PSC Golf from The Growling Swan
Monday, July 28, Mountain Shadow – Stableford
It was time for our monthly visit to Mountain Shadow and we had 22 players on the starting sheet. We met at The Growling Swan and a hearty welcome was handed out to Sandy Leiper who was returning after a few weeks off due to a leg injury. It was time to say farewell to Paul Sharples who is returning to his work in Oman at the weekend and Dick Braimbridge who is off to Australia before commencing an assignment in The Solomon Islands.
All were on time so we departed the GS right on 8.30 am and after 45 minutes we arrived at the course which was practically deserted. After booking in we went down to the first tee and our first four-ball got away 15 minutes ahead of schedule at 9.45 a.m. Under overcast skies we proceeded at a steady pace, enjoying the good condition of the course and ever alert to the quickness of some of the greens which were in good “nick”.
Gerd Riedler, Sandy Lieper, Martin Kempton & Alain Taddei.
We completed the front nine in a touch over 2 hours and after a couple of holes the skies above were getting darker and darker & as we walked down the 12th fairway after teeing off a severe squall hit us, forcing us to take shelter under a tree on the fairway and after 10 minutes we decided to make a run for the drink stop before the 13th tee. We made it, getting drenched in the process and sat it out for around 45 minutes until the rain had almost stopped, as it invariably does here in Pattaya. We then continued our round in light drizzle all the way but the course was draining well and there were no problems on the greens.
We managed to complete the full round in four hours & fifty five minutes which included the 45 minute break but unfortunately 3 golfers had decided not to continue due to the rain and pulled out just after half way. Not the most enjoyable round ever but we were out there doing what we love to do and were thankful that we were able to finish reasonably unscathed.
Alain Taddei, Sandy Leiper & Ebrahim.
Ebrahim reveled in the conditions and won the A Division with a fine 39 points, 2 points ahead of Mike “Hunter” Gosden in second place and despite losing another shot on the weekend it was John Pierrel finishing in third spot with 36 points.
Alain “Inspector Clouseau” Taddei won the B Division after scoring 35 points and with 2 golfers on 31 points the resultant count back saw Bob Akapita (16 point back nine & 9 on the last 6 holes) finish second from John Davis (16 point back nine & 8 points on the last 6 holes) who finished in third place. I must also report that for the first time ever a nearest the pin reward had to be shared as the tee shot results on the 15th could not be separated.
The Growling Swan NAGA Award for the worst score on the day was won by the returning Sandy “Cindy” Leiper.
Division A (0-16)
1st Ebrahim (12) 39pts
2nd Mike Gosden (13) 37pts
3rd John Pierrel (10) 36pts
Division B (17+)
1st Alain Taddei (16) 35pts
2nd Bob Akapita (16) 31pts
3rd John Davis (15) 31pts
Near Pins: 5th – Ebrahim, 8th – Gerd Riedler, 15th – Ebrahim/Ted Morris, 17th – Ebrahim
Long Putts: 9th – Mashi Kaneta, 18th – Alain Taddei
Thursday, July 31, Bangpakong – 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 classy Bangpakong Riverside Country Club. Numbers were down mainly due to some of our regular golfers deeming it a bit too far to travel so we ended up with 22 true and keen golfers ready to compete for the Mug.
We handed out hearty welcome to John O’Donoghue from Newcastle in New South Wales, Australia, Mike Omiya from Hawaii and old friend Ernie Picken from Melbourne who was celebrating his 69th birthday. Also it was great to see good friend Walter Baechli back with us after his cycling tour around Albania, Montenegro and Greece, to mention just a few of the countries that he passed through.
After a 67 minute drive we arrived at the course where it was not too busy. We had driven through drizzling rain at times on the journey and the skies were overcast creating quite humid conditions but as always we were confident of the weather being kind to us. After waiting for a couple of Thai groups to tee off we finally got away 5 minutes before our scheduled 10.00 am time and thankfully the groups in front who were all in carts soon disappeared into the distance.
The golf course was in magnificent shape with pristine fairways and the greens, although a few of them had still a bit of sand remaining, were in excellent shape, even the temporary green on the par three 4th.
We proceeded at a fair pace with Gerd playing some excellent golf and at the turn he was 2 under the card after carding 3 birdies. I rarely mention individuals in my write-ups but it was a pleasure to watch this guy who is currently on top of his game.
The weather had been fine so far but as we were preparing to putt on the 13th green a heavy shower caused us to take shelter for about 10 minutes but then it was over and we continued. We completed our round in four hours & twenty minutes which included the rain stoppage and Gerd did falter a little but still came in with a 73 off the stick. It had been a very enjoyable round with terrific company and some super golf was observed.
In addition to the Monthly Mug award we were able to have 2 divisions with 3 prizes in each. There were also rewards for nearest the pins all the par threes and longest first putts on the 9th & 18th greens.
As I expected Gerd Riedler’s 73 gross was good enough to enable him to win his third Growling Swan Monthly Mug as he ended up with a net 67 and the A Division winner was Martin Kempton with a fine net 69. In second place came Walter Baechli (net 34 back nine), winning a count back as there were 2 golfers on net 70 with Mike Omiya (net 35 back nine) in third spot.
Division B winner was Alain “Inspector Clouseau” Taddei with a very good net 68 and Gary Monley finished second with net 70. Another count back was needed as there were 2 golfers with net 71 and that resulted in birthday boy Ernie Picken (net 34 back nine & net 22 on the last 6 hole) finishing third from Bob Akapita (net 34 back nine & net 23 on the last 6 holes).
Bob missed out on a podium finish but won a golf ball for playing to his handicap or better along with Graham Buckingham, Ebrahim & yours truly.
Sandy “Cindy” Leiper did the double and retained the cherished NAGA award.
Monthly Mug
1st Gerd Riedler (6) net 67
A Division (0-15)
1st Martin Kempton (13) net 69
2nd Walter Baechli (15) net 70
3rd Mike Omiya (9) net 70
B Division (16+)
1st Alain Taddei (16) net 68
2nd Gary Monley (34) net 70
3rd Ernie Picken (21) net 71
Near Pins: 4th – Takeshi Hakozaki, 7th – John Anderson, 13th – Tom Cotton, 16th – John Pierrel
Long Putts: 9th – Ebrahim, 18th – Ebrahim
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.
