PSC golf from Tropical Bert’s
Tuesday, Oct. 15, Eastern Star- Stableford
The question was ‘rain or no rain?’ and as usual the weather forecast was not good. The other worry was what would the traffic be like? and that was found on the way down as it was very busy, indeed as I have not driven down there for some time I noticed a couple of new red lights, which of course were on red.
This is a difficult course and for me the par 5’s here have always, as a bunch, been the most difficult on any course, as they were to prove again on this day. Still, a discussion with the starter on the condition of the layout sounded hopeful as he said the bunkers were fine and we could use carts on the course.
Barry Elphick.
So off we went and it soon became apparent that the fairways had problems. Taking carts on the fairways is fine except on this 18 holes and you could soon see the obvious paths of the carts digging holes in them. Also the rain had left the fairways in a poor condition and even with ‘lift, clean and place’, finding a decent lie was difficult. Mind, this is a fine walk around although on this day it was a struggle.
The greens were also difficult as they were Velcro-like on the front nine in particular and some on the back nine were quite fast as they had been treated with a bit of sand. Still, it was the same for all the players and despite the obvious problems we all got around, without rain, and enjoyed the day out, though the general consensus was that we would wait until the rain had gone for a while before returning.
Round over it was into the restaurant where I have to say the staff were very attentive and did a fine job. This many years ago was, in my opinion, the best restaurant at any course and we used to visit it just for the food. While not of that standard now, it is still a good place to eat.
Back at Bert it was soon time for the results and even before them it was obvious the scores would not be high. We had two count backs with three players on 31 points and three on 30 points. The winner with 31 points was Barry Elphick on count back over Walter Baechli in second and Tom Herrington in third. In fourth was Brian Parish with 30 points ahead of Landis Brooks and Derek Brook on count back.
Near pins went to Landis Brooks (3) and Dick Warberg.
Friday, Oct. 18, Plutaluang – Stableford
We had a good turnout for a Friday and they were soon on their way to this course to see how the heavy rain of late had treated it. Most courses we have played lately have been in a soggy state so it was interesting to see if this venue, that in truth is usually quite dry, had followed the rest.
Mark West & John Davis.
It is all about drainage and some courses have great drainage, some naturally and some built in, and as you play on them you can see which are good. On this day I have to say that Plutaluang East and South was very playable and surprisingly dry and firm and only a few places showed signs of water trouble. Mind, as is usual, the greens were very slow.
So, all in all, the course was in fairly good condition. During the round use of carts on the fairways was allowed and this was another positive, although the ball did occasionally pick up mud and ‘lift, clean and place’ was in effect.
Round over it was back to Bert’s for the results. In the A Flight, 0 to 17, the winner was Mark West with 37 points ahead of Guy Stewart in second with 36 points and Landis Brooks in third with 35 points.
In the B Flight the winner was John Davis with 41 points ahead of Geoff Bracegirdle in second with 40 points and Don Carmody in third with 37 points.
Near pins were claimed by Peter Holloway, Guy Stewart, Graham Buckingham and Giu Lan Lui.
T.T.F.N.
