IPGC Pattaya Golf Society at The Elephant Bar
The Pattaya Golf Society ventured south to Ban Chang on Monday 25 August to play the once hugely popular Emerald Golf Course. It was popular for two reasons; location and layout. The layout is as close to a links-type setup as Pattaya offers, whilst the proximity to what many reckon the best 19th hole in golf also has appeal. Poor course maintenance, however, has let this place down in recent years, and it shows.
The broad-leaf grass can give flat lies, making clean ball contact difficult. This coupled with links-type undulating lies makes Emerald a genuine test of golf. What isn’t genuine, in terms of a fair test, are the number of bare patches on fairways. Whether these be close to the green, or mid-fairway, they can and do result in a good shot being penalised with an extremely difficult lie, requiring a clean hit off deadpan (mud) or stony surfaces.
Monday’s top four: Andrew Purdie, Jon Batty, Ken Grimes and David Thomas.
This problem could be reduced by more liberal use of white GUR lines. They are there, but only in the occasional spot, and are fading, fast. Because of this we always insist on preferred lies, but the six-inch leeway is often not enough.
One other niggle; Emerald’s green-fee-caddie-fee charge to us, in low season, is 1,250 baht. That puts it well above courses such as Greenwood, Mountain Shadow, Treasure Hill, Pattana, Khao Kheow and Bangpra, to name a few. Sorry Emerald, the presentation of your course is not in the same league as those mentioned, yet you charge more?
Our five groups got away on time. There was little traffic on the course, so the early starters enjoyed a fast, uninterrupted pace. As they approached the end of their round, these leading groups felt the first drops of rain. The black sky above, threatening for some time, was about to drop its load. If you think this scribe was in the latter groupings, you would be right.
Friday’s winner Craig Thomas with Aki Tate and Gary Bolger.
We sheltered under the dilapidated, wall-less hut at the 14th tee, while the storm vented its anger. We were not going anywhere. By the time it had abated, 40-odd minutes had passed. TiT.
Given the number in the competition (19), it was decided to pay out the first four places. Back at the Elephant Bar the presentation noted the absence of ‘2’s, but commended the podium placers, especially those that equalled or bettered net-par. Whatever the conditions, beating par on this course represents an excellent round of golf.
The lucky beer draw was won by Dane Jesper Hansen, whilst the booby bevvy was given to the departing Joe Miller, in recognition of his imminent departure to Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
1st Jon Batty (10) 39pts
2nd Ken Grimes (17) 38pts
3rd Andrew Purdie (11) 36pts
4th David Thomas (9) 34pts
Captain sets the standard
The Pattaya Golf Society chose Bangpra as the venue for its August monthly medal event on Wednesday, August 27, and found the course in excellent condition with dry fairways giving some welcome “run” and consistent and quick greens. Good and experienced course management have so far defied the recent heavy rains and prepared a track which is better than most in the province at present.
The weather stayed dry, except for a ten minute shower and conditions were perfect for some quality golf. And that’s what we saw. Medal play requires a different “mindset” where golfers play the course and not within the comfort zone of their handicap and golfers who can manage the course accordingly usually score reasonably well.
As it turned out three golfers coped with the challenge, with one going way beyond what was expected. In third place was Monday’s winner Jon Batty (H/cap 10) whose game stuttered on the back nine after a reasonable start to leave him with net 79. Second place saw Mr Len (27), buoyed by a positive verdict from the hospital the day before, defying the odds to record a net 78, his one bad hole being the result of a trainee caddy talking at the crucial point of his downswing. However he still allowed himself a rare smile at his round.
The winner gave a master-class in iron play with approach shots rarely more than a few feet from the hole. Club Captain David Thomas (9) showed all the class of six years ago before his exile in the outback curtailed his golf and his gross 76, net 67, will not be beaten this year in terms of true golfing quality. Superlatives defy this correspondent but nine long months of dedication and practice have deservedly paid off for the Kiwi.
There was one birdie ‘2’, Dave Edwards achieving the feat on the second hole and Gary Bolger won the non-winners’ beer draw.
There is no better backdrop to an excellent round of golf and this is precisely what Bangpra provided for the PGS monthly medal.
Fitting finale for Craig Thomas
The Pattaya Golf Society ended its August golf with a visit to the revamped course at Pattavia which continues to offer splendid value in terms of course presentation and green fee. Fairways are well grassed and cut, bunkers are coarse but well kept and the greens are very consistent but a real challenge to putt on as “grain” plays a major part in the assessment of the line and pace. The staff and the clubhouse offer a warm welcome and the caddies there are unique as on the eighteenth green they “thank” the golfers with a polite “wai”.
What of the golf? Scores were good and an excellent joust took place for the podium places with Japanese golfer Akifumi Tate recording 38 points for third place. Ahead by one was Aussie Gary Bolger whose golf was top quality with the bonus of two birdie ‘2’s, on the fourth and thirteenth holes, and he finished with 39 points. The winner, Craig Thomas, played the best round of his life with forty points on a day when all shots were true and accurate and there was no more fitting a way to draw the line under his current visit.
The bar’s beer bonus went to Larry Ang and the Booby Bevy went to Jesper Hansen who called a two shot penalty on himself when his caddy picked his ball up on the first green, unaware of the local IPGC “one chance” rule for caddy “mistakes”. Interestingly, Gary Bolger also called a penalty on himself on the seventeenth for a double hit, which none of his group noticed. The etiquette and integrity of PGS golfers continues to set high standards. So also did the course at Pattavia.
