IPGC golf from The Haven
Monday, Oct. 6, Mt. Shadow (Blue Tees) – Stableford
CSS 75 NC
1st Hal Hart (21) 35pts
2nd Erik Donnestad (4) 31pts
3rd Wayne Waywood (16) 31pts
4th Trevor Schirmer &14) 30pts
5th Peter Skinner (12) 30pts
With the rainy season well into full swing the week started out at a very wet Mountain Shadow course where a month ago, when it was last played by the group, the CSS went down unusually, but on this occasion it was once again back to its normal difficulty with the CSS rising to 75 and the day becoming non-counting for upward review of handicaps. But the winner was happy to find that his handicap will be a shot lower when he tees it up the following week.
Hal Hart, Jon Yarrow & Markku Tynell.
That winner was Hal Hart whose one over handicap, and two under the CSS, was good enough to take the top spot and even though he had a very slow start that included three zeros on the front nine, a strong finish at two under handicap saw him home with plenty to spare.
Erik Donnestad led in the chasing group four points behind after he won a count back over Wayne Waywood, carding a better 16 to 14, but too many single pointers spoiled his chance of rising to the top step and Wayne, who had started well, slipped a bit over the closing holes.
Trevor Schirmer also won a count back against Peter Skinner to take fourth spot even though his card included three zeros, as Peter’s did likewise but without the benefit of the couple of three pointers that Trevor had scored.
There were no 2’s in the first division but Hal Hart added to his day’s haul with the sole one in the second division that swept the pool which included several rollovers.
Before the presentations were made there was a welcome back for Vincent Gras.
Wednesday, Oct. 8, Green Valley – Stableford
CSS 71
1st Jon Yarrow (15) 41
2nd Markku Tynell (23) 39
3rd Philip Cass (18) 37
4th Erik Donnestad (4) 33
After the rain had bucketed down for most of the night and continued into the early morning it was not surprising that many of the regulars did not even turn up for breakfast, a few hardy souls did but as the downpour continued right up to the leaving time and following a call to the course who had confirmed things were very wet on the course a few more of the group decided to rest up for the day but enough players opted to give it a go and set off for the course.
Having driven through the hammering rain for thirty minutes they were pleasantly surprised on their arrival at Green Valley to find the rain had ceased and carts were allowed, at 90 degrees, on the fairways.
Under heavy clouds but refreshingly cool the group set off and just once, for ten minutes, had to raise their IPGC umbrellas and everyone completed a good round of golf, which had looked unlikely at the outset, as the scores attested at the end of the day. But it again showed that weather conditions are not always the same in Pattaya as at the courses some 30 kilometers away as it had continued to rain throughout the day back at base.
Jon Yarrow, having taken a day’s rest away from his usual position at the top of the winner’s podium on Monday, returned to form, and better, with a five under return that will ensure that he will be going down another shot again this week as he left Markku Tynell despairingly in second place after the latter had returned a round that would normally have expected to be the winner.
Philip Cass also had a very nice round at one under handicap but had to settle for just third place, finishing with just the one scratched hole on his card which left Erik Donnestad in fourth but once again figuring in the placements with a three over gross 79.
There were no 2’s in either division.
Friday, Oct. 10, The Emerald – Stableford
CSS 73
1st Markku Tynell (23) 36pts
2nd Trevor Schirmer (14) 35pts
3rd Erik Donnestad (4) 33pts
4th Terry Hodgkiss (23) 30pts
5th Murray Frost (34) 29pts
The week’s weather had seen it rain every night and most of the days in the Ban Chang area and had left its mark on the Emerald course, which was found to be exceedingly wet with absolutely no run on the fairways and even with the usual “lift and place on the fairways” local rule in play scoring was at a premium.
Markku Tynell made up for his disappointment on the previous occasion with a first place, albeit by the slimmest of margins after returning an even level handicap card for both nines with just the one zero on the tenth hole, which is arguably the easiest one on the course. But he recovered immediately to score eight points on the next three holes to get his round back to an even keel and continued serenely to the end and the top step.
Trevor Schirmer returned to some sort of form after a few rounds in the wilderness as he claimed second spot following a very tidy round that included just the one wipe, also on the tenth hole which was obviously playing at its most difficult with the pin placed on the small plateau in the far right section of the green.
Erik Donnestad again just failed to return a score that would stop his handicap rising but was the only player on the day to par the tenth and score two points as the rest of the field could score just one at best, but it was sufficient once again to see him onto the podium.
Terry Hodgkiss took fourth place as he played his last game before returning to OZ for a short break.
Murray Frost rounded out the podium to record his best finish also in his last game before returning to the grind deep in the Australian bush lands.
Once again there were no 2’s in either of the divisions.
Prior to the presentations there were welcome backs for Lyle Blaw, Todd Pahl, and Phil Stevenson, together with farewells for Terry Hodgkiss and Murray Frost.
Note: If you would like to play with The Haven group, you can contact mobile 094 567 5726 or call in to The Haven Hotel, at 185 Soi 13, between Beach Road and 2nd Road. All transportation to the course is arranged and you do not need to sign up prior to the day, but you should be there by 8.15 on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday on the days that you wish to play. A schedule of courses to be played can be found on our web site at www.thehaven-hotel.com.
