PSC golf from The Growling Swan
Monday, June 10, Crystal Bay B & C–4-Ball B/B Stableford
It hadn’t seemed like one year but it certainly was and we had a terrific compliment of 36 players signed up to partake in this historic event. As we assembled at The Growling Swan we welcomed Pattaya Sports Club Golf Chairman Joe Mooneyham, who incidentally played in our very first game a year ago, Volker Buley back from Germany for some Pattaya fun, locals John Swanson & Brian Noguer, Jeff Mellon from Melbourne, Australia, Nolan Wise who is in between drilling jobs, Evan Miller, formerly from New Zealand but now residing here, and Charlie Cunningham from USA.
It was agreed that we would have a four-ball better-ball stableford pairs event with a random draw of an A Grade player with a B Grade player. This was conducted at the bar under very close scrutiny prior to our departure. Having got all that over and done with we headed off from the GS right on time at 8.30 am and arrived at the course 45 minutes later to find that we would be playing B & C nines and could tee off at our leisure.
Joe Mooneyham & Charlie Cunningham.
We got our first of nine four-balls away right on the scheduled tee off time of 10.00 am in perfect weather conditions for golf, not too hot and a nice gentle breeze. The course was in terrific shape as usual with the greens firm and true and we proceeded at a good pace & completed the B nine in just over two hours. Conditions remained perfect for the remainder of the round and in just four hours & ten minutes for the full round we were back in the clubhouse taking showers.
With the good numbers we were able to go down to sixth place and there were some excellent prizes to be awarded. There were also rewards for nearest the pins on all the par threes and longest first putts on the 9th & 18th greens.
In first place of this historic event came Joe Mooneyham & Charlie Cunningham with a fine 46 points, and a count back was required to separate second & third with two pairs on 44 points. This resulted in Mike “Hunter” Gosden & Andrew “Turtle” Allen (21 point back nine) taking second place from Ebrahim & Sandy “Leiperfrog” Leiper (19 point back nine) in third spot.
With 2 pairs on 43 points another count back was needed and it was Ed Wyckoff & Paul Jackson (22 point back nine) who grabbed fourth place from Graham “Grunter” Buckingham & Fred Dineley (19 point back nine) in fifth spot.
Another count back was necessary to determine sixth place with 2 pairs on 42 points and it was Paul “Hacky” Hack & Ian Masterson (21 point back nine & 15 points on the last 6 holes) who got the chocolates from luckless Ken Hole & Max “Corsets” Bracegirdle (21 point back nine & 14 points on the last 6 holes).
1st Joe Mooneyham & Charlie Cunningham 46pts
2nd Mike Gosden & Andrew Allen 44pts
3rd Ebrahim & Sandy Leiper 44pts
4th Ed Wyckoff & Paul Jackson 43pts
5th Graham Buckingham & Fred Dineley 43pts
6th Paul Hack & Ian Masterson 42pts
Near Pins: B4 – Fred Dineley, B6 – Fred Dineley, C4 – Peter Bye, C7 – John Swanson
Long Putts: B9 – Geri Crilly, C9 – Paul Hack
Back at The Growling Swan afterwards for presentations and a lovely buffet meal it was necessary to thank various people for their contributions. Firstly, Growling Swan Mine Host Peter Grey (just back from Melbourne the night before) for all his help throughout the year and for providing the sumptuous supper, Max Bracegirdle who generously made a donation towards running the event and Mark West for assisting me with picking up the prizes.
Dick Braimbridge & Ian Masterson.
There was a great crowd back at the bar and Peter Grey took Deefa the Dog for a walk and collected many donations for the needy in Pattaya from our ever generous Growling Swan crew. It had been a terrific day and I’m sure everyone enjoyed themselves and we look forward to another great year of golf out of The Growling Swan.
Thursday, June 13, Bangpakong – Stableford
Just 13 golfers were signed up on the day and we were happy to welcome newcomer Stuart Mann from the ACT, Australia. As it is a longer drive than normal to Bangpakong we managed to depart the GS 5 minutes earlier than our scheduled 8.30 time and headed off under grey skies and through drizzling rain at times.
The skies were still overcast when we arrived at the course 70 minutes later and as the venue was practically deserted we were able to tee off at our leisure which in this case was 5 minutes after our scheduled 10.00 am tee time. The rain was still threatening as we commenced and a brief shower was encountered after 3 holes but as usual the “rain gods” smiled on us and that was the end of the rain.
The course is not looking it’s best these days but it is still an enjoyable experience and we completed the round in four hours & twenty minutes.
Due to the smaller field we just had the one grade and went down to five places. There were rewards for nearest the pins on the 7th & 16th greens and longest first putt on the 18th green.
Dick “Reverend” Braimbridge took the honors on the day by winning with 40 points, 1 point ahead of Mike Allidi in second spot. With 3 golfers on 38 points a count back was required and it was Frank “Woody” Donnelly (23 point back nine) who got third place from Graham “Grunter” Buckingham (21 point back nine) in fourth spot and Peter Bye (16 point back nine) completed the podium.
1st Dick Braimbridge (36) 40pts
2nd Mike Allidi (3) 39pts
3rd Frank Donnelly (22) 38pts
4th Graham Buckingham (24) 38pts
5th Peter Bye (13) 38pts
Near Pins: 7th – Mike Allidi, 16th – Peter Blackburn
Long Putts: 18th – Ebrahim
The Growling Swan NAGA Award, awarded to the golfer who has the worst score on the day, was won by Ian Masterson on a count back and of course Ian accepted the cap in fine spirit and wore it for a couple of hours in the bar afterwards. Dick “Reverend” Braimbridge was kind enough to parade Deefa the Dog and of course collected many donations for the needy in Pattaya from our generous Growling Swan Golfers.
Note: Growling Swan Golf, the home of friendly golf in Pattaya welcomes golfers of any persuasion – low & high handicappers alike, female golfers and beginners. We generally play Mondays & Thursdays, meeting at The Growling Swan (formerly The Bunker Bar) 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 [email protected].
