The Pattaya Golf Society (IPGC) based at Rabbi’s Elephant Bar
On Monday, 29th October, the Pattaya Golf Society visited Crystal Bay to play a stableford competition on the course which has drained well since the soggy conditions of the previous week. The B and C nines were chosen and play got under way on time on a relatively empty course.
The day was to see some sensational scoring by two golfers in particular and Dave Edwards could be forgiven for thinking his 39 points was worth much more than it was. Andrew Purdie and Wichai Tananusorn blew the field away with scores of 46 points each! For Wichai it was his best ever with a gross 71 destined to live long in his memory. His first twelve holes saw ten pars, one birdie and an eagle and then the tension got to him, when he dropped three shots over the closing holes, picking up only one more birdie. It was outstanding golf indeed and represented the best scores in PGS golf for nine years!
Ken Grimes recorded the only birdie ‘2’ of the day, on C7 and he also picked up the Booby Bevy for the largest split scores of the day. Everything else on the day was eclipsed by the winning rounds and those who witnessed them will long remember the power and accuracy of the golfers at Crystal Bay. How do you follow that?
Prodigious Purdie
On the final day of “low” season the Pattaya Golf Society chose Khao Kheow as the venue for a stableford competition, on the B and C nines. The course has been in very shabby condition and is probably two months at least away from being enjoyably playable. The C nine has huge tracts of GUR with the nearest relief area s in the Bermuda rough or on slopes. Off the yellow tees it was a big “ask” for golfers to perform well, but some indeed did.
Sharing third place were Wichai Tananusorn and Masa Takano on 34 points and Joe Niisato acquitted himself well with 38 points for second place. Having recorded 46 points two days previously, Andrew Purdie almost repeated the feat with a prodigious 42 points for another monstrous win. Elsewhere questions may have been asked but Andrew has history with the IPGC groups as a past monthly medal winner and has other notches on his belt, but this week he has discovered a rhythm hitherto unknown and that has made the difference.
There were no birdie ‘2’s and Rabbi’s free beer draw was won by Dave Edwards whilst Phil McClure received the Booby Bevy for his mediocre performance. On Monday we all asked “How do you follow that?” Well, it seems Andrew Purdie has emphatically given his answer.
Hansen continues the “Forties” pattern
The Pattaya Golf Society began its “high” season with a trip to Phoenix to play a stableford competition in two flights over the Ocean and Mountain nines. As usual the course was in good condition, if a little soft and the greens were running well.
With the cut at fifteen and under a tight competition was on the agenda and in the second flight the week’s hero, Andrew Purdie, scored 34 points to share second place with Ken Grimes and Garry Hookey. The winner was Dave Robinson with 36 points and he completed an all-Aussie leaderboard for the flight.
In the top flight Ron Matthews played well for his 38 points and he was pushed into third place by a guest golfer who scored 39 points with the best gross figures of the day, 75. The best score of the day took the flight with Jesper Hansen recording 40 points, and he became the fourth winner with the group to register forty plus points during the week.
Robbie Taylor and Garry Hookey recorded birdie ‘2’s on Mountain 8 whilst Dave Edwards made it a triple triumph with his birdie on Ocean 7. Rabbi’s free beer draw was won appropriately by Ray Cody, just hours before his return to Oz and the surprise return of John Mason took the less surprising Booby Bevy for his brave efforts in the heat and humidity which saw him prop up the field in style.
So, old friends are back and high season is within our grasp. What will the future hold for the PGS we wonder?
