PSC golf from The Growling Swan
Monday, June 9, Greenwood – Stableford
It was a fine Monday morning in Pattaya and we were all looking forward to a good day’s golf at Greenwood as we assembled at The Growling Swan in readiness for our departure to the popular Greenwood Golf Course.
When we arrived at the course there weren’t too many people there so after being told it was to be the B & C nines we had a quick practice putt and headed off to B1 where our first group, a three-ball, teed off right on time at 10.00 am. We had a field of 22 plus The Reverend’s lady, Wan, and in spritely fashion we proceeded off the white tees in hot & humid conditions which thankfully was made more comfortable with the help of at times a fairly stiff breeze.
Ken Hole, Mashi Kaneta & Paul Hack.
The course was in great shape with lush fairways and although the greens on C9 had been recently sanded they were fine to putt on. We seemed always to be playing into the stiff breeze in fact for the first time ever no-one was able to get onto three of the four par-three greens from the tee. We took our time as the three-ball in front of us disappeared into the distance and our very enjoyable round of golf was completed in four & a half hours.
It was tight at the top in A Division with 2 golfers on 34 points (yes, that was the highest score on the day) and the resultant count back saw Peter Bye (16 point back nine & 13 points on the last 6 holes) declared the winner with “Big” Bill Steinman (16 point back nine & 12 points on the last 6 holes) in second spot. Your writer, Peter “Blacky” Blackburn finished in third place with 33 points.
Ken Hole, Niall Stuart & Peter Bye.
More count backs were needed to sort out the place getters in Division B and with 2 people on 32 points it was Ken Hole (19 point back nine) who was the winner from Frank “Woody” Donnelly (17 point back nine) in second place. There were 3 golfers on 30 points vying for third place and the count back saw it going to Patrick Poussier (17 point back nine) with Dave Fletcher (14 point back nine) and John Anderson (14 point back nine) both missing out.
Division A (0-17)
1st Peter Bye (13) 34pts
2nd Bill Steinman (9) 34pts
3rd Peter Blackburn (12) 33pts
Division B (23+)
1st Ken Hole (20) 32pts
2nd Frank Donnelly (23) 32pts
3rd Patrick Poussier (23) 30pts
Near Pins: B5 – John Anderson
Long Putts: B9 – Gerd Riedler, C9 – Mark West
Thursday, June 12, Khao Kheow – Divorce Pairs
It’s hard to believe that Growling Swan Golf has been going for two years but here we are celebrating our second anniversary. We decided on a “Divorce Pairs” (sometimes known as Russian Stableford) format with a random draw, pairing a high handicapper with a low handicapper to make a team of two. Each golfer plays his individual stableford game and at the end of each hole the points scored for each team are multiplied by each other. For example Player 1 scores 5 for 2 and Player 2 scores 4 for 3, 2 x 3 = 6 so that pair scores 6 points on that hole. The “Divorce” bit comes in when one of the team has a wipe, i.e. Player 1 scores 3 for 4 and Player 2 wipes the hole, 4 x 0 = 0!
The draw was done the afternoon before under close scrutiny and the starting sheet was put on the notice board for all to see – there were a few moans and groans but not too many.
The response for the event was fabulous and we had 36 starters ready to participate and look forward to playing the classy Khao Kheow Golf & Country Club.
We assembled at the course and all was reasonably quiet as we were allocated the B & A nines to be played in that order. We had 9 four-balls so it was important to get things moving and our first group got away 5 minutes ahead of schedule at 9.55 am in hot & humid conditions with very little sun and a gentle breeze.
The golf course was in great conditions with the lush fairways and receptive greens although they did seem to be a touch slower than normal. The weather was holding up but half way through the second nine we had a 10 minute shower of rain but it soon cleared and there was no interruption to play. We did spend a bit of time looking for lost balls which slowed us down a bit and the round was completed in four hours & thirty five minutes.
The winning pair was Paul “Hacky” Hack & Ken Hole who managed to amass 84 points and in second place came Mashi Kaneta & Andrew “Turtle” Allen with 81 points. Joe Mooneyham & Sandy “Cindy Lauper” Leiper finished in third spot with 77 points and Rocky Lawson & Dave “Fletch” Fletcher were fourth scoring 74 points. With 2 teams on 67 points a count back was required which resulted in fifth place going to Landis Brooks & Niall Stuart (38 point back nine) with “Big” Bill Steinman & Fred Dineley (28 point back nine) just missing out.
The best individual score was Mashi Kaneta with a magnificent 46 points. I must also congratulate consistent NAGA winner Niall Stuart for his best ever score of 30 points and first ever spot on the podium.
Best Individual Score
1st Mashi Kaneta (14) 46pts
1st Paul Hack (15) & Ken Hole (20) 84pts
2nd Mashi Kaneta (14) & Andrew Allen (32) 81pts
3rd Joe Mooneyham (16) & Sandy Leiper (34) 77pts
4th Rocky Lawson (17) & Dave Fletcher (34) 74pts
5th Landis Brooks (6) & Niall Stuart (36) 67pts
Near Pins: A3 – Peter Bye, A5 – Tom Cotton, B3 – Landis Brooks, B8 – Landis Brooks
Long Putts: A9 – Andrew Allen, B9 – Patrice Bardy
Long Drives: Paul Kennedy, Rob Cross
It was then back to The Growling Swan for presentations, celebrations and a delicious roast pig dinner provided by Growling Swan Golf. I thanked everyone for participating in the day and for their valued support during the year. Also a special thanks to Mine Host Peter Grey for his help and support since we started and we all agreed that our Golf Society is going from strength to strength.
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 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.
