PSC golf from The Growling Swan
Monday, Jan. 13, Pleasant Valley – Stableford
There were 29 of us signed up and ready to play Pleasant Valley and most of us gathered at The Growling Swan to prepare for our departure. The weather was glorious although quite windy and the golf course was fairly busy as we got our first group away 12 minutes later than our scheduled 9.33 am tee time.
The course was in good condition although the greens were quite slow and took some getting used to and with the traffic ahead maintaining a good pace we proceeded quite well and completed our round in four hours & twenty five minutes. It had been a very enjoyable round with excellent company on a very picturesque layout.
Craig Wearne & John Davis.
The winner in Division A was once again Gerd Riedler (17 point back nine) with 38 points on a count back from Kevin “Wayco” Waycott (15 point back nine) and the consistent Mark “Westy” West was third with 37 points.
Ebrahim was victorious in Division B with a fine 37 points, 3 points ahead of Eric “Judge” Black in second spot and Jayson Schembri finished third on 32 points.
In Division C it was Graham “Grunter” Buckingham who was the winner with 36 points and with 2 golfers on 32 points Nolan “No-one” Wise (20 point back nine & 17 points on the last 6 holes) won the count back and finished second from Patrick Poussier (20 point back nine & 13 points on the last 6 holes) who finished third.
Div. A (0-14)
1st Gerd Riedler (9) 38pts
2nd Kevin Waycott (9) 38pts
3rd Mark West (14) 37pts
Div. B 15-23)
1st Ebrahim (17) 37pts
2nd Eric Black (16) 34pts
3rd Jayson Schembri (19) 32pts
Div. C (24+)
1st Graham Buckingham (24) 36pts
2nd Nolan Wise (36) 32pts
3rd Patrick Poussier (24) 32pts
Near Pins: 5th – Duangjai Tusagad, 8th – Dave Edwards, 13th – Duangjai Tusagad, 17th – Andy Todd
Long Putts: 9th – Graham Buckingham, 18th – Alan Sanders
Thursday, Jan. 16, Eastern Star – 4-Ball BB Stableford
It was the day for our “novelty” event of the month and the competition was a 4-Ball Better-Ball Stableford event with a “random draw” pairing a low handicap with a high one. The halfway mark was handicap 25 and the draw was done under intense scrutinisation the afternoon before at the bar. There were the usual moans & groans when some people found out who they were partnered with but basically all went along with the spirit of things and were determined to have a good day.
We departed the GS right on time at 8.30 am and headed South down Sukhumvit and after a very good run arrived at the course just 40 minutes later. It was fairly busy but after 15 minutes or so of practice putting we were able to send our first of eight four balls away 10 minutes ahead of schedule at 9.50 am. We had a fairly slow Thai group in front of us and had to wait a fair bit but proceeded at a steady pace and completed the front nine in two hours & fifteen minutes.
The weather was fantastic, not too hot with a gentle breeze and the golf course was in great shape with the greens being in the best condition I have seen them in for quite some time. The back nine was a little slower than the front nine and we managed to complete our full round in four hours & thirty five minutes.
We and all the others enjoyed this format and gave many of us the chance to play with golfers we had not played with before. Our group had a very enjoyable time and played reasonably well whilst enjoying each other’s company very much.
As it was a four-ball better ball format on the day there was of course just the one division with six placegetters. There were also rewards for nearest the pin on the four par 3’s and longest first putts on the 9th & 18th greens plus longest drive awards on the 18th hole for A Division and B Division..
The winners on the day were John Davis and Craig Wearne with a massive 50 points and in second place came Aaron Shorten and Stephen Newton with 46 points. In third place were Ken Hole and Ian “Bat” Masterson with 44 points and taking fourth was your writer, Peter “Blacky” Blackburn & Russell Calcutt on 41 points with fifth place going to Duangjai “Kae” Tusagad and Peter “Pizza” Grey with 39 points.
With 2 teams on 38 points a count back was required which saw Eric “Judge” Black and Tristan Freeman (19 point back nine, 13 points on the last 6 holes & 9 points on the last 3 holes) finish in sixth spot with Mark “Westy” West and Vince Romeo (19 point back nine, 13 points on the last 6 holes & 7 points on the last 3 holes) just missing out.
1st John Davis (17) & Craig Wearne (36) 50pts
2nd Aaron Shorten (24) & Stephen Newton (28) 46pts
3rd Ken Hole (17) & Ian Masterson (36) 44pts
4th Peter Blackburn (14) & Russell Calcutt (36) 41pts
5th Duangjai Tusagad (20) & Peter Grey (36) 39pts
6th Eric Black (16) & Tristan Freeman (36) 38pts
Near Pins: 3rd – Duangjai Tusagad, 6th – Alain Taddei, 13th – Stu Rifkin, 17th – Peter Blackburn
Long Putts: 9th – Gary Williams, 18th – Rita Zoebelli
Long Drives: A Division – Stu Rifkin, B Division – Craig Wearne
As it was a team event there was no individual NAGA cap award but a donation to Deefa was required from the pair with the least attractive score and they were Tom McMahon and Gary Williams. We are now all looking forward to the 2-man Texas scramble with a random draw on Thursday, February 13th at Pleasant Valley.
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.
