PSC Golf from The Growling Swan
Monday, Jan. 7, The Emerald – Stableford
It was a busy week with the PSC Club Championship on Tuesday & Friday along with our normal Monday & Thursday games so our numbers were down a tad but after a late cancellation we still had 24 on the Starting Sheet for The Emerald.
We welcomed back Bob Akapita from Gove in the Northern Territory of Australia & his mate Rod Cockle from Mackay in Queensland. It was also great to have the colorful Walter Baechli with us once more & also veteran Irishman Kevin Dinan who just lives “around the corner”.
Rod Cockle, Kae & Walter Baechli.
With a later than normal tee time we took our time enjoying the free coffee & idle chatter at the Growling Swan before departing in 3 mini vans at 8.37 am & headed South down Highway 3. The journey was quite quick and in 46 minutes we were at the course to find once again a large group of Scandis booked in ahead of us so we knew we were going to be in for a long day. We managed to get our first group away 7 minutes ahead of our booked time of 10.30 am but watched in amusement as the three-ball in front of us, all left-handers, hit their tee shots sharing the same driver! Obviously they were out there for some fun and not taking the game too seriously.
The course was in excellent shape and the weather was terrific as it normally is at this time of year and as mentioned earlier there was to be no hurry and plenty of time to “smell the roses”. It was a two and a half hour first nine for us and as we stood and waited to play our approach shots to the ninth greens it was touching to watch the three in front of us pause on the green for several minutes after putting out to take several “memory” photographs – how sweet! The good part about that was they were only playing nine holes which did speed things up on the back nine, but only marginally as the full round took us four hours & forty seven minutes – our slowest round of golf for quite some time. Nonetheless it was a very enjoyable day on a very good golf course in great “nick” with excellent company.
We were able to have 2 grades with five podium spots in each. A Grade was for handicaps 0 to 23 and B Grade for 24 and over. We had nearest the pins on all the par threes and longest first putts on the 9th & 18th greens.
The course was playing tough for us on this day with no-one able to play to their handicap and it was Walter “Mr Colors” Baechli who won the A Grade with 35 points and Ebrahim finished second with 33 points. With 2 golfers on 32 points a count back was necessary to determine third & fourth and it was Mike “Hunter” Gosden (16 point back nine & 12 points on the last 6 holes) edging out Ken Hole (16 point back nine & 10 points on the last 6 holes). Big Ken “Let’s hear it for” Bernek completed the podium in fifth place with 30 points.
She’s been quiet for a few weeks but Duangjai “Kae” Tusagad returned to form and won the B Grade with 33 points and in a count back for second & third with 32 points it was veteran Kevin Dinan (20 point back nine) beating Russell Calcutt (15 point back nine). Yet another count back was needed to determine fourth & fifth as 2 players were on 30 points and it was Robert Allen (13 point back nine) taking the honors over Sandy “Leiperfrog” Leiper (12 point back nine).
A Flight (0-23)
1st Walter Baechli (18) 35pts
2nd Ebrahim (16) 33pts
3rd Mike Gosden (12) 32pts
4th Ken Hole (17) 32pts
5th Ken Bernek (15) 30pts
B Flight (24+)
1st Duangjai Tusagad (28) 35pts
2nd Kevin Dinan (27) 32pts
3rd Russell Calcutt 32pts
4th Robert Allen 30pts
5th Sandy Leiper (35) 30pts
Near Pins: 5th – Walter Baechli, 7th – Walter Baechli, 13th – Rod Cockle, 15th – Vince Romeo
Long Putts: 9th – Peter Blackburn, 18th – Peter Blackburn
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 in a count back by Rod Cockle who to his credit accepted the award in fine style & wore the cap for several hours afterwards.
Kae & Peter Blackburn.
Big Ken paraded Deefa the Dog and many donations were collected for the needy in Pattaya from our ever generous Growling Swan Crew.
Back at The Growling Swan as usual the Aussie cold, low priced beers were consumed at a frightening rate and the usual bad luck stories about the day ensued but it was unanimous that yet another great day’s golf was had by all.
Thursday, Jan. 10, Treasure Hill – Stableford
Once again the busy week reduced our numbers and after a ‘no-show’ we had 18 golfers assemble at The Growling Swan ready to take the journey and tackle the tough Treasure Hill layout. We welcomed Nial Stuart from New Zealand and sadly bade farewell to Volker Buley who is returning to Germany at the weekend after a month with us.
Departing the GS 7 minutes later than scheduled at 8.37 am we headed off down 331 and without too many hold ups arrived at the course 45 minutes later where the car park was just about empty. It took us quite some time to check in as I produced the latest copy of Thai Golf magazine which included a full page advertisement for Treasure Hill promoting a Thursday Green Fee of 500 baht but, as I anticipated, this was a “misunderstanding” between the printers and the Treasure Hill management who insisted that this promotion applies only to “low Season” – Other PSC Golf Outlets beware! I did however negotiate the Green Fee rate down to 750 baht on this occasion whilst receiving a “humble” apology.
As previously stated, the course was practically deserted and we managed to send our first group away at 10.10 am with no-one in front of us. The weather was perfect and the course was looking very good although several greens had been heavily sanded and in fact a couple of greens were being sanded as we played.
We proceeded at a good pace and completed the front nine in just over two hours with no necessity for a drinks break. It started to get hotter during the back nine and after a drink stop before tackling the “Crocodile Hole” (It got me again) we managed to finish our round in the good time of four hours & fifteen minutes. It was a very enjoyable round of golf with fine company.
We were able to have 2 grades with three podium spots in each. A Grade was for handicaps 0 to 25 and B Grade for 26 and over. We had nearest the pins on all the par threes and longest first putts on the 9th & 18th greens.
With only one golfer playing to their handicap the going was tough for most and it was yours truly, Peter Blackburn who won the A Grade with 36 points, 5 points ahead of Graham “Grunter” Buckingham in second spot with big Ken “Let’s hear it for” Bernek third on 29 points. Having her second win in as many outings it was Duangjai “Kae” Tusagad who won the B Grade with 32 points, four points ahead of Bernie McCart in second place and Tristan Freeman was third with 27 points.
A Flight (0-25)
1st Peter Blackburn (10) 36pts
2nd Graham Buckingham (22) 31pts
3rd Ken Bernek (15) 29pts
B Flight (25+)
1st Duangjai Tusagad (28) 32pts
2nd Bernie McCart (29) 28pts
3rd Tristan Freeman 27pts
Near Pins: 2nd – Frankie Sharratt, 6th – Geri Crilly, 13th – Sandy Leiper, 17th – Bob Akapito
Long Putts: 9th – Ken Bernek, 18th – Gary Monley
The Growling Swan NAGA Award was won by the departing Volker Buley who, being the good sport that he is, accepted the award in fine style.
Big Ken paraded Deefa the Dog and many donations were collected for the needy in Pattaya from our ever generous Growling Swan Crew.
Back at The Growling Swan afterwards it was celebrations all round as Mine Host Peter Grey was ecstatic about not being awarded the NAGA trophy and was in fine form whilst proceeding to “roast” many that were present about anything that he could think of. Another fun night after a great day’s golf with one of Pattaya’s friendliest PSC Golf Bars.
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 (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 petermalcolmblackburn @gmail.com.
