PSC golf from The Growling Swan
Monday, August 25, Mountain Shadow – Stableford
It was an overcast Monday morning in Pattaya and our first game of the week was at the challenging Mountain Shadow Golf Course. There were 2 late withdrawals due to illness (genuine) which brought our numbers down to 22 and we assembled at The Growling Swan in readiness for our departure.
We welcomed Simon Niven from Darwin in the Northern Territory of Australia and the return of veteran Ted Morris playing with us once again. Fond farewells were handed out to Gerd Riedler and Keith Buchanan.
Mashi Kaneta, Ron Gillett, Fred Dineley & Sandy Leiper.
After arriving at the course and checking in we were told we would be starting off the 10th tee so off we went and our first group, a three-ball, got away 20 minutes ahead of schedule. The skies were threatening above and it wasn’t long before the rain came but not enough to disrupt play and having very little adverse effect on the golf course which was in fine shape. The rain continued for a while but eventually stopped as we continued at a cracking pace and even after a 5 minute break at the half way mark we completed our full round in three hours & forty five minutes.
We had 2 divisions – Division A for handicaps 0 to 14 & Division B for golfers on handicaps of 15 and over with three places in each division. There were also rewards for nearest the pin on the par threes and longest first putts on the 9th & 18th greens.
Stephen Newton, Paul Jackson & Martin Todd.
Martin “Toddy” Todd continued his fine form in winning the A Division with 39 points, 3 points ahead of Mashi Kaneta in second spot and your writer, Peter “Blacky” Blackburn was third with 34.
It was a count back to decide the winner in B Division with 2 golfers on 39 points and that resulted in Stephen Newton (20 point back nine) being declared the winner from Keith “Kissy” Buchanan (17 point back nine) in second place, with Alain “Inspector Clouseau” Taddei finishing third with 33 points.
The Growling Swan NAGA Award, awarded for the worst score on the day, was won by Paul Jackson.
Division A (0-14)
1st Martin Todd (8) 39pts
2nd Mashi Kaneta (14) 36pts
3rd Peter Blackburn (11) 34pts
Division B (15+)
1st Stephen Newton (29) 39pts
2nd Keith Buchanan (15) 39pts
3rd Alain Taddei (16) 33pts
Near Pins: 5th – Bill Steinman, 8th – Ted Morris, 15th – Bill Steinman, 17th – John Davis
Long Putts: 9th – Tiziano Dal Pastro, 18th – Peter Blackburn
Thursday, August 28, Khao Kheow C & B – Stroke/Monthly Mug
It was that time again when we play our one and only stroke round of the month in competing for the Growling Swan Monthly Mug and this month’s challenge was at the popular Khao Kheow Golf Club.
A couple of late withdrawals brought our numbers down a tad but we were still left with an excellent “Low Season” field of 31 golfers ready to compete for the 27th Mug. We welcomed back David “Fletch” Fletcher, here on some R & R from his work in Western Australia and Marco Beer, who is once more visiting from Switzerland. It was also time to say farewell to Tony Campbell who will shortly be returning to the cold of Melbourne, Australia.
We arrived at the course to find things rather quiet as seems to be the norm at most golf courses at the minute. Checking in was a bit slow as we had green fee vouchers and quite rightly the staff insisted on seeing PSC membership cards for those using the vouchers but we were soon reporting to the Starter who informed us that we would be playing the C & B nines in that sequence.
With no-one in sight ahead of us our first group teed off right on time at 10.00 am and with the fairways being a bit wet winter rules were in play. The weather was perfect, not too hot with a slight breeze and the golf course was in very good shape although the greens appeared to be just a little slower than normal.
One of our group who had been involved in a motor cycle accident the previous day unfortunately had to pull out after two holes as he realized that his injured hand was not up to the rigors of playing a game of golf so we were down to a three-ball. We soon caught up to a Thai lady 5-ball group who were extremely loud & rowdy and did not appreciate being asked to please keep it a bit quieter and after they let us through after the second hole on our back nine one of the ladies had plenty to say for herself. A couple of holes later this “lady” came out with a stream of abuse to the caddy of one of our group which left the caddy in tears – absolutely unacceptable on a golf course and JP & myself made a trip to see the Golf Course Manager once our round was completed.
Despite the interruptions ours was a very enjoyable round of golf which took just four hours although our golf was not that “flash”.
In addition to the Monthly Mug award we were able to have 2 divisions with 5 prizes in each division. There were also rewards for nearest the pins all the par threes and longest first putts on the B9 & C9 greens.
Fred Dineley won his second Growling Swan Monthly Mug with a sizzling net 66, just one better than Mashi Kaneta who was declared the winner in A Division, with Thientong Charoenrung finishing second after a net 70. The consistent Martin “Toddy” Todd came third with net 72 and Marco Beer was fourth after scoring a net 73. With 2 golfers on net 74 a count back was required to determine fifth spot and it was Stuart “San Miguel” Rifkin (net 34 back nine) who got the “chocolates” ahead of Takeshi Hakozaki (net 37 back nine).
In Division B the winner was Ron Gillett who complained about the course being too tough for a round of stroke after scoring a net 74 (they walk amongst us), with Gary Monley finishing second with a net 75, one stroke better than Dave Neal who was third with net 76. Geri “Birdy” Crilly came fourth with a net 77 and Patrick Poussier was fifth with a net 79.
The Growling Swan NAGA Award, was won by Sandy “Cindy Lauper” Leiper.
Monthly Mug
1st Fred Dineley (24) net 66
A Division (0-18)
1st Mashi Kaneta (14) net 67
2nd Thientong Charoenrung (18) net 70
3rd Martin Todd (8) net 72
4th Marco Beer (16) net 73
5th Stuart Rifkin (16) net 74
B Division (19+)
1st Ron Gillett (33) net 74
2nd Gary Monley (32) net 75
3rd Dave Neal (25) net 76
4th Geri Crilly (24) net 77
5th Patrick Poussier (21) net 79
Near Pins: B3 – Patrick Poussier, B8 – Marco Beer, C3 – Martin Todd, C8 – Thientong Charoenrung
Long Putts: B9 – Dave Neal, C9 – John Pierrel
Note: Growling Swan Golf welcomes golfers of any persuasion – low & high handicappers alike, female golfers and beginners. We generally play Mondays & Thursdays, meeting at The Growling Swan in Soi Chaiyapoon at 8.00 am with transport departing at 8.30 am. For bookings or more information please contact Peter on 0806 351 386 or email to petermalcolmblackburn @gmail.com.
We also play bowls out of the Growling Swan every Wednesday and Sunday. Sunday is Lawn Bowls and Wednesday is Indoor Bowls. All are welcome and for anyone that is interested the transport leaves The Growling Swan at 10.00am on each of those mornings. For more information please contact Paul Rennison on 0843 454 005.
