PSC golf from The Growling Swan
Monday, March 3, Crystal Bay, C & A – Stableford
There were 18 of us signed up to play the popular Crystal Bay Golf Course and we met at The Growling Swan in readiness for the journey north up No. 3. Not a big field and with the help of Mark West & Alain Taddei we required only one mini-van and departed the GS five minutes early at 8.25 a.m.
Upon arrival the course was fairly quiet and we got our first group, a three-ball, away 15 minutes ahead of schedule at 9.45 a.m.
The weather was hot with some wind and the golf course was in good shape, with the greens being very well maintained and with no-one immediately in front of us we set a very good pace. Things did slow down with three holes to go as we caught up with the groups ahead but we still managed to complete our full round in the very good time of three hours & fifty minutes. It had been once again a very enjoyable round of golf with first class company.
Alain Taddei & Mike Gosden.
We had 2 Divisions – Division A for handicaps 0 to 16 & Division B for golfers on handicaps of 17 and over with three places in each Division. There were also rewards for nearest the pin on two of the four par 3’s and longest first putts on the A9 & C9 greens.
The A Division winner was Mike “Hunter” Gosden who continued his good form and had 38 points, with Mark “Westy” West finishing second on 37 and Steve Truelove third with 36.
Alain “Inspector Clouseau” Taddei was the winner in B Division with 38 points, one point better than Ken Hole in second place and Geri Crilly was third on 35.
Division A (0-16)
1st Mike Gosden (11) 38pts
2nd Mark West (14) 37pts
3rd Steve Truelove (8) 36pts
Division B (17+)
1st Alain Taddei (18) 38pts
2nd Ken Hole (18) 37pts
3rd Geri Crilly (27) 35pts
Near Pins: A8 – Alain Taddei, C4 – Alain Taddei
Long Putts: A9 – Mark West, C9 – Steve Truelove
The Growling Swan NAGA Award, (awarded to the golfer who has the worst score on the day and discreetly their score is not made public) was won by Frank “Woody” Donnelly who accepted the award like the good sport that he is.
Thursday, March 6, Mt. Shadow – Stableford
Mountain Shadow was the challenge on this particular Thursday and after a couple of withdrawals we were left with a very good field of 31 to take on this fairly tough golf course. As we were all on time (even Patrick) we got away from the GS in 3 mini vans 3 minutes ahead of schedule at 8.27 am and after a good run arrived at the course 44 minutes later. It was not too busy so we had a quick practice putt and headed down to the first tee where we waited just 10 minutes before we were able to send our first group, a three-ball away 15 minutes earlier than booked at 9.45 am.
Russell Calcutt, Ebrahim & Martin Todd.
The weather was hot with a nice breeze to cool things down somewhat and the golf course was as usual in very good shape, with most greens being quite fast so the order of the day was keep the ball below the hole on the greens otherwise look out!
The pace was quite good with very few delays and after going through the first nine in one hour and fifty minutes things slowed down a bit and we completed the full round in exactly four hours. Great golf course, terrific company so what more can you ask for?
I must just mention than I decided we should play off the blue tees as at 5,876 yards; playing off the white tees would have made it too short but it did catch a lot of us out as there were only 2 golfers who were able to play to their handicap or better – Mountain Shadow 29, Growling Swan 2!
We had 3 Divisions – Division A for handicaps 0 to 15, Division B for golfers on handicaps of 16 to 25 and Division C for handicaps of 26 & over with four places in each Division. There were also rewards for nearest the pin on the four par 3’s and longest first putts on the 9th & 18th greens.
The winner in Division A was Martin “Toddy” Todd with 34 points and with 2 golfers tied on 32 points a count back was required which resulted in your humble correspondent Peter “Blacky” Blackburn (17 point back nine) finishing in second place from Paul Avery (14 point back nine) in third spot, with Frankie Sharratt in fourth on 31.
The best score of the day went to Ebrahim who won Division B with a terrific 40 points, 5 clear of 2 players who were tied on 35 points and the resultant count back saw Ian Jessiman (19 point back nine) finish second from Duangjai “Kae” Tusagad (18 point back nine) in third spot. Rita Zoebelli completed the podium in fourth on 33.
After just a few hours sleep it was “beware the sick golfer” in C Division as Russell Calcutt shook off his woes and his 38 points gave him first place, 8 points clear of second placed Andrew “Turtle” Allen. Dick Braimbridge came third with 29 points and the returning Nolan “No-one” Wise was fourth with 27.
Division A (0-15)
1st Martin Todd (8) 34pts
2nd Peter Blackburn (13) 32pts
3rd Paul Avery (10) 32pts
4th Frank Sharratt (13) 31pts
Division B (16-25)
1st Ebrahim (16) 40pts
2nd Ian Jessiman (22) 35pts
3rd Duangjai Tusagad (18) 35pts
4th Rita Zoebelli (25) 33pts
Division C (26+)
1st Russell Calcutt (36) 38pts
2nd Andrew Allen (32) 30pts
3rd Dick Braimbridge (36) 29pts
4th Nolan Wise (35) 27pts
Near Pins: 5th – Martin Todd, 8th – Peter Blackburn, 15th – Tom McMahon, 17th – Ken Hole
Long Putts: 9th – Mike Gosden, 18th – Rhys Allen
The Growling Swan NAGA Award was won by Growling Swan Mine Host Peter Grey and Andrew then kindly paraded Deefa the Dog to collect many donations for the needy in Pattaya from our generous Growling Swan Golfers.
Note: Growling Swan Golf welcomes golfers of any persuasion – low & high handicappers alike, female golfers and beginners. We generally play Mondays & Thursdays, meeting at The Growling Swan in Soi Chaiyapoon at 8.00 am with transport departing at 8.30 am. For bookings or more information please contact Peter on 0806 351 386 or email to petermalcolmblackburn @gmail.com.
We also play bowls out of the Growling Swan every Wednesday and Sunday. Sunday is Lawn Bowls and Wednesday is Indoor Bowls. All are welcome and for anyone that is interested the transport leaves The Growling Swan at 10.00am on each of those mornings. For more information please contact Paul Rennison on 0843 454 005.
