PSC Bunker Boys Golf
Monday, May 3rd
Green Valley Golf Course
1st Michael Brett (15) 35 points
2nd Neil Harvey (9) 33 points
3rd Dave Ashman (24) 31 points
4th Jimmy Carr (17) 31 points
Near pins Les Cobban, Dave Stockman, & Michael Brett.
A week after we last visited Barcelona Valley to play the St Andrews course we were back again this time to play the Green Valley course. A beautiful bright sunny Pattaya day was on hand for the start of play. Alas, it didn’t last, by the close of the front nine rain was pelting down causing us to shelter for about thirty minutes. The course which was flooded during the rain drained remarkably quickly as do most courses in Thailand so play was not disrupted unduly. A few areas of casual water for the first couple of holes after the resumption of play before the course returned to its normal nice condition.
A baker’s dozen took advantage of favorable green/caddie fees (nine hundred baht) using vouchers supplied by a generous member. Given that it was a Thai holiday this was excellent value for a course of this quality.
We had a couple of rare visitors in Dave Stockman and Neil Harvey, hopefully, they won’t leave it so long next time before returning. Normally it takes thirty-eight points to win at Green Valley but today’s winning score was well short of that, another poor day with the flat stick saw Michael Brett take first with thirty-five points when a much higher score beckoned. Neil Harvey took second with thirty-three points off a nine handicap whilst Dave Ashman edged out Jimmy Carr for third place on countback with thirty-one.
Dave Stockman, Les Cobban, and Michael Brett took near pins with one unclaimed.
Wednesday, May 5th
Pattaya Country Club
1st Jimmy Carr (17) 40 points
2nd Bob Paine (23) 39 points
3rd Joe Buda (12) 38 points
Near pins Geoff Atwell, Jimmy Carr, & Jay Babin.
An overcast humid and extremely hot day for the midweek game at Pattaya Country Club. Rain threatened several times but luckily it stayed away. The fairways and greens were in beautiful condition, but the rough was a different story, full of coarse grass that was very punishing for anyone who stayed in there. A field of twelve which isn’t bad under the circumstances.
Scoring was of a very high standard today, perhaps the best we have seen in recent months. Top of the heap was Jimmy Carr who had a super score of forty points. Bob Paine made a spectacular return to form with thirty-nine points. It’s rare to see someone with thirty-nine disappointed as Bob was, he could have done even better finishing with only one point each on the last three holes. Joe Buda in his first game with the Bunker Boys also could have done better having scored twenty-two on the front nine only to fall back a bit on the back nine to finish with a very respectable thirty-eight.
Three near pins were taken with one each going to Geoff Atwell, Jimmy Carr, & Jay Babin. A couple of our lower handicap players, including Myles Knowlson and Lance Conway-Jones, were well below what we have come to expect from them, but I guess that’s golf, it’s hard to maintain a high standard consistently.
Several new caddies have joined Pattaya Country Club in recent times and it has to be said they were superb, clearly they had been trained properly. It is believed they came from Rolling Hills which clearly doesn’t have enough players to keep them occupied. Two of the new caddies carried range finders, something that we have not seen before. This is something that should be encouraged as good caddies generally assist good play, and taking the guesswork out of distance measurement is a very good thing. A common failing amongst caddies is greatly overestimating the distance to hazards.
Friday, May 7th
Pattana Golf Club & Resort, A & B
1st Michael Brett (15) 39 points
2nd Jay Babin (22) 36 points
3rd Geoff Parker (20) 33 points
Near pins Tony Robbins, Michael Brett, & Peter Kelly X 2.
Pattana was the venue for the last game of the week where we were allocated the A & B nines. The fairways were damp in places resulting in several mud balls, in other areas they were absolutely fine. It would probably have been fair to implement the pick, clean, and place rule as the variability of the surface introduced an element of luck into the game. The greens were very disappointing, in need of mowing and rolling, they were very slow and bumpy with the A nine greens much slower than the B nine.
After a night of serious monsoonal weather that caused severe damage in neighbouring Sattahip, Pattaya and surrounds survived without any serious flooding. The skies were grey and overcast but luckily the rain stayed away. A strong wind blew for most of the front nine but abated later and by the end of the round conditions were perfect for golf.
A mixed bag on the scoring front with Michael Brett taking first place with a decent score of thirty-nine. After two wins this week a cut in handicap is looming. Second place went to Jay Babin with a very respectable score of thirty-six, whilst Geoff Parker, playing off a handicap of twenty, if you can believe that, took third place with thirty-three. Not long ago he was off fifteen.
Peter Kelly got his name on three near pin flags, holding on to two. Tony Robbins took one from him and Michael Brett got the remaining pin.
