PSC golf from Tropical Bert’s
Tuesday, Jan. 28, Kiarti Thanee – Stableford
Going to a new course is a bit weird after years of playing the normal Eastern Seaboard circuit and I wondered how Kiarti Thanee would match up to our local courses.
Well we were soon at the 10th tee, starting the back nine first and the first thing I noticed were the fairways, flat, lined with trees … and a lot of water. It seemed the policy was to flood the fairways and in some places it was so bad the ball picked up large pieces of mud and the thought that we should play ‘lift, clean and place’ came to mind. This was the same all the way around.
Dick Warberg (left) presents the MBMG golfer of the month award to John Hackett.
Continuing the round it was seen that the greens were fine and all the players commented on them, but tree lined straight holes continued and really it became a little boring. Maybe not quite that bad but the nearest I can compare the course to is Royal Lakeside, which is just down the road. We could have saved 20+ kilometers and played there!
Anyway, the caddies and staff here were a pleasure to deal with and most of the players really enjoyed their round.
Tuesday’s flight winners, John Davis and James Ferris.
In the A Flight 0 to 19, the better players coped with the ‘new course’ much better. The winner with 38 points was John Davis ahead of a count back on 37 points that saw John Hackett in second and Brian Parish third while Takeshi Hakozaki was fourth on 36.
So into the B Flight, and here we saw the scores were a little lower, to the Scribe’s delight. The winner with 37 points was James Ferris ahead of Mike O’Brian with 36 points in second. In third place was Derek Brook with 34 points and in fourth was Daryl Evans with 33.
This was the end of the month and it was time for The MBMG Group Golfer of the Month award. The build-up was close on scores and the leaders were all on the same points so who amongst them got points on the final day would win. Well with John Hackett, coming overall third and that extra point was just enough to see him cross the finishing line. Well done John!
Near Pins: Mashi Kaneta, John Hackett, Ted Morris, Dick Warberg
Long Putt: AVD, Carole Kubicki
Friday, Jan. 31, Greenwood – Stableford
A quick book in saw us at the start and the A & B Nine were to be our target. So off we went into a strong wind, as is usual these days and it stayed with us all day.
The thing about the A nine was that the greens were very fast and were a pleasure to play. The rest of the nine was in good condition but with the wind it proved very difficult. Onto the B nine and the sad thing was that the greens were quite slow, two completely different nines. The other thing was that we were always waiting, and although we got around in good time it reminded me not to play in a three-ball on a Friday.
Friday’s top two with one of Bert’s finest.
Round over we soon got underway back to Pattaya, and as expected on a semi holiday, the road into Pattaya was very busy. I came back down the road that joins the 331 into the route 7, turn right at Pattana, or on the bouncy road. I do not think I have ever driven down a road that bounces so much, but it does get you onto the 7 fast. From then on the road was packed. Still we got back in the end.
So to the results and the winner on the day, with the only good score, was Alan Sullivan with 37 points. In second with 33 points was Colm Mullen, with Derek Brook in third on 32. We then had a three-way count back on 31 points that saw Don Carmody in fourth, Henry O’Brien fifth and Brian Parish just missing out. T.T.F.N.
Near Pins: Frank Pilkington, Michele Sancillo, Don Carmody
