PSC Golf from The Billabong Bar
Monday, Oct. 15, Royal Ratchaburi – Stableford
Having a trip away with friends and a change of venue from the norm is always something to look forward to and a trip to Kanchanaburi, was as good as any and 44 golfers made their way west on Monday morning knowing the courses were going to be spectacular. We were not disappointed.
Royal Ratchaburi Golf Club was highly recommended by those that had played here previously and this slightly hilly course is set in pleasant countryside and contains many good and testing holes with views of the distant mountains. The fairways are generous but woe betide those that stray off the straight and narrow for the dense trees lining the fairways and a profusion of bunkers (as many as 13 on one hole) will make life difficult for you, as will the local residents – thousands of monkeys, who seem to have no appreciation of golf.
John Stafford came 5th with 37 points, just short of Dave Brawley on 38 points and Ian Moore on 39. Two golfers came in with 40 points each and Jason Barnett lost out to Mike Quill on countback, having 13 points to Mike’s 15.
The greens were so true, we had nine 2s.
Tuesday, Oct. 16, Grand Prix G.C. – Stableford
The word spectacular does not do credit to this golf course. Standing on the balcony of the clubhouse, situated on the highest point in the area, the panoramic views are astounding for you can see that the course is surrounded by mountains, many over the border in Myanmar. It is impossible to have a poor lie on the fairways here but water on 14 of the holes can have you running to the golf shop to replenish you supply of balls.
Capt. Bob had a good day with 35 points and 5th place, 1 point behind Martin Cooke who had 2 blobs on his card. Peter Terry had 23 on the front nine but fell away at the turn for 37 points, losing on a countback to Sel Wegner who had two 4-pointers on the way home to help him to claim 2nd place, but Jason Barnett carded a 71 gross and 42 points despite dropping 2 shots on the last 2 holes.
The par-3s are not long at Grand Prix but punish severely those that do not hit the green and yielded another nine 2s.
Wednesday, Oct. 17, Lam Luk Ka – Stableford
With 36 holes and situated on the outskirts of Bangkok, Lam Luk Ka C & D is another beautiful manicured course with a more open design than the previous two courses but, beware, for there is water on every hole just waiting for the opportunity to relieve you of that new ball.
After 2 days of making merry, the scores were not quite as impressive, which is hardly surprising, but good all the same. A countback was needed to separate the minor placings with Wayne Cotterell having 18 points on the back nine but Paul Hack accumulated 19 to occupy 4th place. Gerard Lambert had high expectations after 21 points on the way out but 2 blobs on the way in placed him in 3rd place with 36 points. Mick Beresford pushed the star of the trip, Jason Barnett, to a countback on 37 points but a blob on the back allowed Jason to occupy top spot once again.
There were five 2s, making the total birdies on par-3s to 23 these last 3 days perhaps to highlight how good the greens were.
Overall, Ian Moore, Wayne Cotterell and Gerard Lambert shared 4th place each with 103 points following Selwyn Wegner and Mike Quill on 106 to share 2nd place, but there could only be one winner and that was Jason Barnett playing brilliant golf on each of the 3 days off his 5 handicap.
Friday, Oct. 19, Burapha –
Stableford
It was Burapha today playing A and B loops. We were joined by our friends from Geralton, Western Australia and the boys really had a day out and taught the local lads how to play golf. The greens today were not as fast as normal with a lot of putts being left short of the hole, but even after all the rain the course has received it was still in great condition.
Taking 4th place was Jason Barnett with 34 points on a countback, 3rd place went to Wes Rado with a fine 36 points, Scotty Baumgarten took 2nd with 40 points and his good mate Mike Quill just beat him with 41.
There were seven ‘2’s, coming from Sandy Chapo, Wes Rado, Jack Beaumont, Jason Barnett, Glenn Smith, Jerry Sweetnam and Mark Rossitor.
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