IPGC Pattaya Golf Society at The Links Bar
The Pattaya Golf Society took eight groups to Mt Shadow on Monday 16 February to contest a stableford competition. With the two-flight split set at 17 and under, we set off early in near-perfect golfing weather. Fairways were good, if a little bare in patches, bunkers were ok and the greens were their usual self – fast and true.
There were four ‘2’s, all in A Flight; Rick Schramm and Tony Browne on the 8th, and Masa Takano and Bryan Dore on the 15th. No ‘2’s in B Flight meant a greater payout to those making the podium, where the winning scores ranged from 30 to 35.
A Flight saw a tighter scrap with three sharing third place on 35 points. A Flight’s top two scores both broke par; the 37 and 40 point hauls representing very good golf on a course that played tough. Winner Bryan Dore’s gross score of one-over 73 was quality golf indeed!
Mine host Russell Exley drew the name Richard Dobson as the winner of the day’s beer draw, whilst the booby bevvy was awarded to Barry Horman, partly in commiseration for a bad round, but more as a welcome-back gesture.
A Flight
1st Bryan Dore (5) 40pts
2nd Masa Takano (11) 37pts
T3rd Jon Batty (7) 35pts
T3rd Rick Schramm (10) 35pts
T3rd Mike Earley (12) 35pts
B Flight
1st Chris Walsh (22) 35pts
2nd Charlie Charalambous (26) 34pts
3rd PJ Mitchell (19) 32pts
4th Murray Edwards (21) 30pts
Greenwood – a tough test of golf
On Wednesday, Feb. 18, the Pattaya Golf Society visited the ever-popular Greenwood Golf Club, where we were allocated the C and B nines. With the two-flight split set at 14 and under, the first of our nine groups teed off in perfect golfing weather at 10:00 am.
The course was in good order with both fairways and bunkers offering good lies. However, the putting surfaces deserve a special mention in that many golfers believe the greens we putted on today are amongst the best they had experienced in Thailand; and this on a course with a high-season cost of 1050 baht green-fee caddie-fee. Praise indeed.
On first glance today’s scores appear modest, especially given the excellent conditions encountered. What is often overlooked however is that the design of this course is intended to test, and test it does. Very rarely will balls landing near a green roll forward on to the putting surface, whether hitting fairways or not. Balls coming to rest on a putting surface will, inevitably, have first landed on that surface, and that is one major reason why this course is a genuine test. A net-par round at Greenwood normally takes the honours; and so it should.
There were five ‘2’s; three in A Flight from Martin Grimoldby and Peter Wilson on B5, and Andrew Purdie on C6 while B Flight ‘2’s were recorded by Paul Edgar on C6 and Mr Len at B2.
A Flight scores reflected the difficulty referred to above, where 31 points was enough to get on the podium. B Flight scores were a little better were 33 was required to take third place. The fight winner, Paul Edgar, did manage a net-par score for the best round of the day – well done Paul.
Dave Moriarty was the lucky recipient of the beer draw, whilst Peter Masters was awarded the booby bevvy.
A Flight
1st Steve Evans (10) 34pts
2nd Alan Griffiths (12) 33pts
T3rd Paul McNally (2) 31pts
T3rd Rick Schramm (10) 31pts
T3rd Andrew Purdie (11) 31pts
B Flight
1st Paul Edgar (16) 36pts
2nd Tom Jones (26) 34pts
3rd Larry Slattery (18) 33pts
Walsh & Duckett excel at Rayong
After an absence of more than two years the Pattaya Golf Society visited Rayong Country Club on Friday, 20th February to see if reports of an improved course were correct. Gone are the Korean golfers who choke the course in high season and the group teed off in two flights, divided at 20.8 and under, on time.
The first real surprise were the fairways, which were well grassed and indeed the bunkers were well tended and compacted. The greens were to pose the problems though as they were very slow and some had suffered some burning, much as Greenwood suffered a couple of years ago. However a golfer on his game could do well.
In the top flight, Wichai Tananusorn focussed on a good round and produced 34 points for third place whilst Vic Woolton took second with 37. The flight winner was Alan Duckett and the “Windmill” man became the whirlwind, garnering 41 points, his best performance ever with the group.
In the second flight, Mr Len stuttered on the greens to take third place with 33 points, five behind Alan Walker whose 38 points saw him find some consistency again. The best score of the day was that recorded by Chris Walsh and a mind boggling 42 points set the best score for the year so far. The incredible round marked Chris’s best ever with the group in many years of competitions.
Kevin McConnell took the ‘2’s pot with the sole birdie of the day on the sixteenth and the Booby Bevy was savoured by Tony Browne who saw his score barely surpass his handicap!
