was enough to wrap up second spot by three from a three-way count back between Alan Pilkington, Peter Sumner and Brian Libbey, with them finishing with 17, 16, and 14 respectively.
The second division understandably found the course that much more difficult with Frank Hughes getting another win at four over handicap to win by two from Stephen Lewis in a gritty second spot.
Hideo Akiyama had thought that seven over would not be in the shake up so was pleasantly surprised to end up in third ahead of Mike Spear and Mark Armstrong after Mike won a count back with a better 14 to 12.
Barry Wellings.
Tomas Nilsson took the rollover pot in the first division 2’s pool whilst Frank Hughes and Shuichi Kodaka scooped the second division roll over pool.
Before presenting the prizes The Doc welcomed new members Mark Fitzpatrick, Bill Piggott and Daryl Burkett and also welcomed back Kaneo Watanabe, Hideo Akiyama, Carry Barling, Tomas Nilsson, Jens Gunnarsson, Wayne Carey, Paul Scully, Kevin Townsend, Stephen Lewis and Trevor Schirmer.
Wednesday, November 23, Greenwood B & C – Stableford
CSS72
Division 1 (0-13)
1st Dave Howden (13) 40pts
2nd Yasuo Suzuki (10) 36pts
3rd Garry Barling (8) 35pts
Division 2 (14+)
1st Roar Berger (26) 36pts
2nd Daryl Burkett (14) 33pts
3rd Wayne Waywood (15) 33pts
Once again another large field travelled up the 321 to Greenwood, which now seems a lot nearer than before the road improvement works were completed and again they were presented with a very well prepared and conditioned course, and without the lightning fast greens the players were able to score rather better than on the previous outing.
Once again there were two divisions with Dave Howden spread-eagling the first division by four shots and leaving Yasuo Suzuki bemoaning the change in the cut from the last competition. This was due to one or two of the lower handicaps still recovering from the Monday mauling and taking a rest day, which denied Yasuo a long awaited win, but as always adversity was met with a huge smile and a long laugh.
Garry Barling won a count back with a better 22 to 19 after a fairly quiet outward half to consign Bob Maloney into fourth place and still looking for a result on this trip.
The second division was led in by Roar Berger whose level handicap round was easily good enough to see off the challenges of Daryl Burkett and Wayne Waywood in second and third as Daryl won the count back by a margin of 18 to 15.
Surprisingly with such a high quality field in both divisions, there were no 2’s in either of them.
Prior to the presentations Hal Hart was welcomed as a new member.
Friday, November 25, Phoenix (Blue Tees) – Monthly Medals
CSS 77
Division 1 (0-15)
1st Grant Cadell (14) net 76
2nd Bill Piggott (11) net 77
3rd Peter Skinner (9) net 80
4th Garry Barling (9) net 80
Division 2 (16+)
1st John Connolly (21) net 76
2nd Mark Armstrong (21) net 81
3rd Tony Barritt (16) net 81
Ladies (Red Tees)
CSS 72
1st Theresa Connolly (25) net 73
Playing from the back tees in the Monthly Medal always seems to overawe the majority of the competitors every month, and November’s Medals were no exception and with only one counting player making the mark of two above the standard scratch of 74, the CSS for the day moved out to 77 and just stayed in the counting range for upward review.
Again the greens were found to be extremely quick and poorly positioned approach shots were repaid with an almost certain three putt which put rather a damper on most of the hopeful’s days even though the overall condition of the course was excellent, with the fairways in particular attracting very favourable comments.
As usual two divisions were split at 15 and below without regard for the numbers participating so as to allow for the Gold and Silver Medals categories to be played for by all the year’s previous winners on the 23rd December over the same course.
No one was more surprised than Grant Cadell when he discovered that he had taken the first division with a four over par return that was just enough to beat out Bill Piggott by a single shot to become the twelfth different winner in the first division for the year.
Peter Skinner played a bit below his usual standard but was just good enough over the back nine to win the count back over Garry Barling with a better 42.5 to 43 after they had both looked possible winners going out, with neither able to keep up the momentum coming home.
John Connolly, having placed well earlier in the week, became the tenth different winner in the second division’s chase for a Gold Medal next month with a five shot victory ahead of Mark Armstrong and Tony Barritt, with the latter making a welcome return to the winner’s podium, as Mark won the count back by a margin of 40.5 to 42 after Tony had started brightly but faded as the length of the course took its toll.
Again it was no surprise to find that there were no 2’s in any of the divisions as the greens were almost impossible to single putt without being almost in the hole already.
Note: The Haven group now departs Soi 13 at the earlier time of 9 am until further notice. If you would like to play with the group you can contact mobile 082 219 0965 or call in to the hotel at 185 Soi 13 between Beach Road and 2nd Road. All transportation to the course is arranged and you do not need to sign up prior to the day, but you should be there by 8.30 on Mondays, Wednesday, Fridays and 9.00am on Sundays on the days you wish to play. A schedule of courses to be played can be found on our web site at www.thehaven-hotel.com.
