IPGC Golf from The Tara Court Golf Society
Sunday, August 7, Green Valley – Stableford
Back at Green Valley for our usual Sunday game today with a reasonable sized group for this time of year. The scores weren’t quite as good today as we had last week but considering that a lot of the tees were placed well back, especially on the par threes, they were still ok.
The first shot here was always a daunting shot over the water but now it is even more so as they have done work on the fairway and it takes an even better effort to carry the GUR. Actually, I think it is a bit unfair as there is no indication of where you are supposed to take a drop if you go in the GUR. If you follow the rules of golf and take relief at the nearest point it could mean having to drop in to the trees on the right from what would have been on the fairway.
The course was in very good condition on this day except for a few of the greens which had some bare parts and some places where they have been doing repairs but no markings indicating that you have relief.
None of this seemed to affect Ged Foy, who despite losing a shot after last week’s score, was the winner again today with thirty eight points. Russell Gilroy took the second spot with thirty six points and he also had a birdie 2.
Francis McGuigan was having his last game for this visit and he didn’t go home empty handed as he got the third place and a ‘2’ and he also got money from one of our locals in a side bet which helped to reduce his losses for this trip. Paul Pavloff lost out to Francis on the count back but he took the fourth and last place with thirty four points.
1st Ged Foy (17) 38pts
2nd Russell Gilroy (17) 36pts
3rd Francis McGuigan (14) 34pts
4th Paul Pavloff (5) 34pts
2’s: Francis McGuigan and Russell Gilroy
Tuesday, August 9, Khao Kheow – Stableford
We were back at Khao Kheow today, a course which we hadn’t played in a long time. I still think that overall it is the best course in the area, especially when it is in the condition which it was in today, which was excellent.
We had an unusually early start and teed off at 8.00 am. Although there was a caddy competition out in front of us we still got round in three and a half hours and were finished at eleven thirty, a time which some of our group would be more used to getting up than finishing a round of golf. You would think that being behind forty-four caddies would mean that it would be a slow round but these ladies could teach a lot of us the pace that golf should be played at, especially one local farang group we have had the misfortune to be behind a few times.
Today we played the A and B nines and had three players on thirty seven points, with Joe McArdle losing out on the count back to come third but at least Joe had the consolation of getting the only ‘2’ of the day. Declan Kelly took the second place and John Dearden came out on top on the count back with an excellent twenty two points on the back nine.
1st John Dearden (20) 37pts
2nd Declan Kelly (13) 37pts
3rd Joe McArdle (13) 37pts
2’s: Joe McArdle
Thursday, August 11, Burapha – Stableford
We played the A and B nines here again today at Burapha on what was a very quiet course, especially as it was a Sport Day. For the first twelve holes we had the course to ourselves and were flying round but then we caught up with a few groups in front which slowed it down a bit, but we still got around in three and a half hours which is great.
As golfers are very scarce this year it seems like a lot of caddies are giving it up and moving to regular jobs where they can get a regular income, and that was the case here today when a few ladies who have been with us for years were no longer there.
Although the group was not too large you still had to play good golf to get in to the prizes, with Mark Armstrong playing to his handicap to take the third place with thirty six points. We had a count back for first and second places with two players on thirty eight points, Declan Kelly lost out and came second and Russell Gilroy, who is playing very steady at the moment, came out the winner. We had no 2’s today.
1st Russell Gilroy (17) 38pts
2nd Declan Kelly (13) 38pts
3rd Mark Armstrong (24) 36pts
Note: The Tara Court Golf Group play every Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday, leaving O’Gara’s Bar and Restaurant in the Tara Court on Pratamnak Rd. around 10.00 a.m. Sign up either in O’Gara’s or ring Joe on 0892491364.
