PSC golf from the Growling Swan
Monday, Feb. 4, Pattana – Stableford
Twenty three golfers were in attendance today eager to test their skills on the classy Pattana golf course. The starter pulled the trigger and the first group were away at 1010 hours. Playing the B and C nines from the yellow tees they completed the journey in four hours and thirty minutes.
The weather was fine with a cooling breeze whilst the course was in superb condition and the greens putted truly.
Pre-tournament favourite Max Bracegirdle bypassed all practice facilities as he considers the game too easy and commented, “There must be a way to toughen it up”. The same gent handed in twenty eight points.
Thursday winners Ebrahim (left) and Roy Dayton (right) flank NAGA award recipient Bill Clarke.
On the fifteenth tee with scores close, one player in the leading group said, “It’s not over until the rotund lady warms up the vocal chords”. Martin Todd responded with, “Well zip up your corset darling because you’re on next.”
We said a big G’day to Frank (Pakko) Waterhouse, Bill Wilkinson and Bill Clark from the old dart and Piere Cere from Quebec in Canada. It was hoo roo to Bernie McCart who is returning to Australia for business reasons.
In the A grade Patrick Engels showed the way to score thirty six points and take first place. Second spot went to Alain Taddei with thirty five points whilst Ebrahim garnered thirty four to relegate Mike Gosden on thirty three to fourth.
In the B grade seventy-seven year old Kevin Dinan played much like a politician fielding voters’ questions, i.e. with skill and dexterity, to post a great forty two points and win easily.
The minor places went to Bernie McCart on thirty six points, with Brad Todd on thirty two and Pekka Mustonen with thirty rounding out the podium.
A Flight (0–17)
1st Patrick Engels (11) 36pts
2nd Alain Taddei (17) 35pts
3rd Ebrahim (17) 34pts
4th Mike Gosden (12) 33pts
B Flight (18+)
1st Kevin Dinan (27) 42pts
2nd Bernie McCart (29) 36pts
3rd Brad Todd (18) 32pts
4th Pekka Mustonen (21) 30pts
Near Pins: Alain Taddei B3, Piere Cere B7 & C2, Ebrahim C7.
Long Putts: Brad Todd B9, Bill Wilkinson C9.
The NAGA was won by Pat Kavanagh who made it in to double figures. It would appear the gene pool is in need of chlorine.
Once again Deefa the dog was paraded and collected funds for the needy children of Pattaya and the players are thanked for their generosity.
Regular readers of this column may recall that three months ago one gent predicted that the baht would drop from 31 to 25 to the Aussie dollar in the near future. It didn’t, however he did the right thing and devoured the pie with great relish. Well done Stu!
Thursday, Feb. 7, Treasure Hills – Stableford
Twenty-nine golfers were in attendance today anticipating a solid examination of their game at the challenging Treasure Hills layout. They weren’t disappointed.
Action man Sandy Leiper made a comment, that despite the course being tougher than picking fly dung out of black pepper he was going to hand in a great score. Time would tell.
Change room chatter is always interesting when gun wordsmith Graham Buckingham is in attendance, and today was no different. He was of the opinion that he could make a nuclear bomb out of a barker’s egg and two sticks as long as someone could keep the flies away. Nice call Buckers!
Fred Dineley who is returning to Australia for a short break was farewelled.
Playing from the yellow tees the first group hit off at 0950 hours and completed the journey in four hours and twenty minutes. It was hot with very little breeze and cloudy conditions were the order of the day. The course was in good condition and the greens a little slower than usual.
In the A grade Ebrahim handed in thirty six points which included a back nine of twenty three to sit atop the podium. Back after a break of a few weeks was Stu Rifkin who also had thirty six points with a back nine of twenty two. Mike Gosden with thirty three finished third whilst Jayson Schembri and Colin Faraday both on thirty two rounded out the grade.
In the B grade Roy Dayton handed in thirty four points to show the way comfortably from Fred Dineley on thirty points. In third place was Stephen Newton on twenty nine points whilst Kevin Dinan with twenty eight and Max Bracegirdle on twenty seven made the podium.
Looking at the scores it would appear the course was harder than Chinese arithmetic.
A Flight (0–18)
1st Ebrahim (17) 36pts
2nd Stu Rifkin (15) 36pts
3rd Mike Gosden (12) 33pts
4th Jayson Schembri (18) 32pts
5th Colin Faraday (18) 32pts
B Flight (19+)
1st Roy Dayton (23) 34pts
2nd Fred Dineley (27) 30pts
3rd Stephen Newton (28) 29pts
4th Kevin Dinan (27) 28pts
5th Max Bracegirdle (26) 27pts
Near Pins: Stu Rifkin #2, Stephen Newton #6, Ebrahim #13 & #17.
Long Putts: Jayson Schembri #9, Graham Buckingham #18.
Bill Clarke had his money’s worth which resulted in him being the recipient of the NAGA award. He commented that his round was about as useful to the game of golf as ankle supports were to Douglas Bader.
Deefa the dog once more collected donations for the needy children of Pattaya and everyone was thanked for their generosity.
The scribe would take this opportunity to thank Martin Todd for his invaluable assistance correlating the cards and Stu Rifkin’s skill as a shutterbug. Sadly Sandy Leiper could only muster twenty three points.
Drut Note: Golf develops a beginner’s self control. Caddying for a beginner develops it even more.
