PSC golf from The Golf Club
It was a grueling four straight days of match-play competition as the 9th annual Mulberry Ryder Cup was held this year at Soi Dao Highlands. Steve Mulberry instigated this special competition 9 years ago and has become a “must play” for residents and our regular visitors (too young to retire) and was proudly hosted by The Golf Club once again.
The January classic is a test between our finest players from England v. The Rest of the World and this year was a repeat of last year as England rolled on to victory. The ROW side was made up of Canadians, Americans, Scots, Australians and (Ch)ermans.
Steve Mulberry with the Cup.
Soi Dao Highlands was the venue for the first 3 days of golf and she was a beauty. We had perfect weather and just a touch of wet on the fairways. The General had arranged to give us three days of different pin positions that we were most grateful for, and made the comp that much more of a challenge. You must play this course at some point in your golfing life, it is magnificent and a very special place for golfers.
Dave Mather – Mulberry Ryder Cup MVP.
Now, if you are a veteran of Soi Dao you must admit that some copious amounts of alcoholic beverages may be consumed on some evenings by certain individuals. This additional “handicap” only adds to the festivities and challenges of the next day and tests the true mettle of the hardiest drinker/player… or is that player/drinker? More on that later.
The Cup (from England, of course) was up for grabs up until the last day of singles which was held at St. Andrews. It went right down to the wire… but as the scores came in off the 18th green, the tally finished with a 24–21 win for Team England.
ROW Captain Mike Lowen – the great organizer- was expectedly gracious in defeat and thanked by all for making things run smoothly for all concerned, not just his own team. Mike is a great friend, one of our many buddies from the Sugar Shack, and is always the first guy to lend a helping hand to anyone. Golf can be a true fellowship at times, and the camaraderie built is unique in all of sport to this funny old game, especially when the lads get out on a road trip.
The 2012 Mulberry Ryder Cup teams.
England Captain Barry Tregurtha was his usual gregarious and generous self and treated the boys to a Ryder Cup full of Veuve Clicquot in celebration of the victory. Captain Barry thoughtfully initiated 2 new awards for this year. The first was “Rookie of the Year” won by Canadian Vance Rosling who finished his tournament with a dazzling 4-0 record. The second award “MVP” or Most Valuable Player went to crowd favourite Dave Mather, who also received accolades as the aforementioned drinker/player of the year as he walked away with a 4-0 series as well. The Clapometer cannot be wrong, and I mean that most sincerely folks!
Wednesday,January 18,Greenwood(White tees) – Stableford
1st Peter LeNoury (9) 35pts
2nd Andy Leach (5) 35pts
3rd Peter Hynard (14) 33pts
The Golf Club had no less than 70 golfers out there today, playing in 3 different provinces in Thailand!
And on we went to some of the loveliest 27 holes of golf in Pattaya, Greenwood. This time of the year we really do get some perfect weather for golf and today was no exception. True, most of the lads had ventured out to Soi Dao or Kabinburi, but the rest of us who stayed in town had a great day out.
You learn something new every day and today was no exception. It was a very tight comp today and the English duo of Peter LeNoury and Andy Leach ended up at the top of the pack, in fact in a dead heat! Both lads came up with a respectable 35 points which had to go to count back. Strangely enough, it all came undone once we discovered that off the white tees on A & B, the yardage here at Greenwood is exactly the same at 3,247 yards!
The decision was made that the two would equally share the 1,000 “Handsome Man Vouchers” on offer for today’s comp, which is what two gentlemen should properly do. Peter Hynard was gracious enough to host the day’s event and was rewarded with third place on 33 points. Cheers Pete!
Friday, January 20, Treasure Hill (White tees) – Stableford.
1st Peter Hynard (14) 37pts
2nd Mark Wood (9) 33pts
3rd Vic Hester (15) 32pts
Treasure Hill is proving to be one of the most challenging tracks in town… and we love it! This is probably the best value for money course around and it just keeps getting better and better.
Peter Hynard led the lads out today and showed them how to play the course like a fiddle with a score of 37 on this tough test of golf.
Considering that he had just finished four straight days of golf, Mark Wood earned a highly respectable 33 points on his fifth straight day to give the Scotsman second place. The man with the best “boys toys” in town, Mr. Ducati himself Vic Hester ended his round with a fine 32 points for third place. Well played guys and thanks for joining us!
No space for the Kabinburi Road Trip, watch this space next week please for full results!
Note: The Golf Club is located on Soi LK Metro (off Soi Diana). We play on Monday, Wednesday and Friday so come join us for a fun day out. Just call 085 434 3377 or see our website www. golfclubpattaya.com and for more information mail us: [email protected] and see updates at www. facebook.com/golfclubpattaya.
