PSC golf from Tropical Bert’s
Tuesday, Dec. 16, Greenwood – Stableford
It is obvious to those of us who run golf outings in Pattaya that the high season is here. Not only are we seeing raised rates at the golf courses but also all of a sudden the registration forms to play are filling up as soon as they are put up on the board.
And so it was again on this day, and at Bert’s early in the morning we were to see many faces that have been coming for many years. So with a packed list we were underway on time and started the journey to Greenwood. On this trip each driver seems to have his own way, but more and more the drivers seem to go past Laem Chabang Golf Course. On this day the road was very busy and as we approached Greenwood the rain fell lightly.
Steve Hamstad & Barry Elphick with one of Bert’s ‘finest’.
On driving into the course we could see that the road was pooled with water so we expected a course that had water on it, what we did not expect was a parking area that had very few cars on it and indeed when we got changed and went to the first tee the course seemed empty. Very surprising!
We had been told that carts were only to go on the cart path, but that was changed at the last minute and we were allowed to drive on the course. So off we went into a freezing cold wind.
The course was wet in places as expected, but all in all not too bad. The conditions however were as cold as I have experienced on a golf course for many a year. One player put on two shirts and after a few holes I put on my ‘sleeves’ – not to keep the sun from burning me but to keep me warm.
The ground was soft underfoot so we had little run and with the cold wind the ball seemed to go nowhere. Once on the greens we found they were as slow as any we had played on the whole season. This was a different day in Thailand. Still we went on and managed to get around.
Round over, it was a quick shower and a bite to eat then into cars for the drive back. The drivers were a bit worried about the road as it is breaking up in places quite badly so many different routes were used. However, they mostly got back to Bert’s within a few minutes of each other.
We were soon into the results and the winner in the A Flight, 0 to 18, was Steve Hamstad with 36 points ahead of John Hackett in second with 35 points and Max Scott in third with 34 on a count back over Mark West.
In the B Flight the scores were a little better. The winner with 41 points was Barry Elphick, with Max Bracegirdle in second with 39 points and Jack Robertson in third with 38.
Results over we did the usual and had a few ‘cold ones’. T.T.F.N.
Near Pins: Landis Brooks (2), Richard Kubicki, Bob Watson
Long Putt: Paul Sharples
