IPGC golf from The Links
Sunday, January 22, Pattaya C.C. – Stableford
Another large field made the weekly trip to Pattaya Country Club, ensuring two flights with the cut coming at 0-19 and 20+. We arrived well ahead of our scheduled 11.00am tee time and as the first tee was vacant, the first group was able to tee off 30 minutes early, and with the round taking around 4 hours, we were showered and back “home “ at the Links by 3.30pm.
This week the fairways were bone dry, ensuring a lot of run on the ball, but the greens were a little on the slow side. This combined to make the course fairly forgiving, with over a quarter of the field playing to handicap, or better.
JJ Harney & Roar Berger were flight winners at Pattaya Country Club on Sunday.
The B flight was a very tight affair, with 3 players carding 38 points. In the count back, David Wilkinson was the first to fall, his 17 point haul on the back falling 3 short of the winning score. The other competitors could only be split on the back 6, with Roar Berger triumphing 16 to 11 over Andy Galvin.
In the A flight, Russell Exley played another steady round, scoring one better than his 7 handicap with John Connolly, just sneaking into the flight, two points ahead on 39. Bragging rights, however, went to JJ Harney, his 40 points ensuring his second Sunday victory of the year.
The two’s pot was shared by Russell Exley and Brian Lewis.
A Flight
1st JJ Harney (10) 40pts
2nd John Connolly (19) 39pts
3rd Russell Exley (7) 37pts
B Flight
1st Roar Berger (27) 38pts
2nd Andy Galvin (20) 38pts
3rd David Wilkinson (28) 38pts
Thursday, Jan 26, Eastern Star – Stableford
With many of the regulars taking a short break to Hua Hin, a much reduced field travelled to Ban Chang to take on the challenge of Eastern Star. The pace of the greens here have been the subject of some criticism in recent weeks, and although the staff appear to have managed to speed them up a little, they are still a little inconsistent, to say the least. However, most agree this is one of the best designed courses in the region, and a good test of golf off the white tees.
Sekio Ojima went one point better than his previous round, his 31 points proving good enough for third place, edging out Marty Rock 14 -13 n a count back, on a day when scoring proved not easy. Visiting +3 handicapper Brian Locke, fresh from qualifying school, shot a gross 71 for 34 points, and took second place. This feat was all the more impressive as Brian chose to play off the blue tees, measuring 500 yards longer than those played by us mere mortals.
JJ Harney continued his good form, his 35 points good enough to secure his second victory of the week.
There were three ‘2’s, the pot being shared by JJ, Marty Rock and Brian Locke.
1st JJ Harney (10) 35pts
2nd Brian Locke (+3) 34pts
3rd Sekio Ojima (24) 31pts
Note: The Links depart from the hotel on Soi Buakhao at 9.30am on Tuesdays and Thursdays and 10.00am for Pattaya Country Club every Sunday. Sign up at the hotel or contact Jon on 080 021 1034. A full schedule of courses can be found on the IPGC website www.ipgc.org.
