PSC golf from The Growling Swan
Monday, March 24, Greenwood A & C – Stableford
There were 23 of us signed up for the game at Greenwood and we assembled at The Growling Swan in readiness for our departure.
We arrived at an almost deserted golf course and a fairly quick check in and preparation saw us ready for action. We had been allocated the C and A nines in that order and our first four-ball got away on C1 10 minutes earlier than our booked time of 10.00 am.
It was hot and humid with not much wind so we knew that the liquid intake was vital and we proceeded at a very good pace with no other golfers anywhere in sight – “millionaire’s golf!” The course was in great shape as usual and the greens were very firm and true and it was a very enjoyable round of golf which was completed in a couple of minutes over four hours.
Geri Crilly, Sal Brizzi, Gary Monley & Alain Taddei.
Marco Beer was the winner in Division A with a fine 42 points and your writer, Peter “Blacky” Blackburn was second with 40 points. With 3 golfers on 39 points vying for third spot a count back was required which saw Bob Akapita (23 point back nine) prevailing from Ebrahim (20 point back nine) and Frankie “Hollywood” Sharratt (17 point back nine).
In B Division it was a return to form for Geri Crilly who was the winner with 41 points and Dick “Reverend” Braimbridge was second with 39 points, 2 points ahead of Ken Hole in third place.
Division A (0-18)
1st Marco Beer (17) 42pts
2nd Peter Blackburn (13) 40pts
3rd Bob Akapita (18) 39pts
Division B (19+)
1st Geri Crilly (27) 41pts
2nd Dick Braimbridge (36) 39pts
3rd Ken Hole (19) 37pts
Near Pins: A6 – Frank Sharratt, C3 – Bob Akapita, C6 – Peter Blackburn
Long Putts: A9 – Ken Hole, C9 – Martin Todd
The Growling Swan NAGA Award for the worst score on the day was won by Harry Kelly.
Thursday, March 27, The Emerald – Monthly Mug/Stroke
The Emerald seemed to be a very popular choice for the 22nd Growling Swan Monthly Mug as there were 36 starters eager to participate in this event and we gathered at the bar prior to departure.
It was very quiet when we arrived so there were no delays and we were able to tee off at our leisure and our first four-ball got away 15 minutes early at 9.45 am with the weather quite hot and very little wind.
The course was in quite good shape and the greens, although hard were well kept and true and very quick at times. We didn’t hold up the field as the group behind were not exactly “up our backsides” and we had quite a leisurely back nine and completed the round in the reasonably slow time of four hours and forty five minutes.
Marco Beer, Harry Kelly & Geri Crilly.
In addition to the Monthly Mug award we were able to have 3 divisions with A Division being for handicaps 0 to 14, B Division for handicaps of 15 to 23 and C Division for handicaps of 24 and over with 4 prizes in each division. There were also rewards for nearest the pins all the par threes and longest first putts on the 9th & 18th greens.
The golf course was the winner on the day as just 1 golfer was able to play to their handicap or better and that was Gary Monley who won his first Monthly Mug with a net 71. In Division A the winner was Sal Brizzi (net 35 back nine) with a net 73 on a count back from Mike Allidi (net 36 back nine) in second place and Ed Wyckoff (net 37 back nine) was third. Martin Todd finished fourth with a net 74.
Alain “Inspector Clouseau” Taddei won Division B with net 73 and Ebrahim came second with net 76, one better than Roy “Plums Dayton” in third place. With 2 golfers scoring net 78 a count back was required which saw Tom McMahon (net 35 back nine) take fourth spot from an unlucky Thientong Charoenrung (net 37 back nine).
In C Division Geri Crilly was victorious with net 74 and Rita Zoebelli was runner up with net 76. Third place went to Andrew “Turtle” Allen who had net 77 and Lyndsay Slender took fourth spot with a net 79.
Monthly Mug
1st Gary Monley (34) net 71
A Division (0-14)
1st Sal Brizzi (6) net 73
2nd Mike Allidi (3) net 73
3rd Ed Wyckoff (12) net 73
4th Martin Todd (8) net 74
B Division (15-23)
1st Alain Taddei (17) net 73
2nd Ebrahim (15) net 76
3rd Roy Dayton (23) net 77
4th Tom McMahon (17) net 78
C Division (24+)
1st Geri Crilly (27) net 74
2nd Rita Zoebelli (24) net 76
3rd Andrew Allen (32) net 77
4th Lyndsay Slender (25) net 79
Near Pins: 5th – Mike Gosden, 7th – Roy Dayton, 13th – Bill Steinman, 15th – Mike Allidi
Long Putts: 9th – Seesa Phompinmon, 18th – Sandy Leiper
The NAGA Award was won by Growling Swan Mine Host Peter Grey and we all thanked him for sponsoring the Mug and also providing a delicious buffet supper.
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 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.
