IPGC golf from The Haven
Sunday, April 24, Green Valley – Stableford
CSS 72
1st Lyle Blaw (12) 40pts
2nd Joe McArdle (12) 37pts
3rd Andy Sheppard (9) 32pts
4th Gerry Hannon (9) 31pts
Once again there was just a small turnout for the regular Sunday outing at Green Valley as many players are either still away, or if not, members of Green Valley Golf Course object to the high prices at the weekends.
Lyle Blaw, having warmed up earlier in the week, came good with a splendid four under handicap round to take the top honours for the day ahead of Joe McArdle, who was once again to be found in second place at one under as previously.
Lyle Blaw.
Andy Sheppard made it a very happy return without playing that well but his four over was just enough to take third place away from Gerry Hannon who also repeated the previous week’s result of fourth spot.
The 2’s were won by Andy Sheppard who had the only one of the day.
The presentations were conducted and overseen by Russell Exley as usual at the Golf Centre Bar on the course, with amiable hosts John and Geoff assisted by their lovely staff, taking excellent care of the golfers.
Monday, April 25, Crystal Bay – Stableford
CSS 74
1st Shane Heavey (17) 31pts
2nd Rod Crosswell (13) 30pts
3rd Lyle Blaw (12) 29pts
4th David Cable (13) 28pts
It was just as well that there was another IPGC competition being played over the same courses, C and A, otherwise the day would have been a non-counting competition. As it was, the CSS went out to 74 as the conditions and difficulty of the course played havoc with the scores.
Shane Heavey.
Shane Heavey made the best of it with a round that was outshone by his golf attire which rivals John Daley’s outfits in both size and colour co-ordination, but one that was just enough to lead in Rod Crosswell by a stroke and also left Sunday’s winner Lyle Blaw wishing for the tighter layout of Green Valley.
Newcomer David Cable surprised himself, having thought that he was well out of contention, by claiming fourth spot with several blobs on the card.
There were no 2’s on a day that saw precious few pars let alone birdies.
Before presenting the prizes The Doc welcomed new member David Cable.
Wednesday, April 27, Mountain Shadow (White tees) – Stableford
CSS 71
1st Shane Heavey (17) 38pts
2nd Lyle Blaw (12) 35pts
3rd Terry Hodgkiss (25) 33pts
4th Shuichi Kodaka (16) 33pts
5th Allan Heavey (26) 33pts
A new day, a new course, a new outfit, all seemed to work well for Shane Heavey as he once again scattered the field whilst mesmerizing the caddies and green staff with yet another peacock display of sartorial elegance over a framework almost large enough to qualify as a traffic roundabout.
David Cable.
With the usual pairs competition shelved due to the low numbers participating, a singles event was organized from the white tees as many of the players were above the standard 15 handicap for which the course had been designed.
Following Shane once again was Lyle Blaw, although this time he moved up into second place with a much more characteristic return just one over handicap and good enough by two to ensure that he did not take part in the count-back for third which Terry Hodgkiss won with a better 13 on the last six over Shuichi Kodaka in fourth, who managed just 8 after tying the nine on 16 a piece. Shuichi indeed seemed to have badly misjudged the deployment of the anchor as he amassed just 6 points over the last 5 holes.
Allan Heavey just failed to keep the engine running long enough as his round subsided to just 13 points on the inward half to lose out in the first round of the count-back and was left back in fifth which was not such a bad result with borrowed clubs.
Once again there were no 2’s on the day as the pots grow steadily in both divisions.
Back at The Haven there were welcome backs for Rod Howett, Shuichi Kodaka and Allan Heavey, who has been around for a while but having lost his clubs along with all his baggage whilst transiting at Singapore on the way from Darwin, has been unable to play as he struggled to get the airline to accept responsibility and offer some recompense.
Friday, April 29, Eastern Star – Monthly Medals
CSS 72
Division 1
1st David Cable (13) 72
2nd Lyle Blaw (12) 76
3rd Rod Crosswell (13) 80
Division 2
1st Shane Heavey (17) 82
2nd Terry Hodgkiss (26) 82
3rd Shuichi Kodaka (16) 82
With Phoenix, the usual venue of for the Monthly Medals, having inexplicably lost the tee bookings, possibly due to the fact that the two courses that were open were full with another large competition and with just the offer of a tee-off time sometime in the afternoon, the venue was moved to Eastern Star on the day.
David Cable, having thought that golf in Thailand was just one nightmare after another after a week of less than sparkling results in and around Pattaya, at last got to grips with the different conditions as he swept to the top of the first division with a solid level par round which once again left Lyle Blaw settling for second place four shots adrift but in turn four better than Rod Crosswell whose recent form suggests that he will be soon playing regularly to his higher level of handicap when he returns to the Gosnells Club in WA.
Shane Heavey continued to win, but his form was a long way off his earlier efforts as he had to rely on winning a three-way count-back with Terry Hodgkiss in second and Shuichi Kodaka in third, with a better back nine of 36.5 to Terry’s 38.5 and Shuichi’s 40
As the 2’s pools continue to spiral once again there were no 2’s in either division.
Prior to the prize presentations there were farewells for Terry Hodgkiss, Rod Croswell, Shane Heavey and Allan Heavey.
Note: As from the 1st of May the Haven group will depart Soi 13 at the earlier time of 8.30 a.m. until further
If you would like to play with The Haven group you can contact mobile 084 782 4582 or call in to the hotel at 185 Soi 13 between Beach Road and 2nd Road. All transportation to the course is arranged and you do not need to sign up prior to the day, but you should be there by 8.00 on Mondays, Wednesday, Fridays and 9.00am on Sundays on the days you wish to play. A schedule of courses to be played can be found on our web site at www.thehaven-hotel.com.
