PSC golf from The Outback Golf Bar
Monday, March 18, Burapha – Stableford
Sixty players made the trip to Burapha to play the A and B courses from the blue markers and a very special welcome went out to the Aussie Amateur golfers from Perth who were playing in their inaugural event in conjunction with the Outback: this consisted of four rounds of stroke-play contested during the week.
Burapha had a big storm on Sunday and the evidence was very plain to see with a large number of trees blown over and many bunkers with huge wash-outs in them. The staff were very busy trying to clean up the damage and had done a good job on the A course but still had a long way to go on the B. The greens had been cut and the fairways were still good to play off.
The day was hot and humid and the biggest worry was the build-up of storm clouds which would have delayed our finish but thankfully the storms went around us.
The Aussie Amateur Tour Group.
The best around of the day came from one of the Aussie Amateurs, Sayer Gill, who shot a net 66 off a handicap of 18, which is the equivalent of 42pts. The best the local boys could muster was Geoff Simpson’s 38pts to win Div A by three from Charlie Ward (35) and Rod Crosswell & Gary Hogg both with 34.
Rosco took Div B with 37, over the ever steady, John Player (36) and John O’Keefe (35).
Div C went to Shane Crane on 35pts from Canadian, Greg LeBlanc with 32, beating Barney Clarkson and Bob Lindborg on count back.
There were six ‘2’s from Robin Peach, Geoff Stimpson & Bob Finley (hole A3), Graham Simpson, John Alchin & Bob Finley (hole B3)
Div A (0-14)
1st Geoff Stimpson (8) 38pts
2nd Charlie Ward (13) 35pts
3rd Rod Crosswell (13) 34pts
4th Gary Hogg (9) 34pts
Div B (15-19)
1st Rosco Langoulant (15) 37pts
2nd John Player (18) 36pts
3rd John O’Keefe (16) 35pts
4th Howard Marson (18) 35pts
Div C (20+)
1st Shane Crane (22) 35pts
2nd Greg LeBlanc (27) 32pts
3rd Barney Clarkson (25) 32pts
4th Bob Lindborg (20) 32pts
Tuesday, March 19, Khao Kheow – Stableford
28 Outbackers played A & B off the yellows today due to the greens being sanded on C. The course was in good condition but the results didn’t reflect this. Unfortunately we had a major hold up as it took us five hours to play 18 holes due to a four-ball of Indians but I knew that they would be slow as the other night I went for an Indian and it took over two hours for the meal to arrive. Oh well, there is always next time!
Monday podium placers (from the left): Barney Clarkson, Ed Butcher, Rod Crosswell, and Rosco Langoulant.
So to the golf, Dayle Hoek, one of the Aussie Tour boys, took some time out to get some practice in before the second round of their major tournament, which was at St. Andrews (Weds) and produced the right result, with the best score of the day, 34pts, to win Div A from Andy Butts on 32.
Div B was won by Suzi Lawton, with a very ordinary 31pts but enough to beat John Alchin and Jerry Quin on count back.
We said goodbye to Tony Adams, Martin Burbidge, Gary Hallawell & Lance Robinson, all from Eastwood Golf Course in Victoria.
There were three ‘2’s from Stephen Mann (5th) and Lance Robinson & Jerry Quin (17th).
Div A (0-12)
1st Dayle Hoek (12) 34pts
2nd Andy Butterworth (12) 32pts
3rd Perry See Hoe (0) 29pts
4th Martin Burbidge (9) 29pts
Div B (13+)
1st Suzi Lawton (20) 31pts
2nd John Alchin (15) 31pts
3rd Jerry Quin (18) 31pts
4th Rod Crosswell (13) 30pts
Wednesday, March 20, Siam Plantation – Stableford
Twenty-seven players went to Siam Plantation to play the Pineapple and Sugar Cane courses as Tapioca is closed for some pretty serious renovations due to a number of tees and all the greens have been heavily cored and sanded.
The course was in great condition but continues to be heavily watered, which makes for little or no run and on a number of occasions plugged balls in the fairways. The greens were great to putt on and the whole Siam experience is fantastic, with great staff and caddies and they just make your day very enjoyable, even if your golf is not great.
The course played a little short again and some of the longer, straighter hitters certainly made the course pay and leading the way was Ron Dickie with 42 points off his 7 handicap. Ron is certainly showing a love for the course as he had the same score a month ago just before his return to work. Peter LeNoury also played well for 41 points for second place and Martin Burbidge was third with 37.
The division split was a bit one sided as there were five players on a handicap of 12 which was exactly the cut line, so Div B ended up with 17 of the 27 players. In Div B, the top score was 39pts by Rod Crosswell and he won by two from Mark Campbell and Steve Poznanski with 35.
There were no ‘2’s.
Div A (0-11)
1st Ron Dickie (7) 42pts
2nd Peter LeNoury (11) 41pts
3rd Martin Burbidge (9) 37pts
4th Perry See Hoe (5) 34pts
Div B (12+)
1st Rod Crosswell (13) 39pts
2nd Mark Campbell (13) 37pts
3rd Steve Poznanski (12) 35pts
4th Anton Rowbottam (17) 35pts
Wednesday, March 20, Treasure Hill – Stableford
As well as Siam Plantation, another three groups went to the ever popular Treasure Hill course, led today by Tim Knight. The yellow tee was the choice of the day and Paul Greenaway (38pts), playing off an unusually high handicap (10) for him, made the most of it to romp in by seven shots over Mark Riggall with 31 and Barney & Hoggy both on 30.
There were two ‘2’s, both on the 6th, from Paul Greenaway & Tim Knight.
1st Paul Greenaway (10) 38pts
2nd Mark Riggall (14) 31pts
3rd Barney Clarkson (25) 30pts
4th Gary Hogg (9) 30pts
Wednesday, March 20, St. Andrews – Stroke
The inaugural Aussie Amateur Tour is the brainchild of Matt Timbrell and Ed Butcher who have put together a pro style tournament, featuring four rounds of stroke-play. It’s a tough format for amateurs, even though it is spread over six days, everybody knows about three or four day stableford comps but this is hard work.
The first round was at Burapha on Monday, with Gill Sayer winning the day with a net 66 but today was a different story as they headed off to the par 74, St. Andrews track. Even from the more forward white tee, this is a tough course for medal play and it came as no real surprise that three of the fifteen starters came to grief.
The best score came from Lee Grace with a net 75 to move to within eight shots of the lead which was still held by Sayer Gill on a two round total of 147. Behind Sayer were three players all on 153.
Friday, March 22, Green Valley – Stableford
It was another big day at Green Valley with 49 players, even without the many regular players that were playing in the PSC Charity Classic at Burapha. The day was hot and humid but thankfully we had a little breeze for most of the day.
The course is in good condition, especially the greens and fairways but some of the tees need maintenance and it looks like they are going to do something to the tees but as to what and how effective it will be, remains to be seen. They have closed the tees on the 11th hole and created a temporary tee on a slope nearby, which is not good but the tees that they have closed have only been sanded, no repairs to the bare areas just more sand on sand.
When we played Siam Plantation on Wednesday, they were renewing some tees on the Tapioca nine, they took off the turf, took off old soil and thatch, brought in new soil, shaped and levelled and replaced the turf all before we had finished playing. It shows a different level of professionalism and ultimately good tees.
Back to the golf, which was slow for most of the day due to a four-ball of walkers in front that refused to let our groups through, but that’s the lack of etiquette we often see in Thailand and no marshall to be seen to gee them up!
The Aussie Amateurs were with us again today for the third round of their four-round tournament and one of their guys, Dayle Hoek scored the best round of the day, a net 65 in their comp which converted to 43 stableford points to win Div A and to sweep into the lead after three days on 218. Green Valley regular, Peter LeNoury, was second on 39.
In Div B, Bob Finley’s 36 was enough for the win from “Race2Bkk” leader Murray Hart in second with 35. Tim Knight took Div C with only 34pts from his rival and good friend, John Player (33) whilst Dave Coller won Div D with 39pts from Barney Clarkson (36), who was flying home to Aus later that night.
There were four ‘2’s from Martin Kingswood (4th), Dayle Hoek (9th) and Svenn Ole Lund & Gary Arthur (12th).
Div A (0-12)
1st Dayle Hoek (12) 43pts
2nd Peter LeNoury (11) 39pts
3rd Kerry Beck (9) 38pts
4th Dennis Pelly (10) 37pts
Div B (13-16)
1st Bob Finley (14) 36pts
2nd Murray Hart (15) 35pts
3rd Ed Butcher (15) 35pts
4th Martin Kingswood (14) 34pts
Div C (17-22)
1st Tim Knight (22) 34pts
2nd John Player (18) 33pts
3rd Ismail, Shidy (19) 32pts
4th Gill Sayer (18) 32pts
Div D (23+)
1st David Coller (24) 39pts
2nd Barney Clarkson (25) 36pts
3rd Mark Connolly (23) 36pts
4th David Davies (23) 34pts
Note: The Outback Golf Bar is situated about 6km from Sukhumvit Road along Soi Siam Country. Call Jack on 081 578 1956.
