IPGC golf from The Haven
Monday, Nov. 18, Mountain Shadow – Stableford
CSS 75 NC
1st Markku Tynell (23) 35pts
2nd Allen Raaen (8) 32pts
3rd Terry Hodgkiss (24) 31pts
4th Lyle Blaw (11) 31pts
5th Don Everett (20) 30pts
6th Russell Gilroy (16) 30pts
As always the very tough greens meant another day when the CSS for the day went out to 75 and the competition became non-counting for upward adjustment, although the winner was actually cut as he was not one of the counting players determining the standard for the day.
Don Everett.
That winner was Markku Tynell, who led by three at the end to claim a well deserved victory after having a disastrous start to the day when he collected just three points from the first four holes. He then settled down to take fourteen from the next five and set up his round, which was completed without any zeros on the back nine.
Allen Raaen got the closest in second but having taken too many one-pointers could not make ant deeper impression on the day’s results.
Terry Hodgkiss won a count back over Lyle Blaw with a better 14 to 12 to take third as Don Everett also won a count back against Russell Gilroy for fifth, taking it with a 19 to 17 result.
In keeping with the difficulty that the course was playing, there were no 2’s in either of the divisions.
Prior to the presentations there were welcomes for new members Graham Marchant, Stephen Thatcher together with Russell and Lance Cronin, the former being the local club professional who has previously tried to qualify for the Asian Tour here in Thailand and has grown to love the area. Brother Lance was a former professional footballer who played as an international in goal at under 15 and 17 levels for England and later in the Premier League with Crystal Palace. There was also a welcome back for Rodney Nabbe.
Wednesday, Nov. 20, Treasure Hill – Stableford
CSS 71
1st Don Everett (20) 37pts
2nd Allen Raaen (8) 35pts
3rd Russell Gilroy (16) 35pts
4th Frank Hughes (18) 30pts
5th Hideo Akiyama (16) 28pts
6th Yasuo Suzuki (12) 28pts
Kevin Blake.
It had been decided ahead of the arrival that the day would be contested off the yellow tees, which proved to be a very good decision with just one player bettering par over the nearly 6,400 yard distance with little run to assist from the tee.
Don Everett took his first win of the week with a solid round that owed much to his inward half as he amassed fourteen points from the first five and closed out the last four with another nine points to take a well deserved win ahead of the steady Allen Raaen, who had to settle for second place for the second outing in a row after he had won a count back with Russell Gilroy with a better 18 to 17.
Frank Hughes finished in sole possession of fourth, with Hideo Akiyama and Yasuo contesting another count back which the former won by 18 to 14.
Once again there were no 2’s in the first division but Don Everett added to his day’s takings by slotting in the lone one in the second division.
Before the prize giving there were welcome backs for Jens Gunnarsson, Dave Howden and the new “Yayukahi Tour” made up of Yukio Kikuchi, Kaneo Watanabe and Hideo Akiyama, led as always by their guide and mentor Yasuo Suzuki.
Friday, Nov. 22, Pattavia Century – Stableford
CSS 72
Division 2 (0–15
1st Kevin Blake (6) 36pts
2nd Peter Skinner (10) 35pts
3rd Barry Wellings (5) 29pts
4th Allen Raaen (8) 29pts
Division 2 (16+)
1st Don Everett (20) 35pts
2nd Paul Taylor (19) 34pts
3rd Kaneo Watanabe (20) 33pts
4th Yukio Kikuchi (19) 32pts
Markku Tynell.
Two divisions were required as many players turned out to play this course (designed originally by Sir Nick Faldo) that had not been visited for some time by the group.
The week’s headliner would certainly have been the first division winner except for the double achieved by Don Everett, when he won the second division by the slimmest of margins after he turned in another solid performance. Although Don’s round contained one or two more zeros than he would have preferred, it was just enough to see off the challenge of Paul Taylor as he had returned from the cold of the north of England to show some good form, but he also suffered from too many zeros on the card and had to settle for second place.
Kaneo Watanabe just got the nod over playing partner Yukio Kikuchi for third by a single point to round out the division podium.
Kevin Blake was the winner of the first division and would dearly have wished to have been the headliner to be able to show his chums back in Brighton, who are under the impression that he is in Pattaya for alternative reasons other than playing golf.
Kevin’s day was almost marred by a ruling that was given by his caddy that his ball was “out of bounds” when clearly there were no stakes marking the boundary and then picked it up. It was reported that the look on Kevin’s face was akin to someone getting sight of the bill in Raffles for four Singapore Slings. The net result was nil points on a hole that could have been 1, 2 or maybe 3 points, so he did well to keep a lid on the rest of the round, not dropping any further points and finishing with three 3-pointers for his first win out of Soi 13.
Peter Skinner had chased him hard but sadly took a double on the last so had to be satisfied with second place, with Barry Wellings in third after he had taken the count back over Allen Raaen with a better 16 to 14.
With a very good quality field competing on the day, almost unbelievably there were no 2’s once again in the first division while Paul Taylor and Alwyne Burley shared the pool in the second division.
Back at The Haven there were welcome backs for Paul Taylor, Barry Wellings, and Keith Evans together with Rainer and Oili Helling.
Note: If you would like to play with The Haven group, you can contact mobile 094 567 5726 or call in to The Haven 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 8.15 on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday on the days that you wish to play. A schedule of courses to be played can be found on our web site at www.thehaven-hotel.com
