Thursday, May 8, Plutaluang N & W – Scramble
The legend continues and gains strength as the years go by. When ‘Papa’ Ray went to the ‘great golf course in the sky’, his nephew Gary declared that he would keep Ray’s golf tournament going as long as he could, or at least until Ray would have been 100 years old, which is in fact next year. Gary was not here this year but sent his very best to all his friends and promised that next year will be a big day, and sadly probably the last, but we shall see.
Dave Richardson continues to be the strength of the ‘organisation’ side, supported by his team and also by the scribe, the ever faithful recorder. The friends of ‘Papa’ Ray and Gary rallied around and many old faces came out of hiding. Particular thanks go to Bjarne and his family from The Cafe Kronberg who provided the buffet food which went down particularly well this year with the hungry golfers.
The winning team: Dick Warberg, Mike O’Brien, Henry Wong and Brian Gabe with Dave Richardson.
Gary was again the major sponsor and like every year before, he provided his house for the after golf party and also provided many of the prizes. I am certain his Uncle Ray would be most proud of him.
Onto the day and we were playing a 2-tee start off the North and West courses, and as all who play here know, this is a really difficult 18 holes. The course, as such, was in very good condition and the fairways were well manicured and the greens well looked after and running fast and true. We also had a fair bit of wind to contend with so this would keep the scores realistic.
Runners-up.
With a fairly light number of players on the course our group was able to get around quite quickly and we finished in good time for a 4-man scramble event.
Round over and back at Gary’s place the beer was flowing as the hungry golfers tucked into the food. Dave meantime was beavering away on the results until it was time for the presentation.
Dave, as the Emcee, firstly he thanked all who helped him, in particular Gary and his family, but also Tiger Line Golf, Good Golf, John Swanson, George Bennison, the Nielson family, Pattaya Sports Club, Plutaluang Navy Course and Pattaya Mail, and not forgetting the scribe. I will however add my thanks to Dave who has been a ‘rock’ in the golfing world in Pattaya for many years.
Third placed team.
So to the results and in third place with a net 58.5 were Tom Thompson, Ken Price, Mike Chitwood and Darren Zuidema. Taking second were the quartet of Clive Robinson, Trevor Loersch, Kristin Helgason and Bob Rasmussen with a net 57.5 and just edging them with a net 57.2 were the winning team of Dick Warberg, Mike O’Brien, Henry Wong and Brian Gabe.
Bjarne prepares the food back at Gary’s place.
Near pin prizes went to Ken Price, Ian Pickles, Mashi Kaneta and Nigel Perry while the longest putts were recorded by Trevor Loersch and Dick Warberg.
With the presentations over it was time for Dave’s ‘lucky draw’ and most went home with something. Another great day over and roll on next year!
The first group tee-off at Plutaluang.
