The Bunker Boys Golf Society
Monday, May 15, Bangpra (white tees) – Stableford
1st Colin Greig (11) 31pts
2nd Ross schiffke (19) 31pts
3rd Les Hall (23) 30pts
Near Pins: Ross Schiffke, Stuart Tinkler, Mike Brett, Tony Robbins.
“Some days are diamond, some days are stone” so sang John Denver many years ago. There were certainly no diamonds today at Bangpra. Out of a field of golfers, only two managed to get to thirty-one points. Hard to imagine everybody could play so badly on the same day, usually someone manages to rise above the rest but not today.
One of the main problems was the greens, nobody can remember a time when the greens were so slow on a course renowned for ultra fast greens. There can be no other explanation as the weather was fine albeit a bit hot and humid, and there was no wind or rain.
There were, however, a few strokes worthy of note. On the par-three 12th, Dave Gow put his first ball in the water, pulled his second left, which hit a tree and bounced forward and almost onto the green with the water beckoning for the second time. On the following hole, Dave also visited the water again followed by two of his three playing partners. It seemed that today the ball flight was much shorter than normal and many people seemed to underclub.
As is often the case at this course, there was the opportunity to commune with nature and on the seventh, there was a rather large water monitor taking a view of proceedings. He garnered a lot of interest from a safe distance I might add.
Wednesday, May 17, Treasure Hill (yellow tees) – Stableford
1st Colin Greig (11) 38pts
2nd Geoff Parker (15) 37pts
3rd Les Humphrey (31) 37pts
Near Pins: Les Humphrey, Tony Robbins, Neil Carter, Colin Greig.
Overnight heavy rain in Pattaya was followed by intermittent showers in the morning. Our resident meteorological expert Geoff Parker assured us that it would not rain at the golf course as happened on Monday, but as we arrived at the course heavy rain was falling, necessitating a fifteen-minute coffee break.
We teed off in a light drizzle, which after three holes became increasingly heavy and the rest of the round was completed in varying degrees of rain, but never dry. As the course was wet the ‘pick, clean, and place’ rule was applied. After nine holes a few players decided that wet weather golf was not their cup of tea and retired to the clubhouse, the more dedicated ones persevered to the end.
Despite the inclement weather scoring today was of a high standard. Les Humphrey made his debut in the winners’ circle, taking third place with thirty seven points (22 on the front nine). Geoff Parker won the count back over Les for second while Colin Greig continued his recent run of good form in first place.
For about the fifth game in a row Neil Carter secured a near pin, all of them very close. It seems just a matter of time before he nails a hole in one.
Friday, May 19, Eastern Star (white tees) – Stableford
1st Neil Carter (13) 37pts
2nd Stuart Tinkler (14) 29pts
3rd Mike Lloyd (16) 29pts
Near Pins: Stuart Tinkler, Neil Carter, Mashi Kenata, Les Humphrey.
The Bunker Boys made their way to the seldom visited Eastern Star course for the last round of the week. This is a course that many people find difficult and so it was today also, even though it was in fine condition following recent rain.
Neil Carter jumped out of the blocks on the front nine with twenty-one points and carried on his merry way for a few holes on the back nine only to lose a ball up a coconut palm tree and subsequently wipe consecutive holes. A notable golf commentator once said that one of the best assets you can have on a golf course is a very short memory, don’t dwell on a disaster hole and drag it around for a few more holes before you put it away and get on with the rest of the round, easier said than done.
Despite his two wipes Neil returned a fine score to beat his handicap to take first place, while Stuart Tinkler won the count back for second, beating Mike Lloyd recently returned from the UK.
