PSC Golf from The Growling Swan
Monday, July 6, Bangpra – Stableford
Our destination on Monday was Bangpra, the affectionately named ‘Monkey Course’, where sadly we hadn’t played for some time, but it was worth the wait. We played off the white tees and the course was in great nick and the undulating slick greens were immaculate.
As per recent times, it looked like rain would intervene, but it held off and a gentle breeze kept playing conditions very pleasant.
Whilst most combatants struggled in vain on the ‘lightning fast’ greens, the inimitable Gerri Crilly was the surprise packet. Gerri flourished and his golf game was like trying to find fault with Miss Venezuela. He powered to a convincing win with 40 points, eight clear of his nearest rivals. An amazing effort!
(Left to right) Eric Black, Geri Crilly, Deefa the Dog and Graham Rice.
They say you should never reward mediocrity, but the place-getters were very grateful, with 4 players separated via count backs. Don Richadson was the unlucky one to miss the podium on 32 points.
1st Gerri Crilly (27) 40pts
2nd Kevin Waycott (9) 32pts
3rd John Anderson (27) 32pts
4th Graham Rice (13) 32 pts c/b
Near Pins: #2 Gerri Crilly, #8 John Anderson, #12 Stuart Rifkin. #17 Graham Rice
Long Putts: #9 Alex Field, #18 Khan Speechley
Thursday, July 9, Burapha – Stableford
With a 10.00 am tee off time scheduled, we were pleasantly surprised after arriving at the Burapha Golf Club to be informed that we could be slotted in 25 minutes earlier.
Due to one no show we had two groups of three tee off first, followed by the remaining 4 x 4 groups and all finished their rounds in 4 hours and ten minutes, playing off the white tees using A and B nines.
There were no complaints about the weather or the course and therefore no excuses for the mostly below par scoring.
Geri Crilly (H/cap 27), who won on Monday with 40 points at Bangpra, held his good form and again won the day with 38 points… no doubt next week he will find himself off a lower handicap.
Mike Gosden (15), who had been absent due to illness for a week, was back in style to take out second spot just one point behind Geri. Mike also won a near pin and sank a longest putt too!
Third and fourth places were determined on a count back with Eric Black (15 but handicap to be discussed further in this report) edging out Bent Agerbo (19), both with 35 points.
Shane Young (28) was the fifth position winner with 34 points on a count back over Stuart Rifkin (16) and Mark Stapleton (18).
1st Geri Crilly (27) 38pts
2nd Mike Gosden (15) 37pts
3rd Eric Black (15) 35pts
4th Bent Agerbo (19) 35pts
5th Shane Young (28) 34pts
Near Pins: A3 – Mike Gosden, A6 – Glenn Henriksen, B3 – Eric Black, B8 – Alain Taddei
Long Putts: A9 – Mike Gosden, B9 – Graham Rice
As mentioned above, there is conjecture as to visitors who play regularly in their home countries off a lower handicap than their PSC handicap that is used two or three times a year when they visit. What is the fair and just handicap that a player should play off under these circumstances? Given that overseas visitors without a PSC handicap are granted play in competitions here, if they have or hold a valid overseas recognized golf club handicap, why should an overseas resident who holds a PSC membership be allowed to play several handicap shots higher than his ordinary overseas golf club handicap? We will put this question to the PSC for their ruling.
Note: The GS is a friendly golf outlet and caters for and encourages all golfers male and female to have a hit at any of our weekly outings. We generally play Mondays and Thursdays at one of the many fine golf courses in and around Pattaya. Please contact Peter Grey if you are interested on 0861 503086.
The Growling Swan also caters to the bowls enthusiasts. Bus transport departs the GS on Wednesdays at 10 AM to play at Coco’s on undercover synthetic greens and on Sundays at the same time for open grass bowling at The Retreat. Please contact Paul Rennison on 0843 454005 if you wish to partake. The cost including return bus transport, bowling fees and a hot lunch is less than 400 baht so great value for a day out.
