Pattaya Sports Club Bunker Boys Golf
Monday, March 23 Khao Kheow A & B Stableford
1st Mike Lloyd (17) 36 points
2nd Roland Davison (15) 30 points
3rd Dave Ashman (21) 30 points
Near pins Roland Davison (again), Mike Lloyd, & Michael Brett.
Over the weekend in an effort to stem the spread of Covid-19 the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration issued a directive closing all venues where people congregate in numbers, including golf courses and driving ranges in the Bangkok Metropolitan area. On Monday the Bangpakong Riverside course was added to the list so it seems inevitable that closure is coming our way in the not too distant future. In the meantime, we continue to play while we can and Monday Khao Kheow was our venue. As expected the course was very quiet with only one other small society group on the course, so a nice quick round again.
The day was extremely hot and humid and by the end of the round those that walked looked very weary indeed. This may account for the very poor scores returned. Expectations were high after last week’s exceptional scoring but perhaps the extreme heat accounted for a high level of fatigue both physical and mental.
The only one to master the conditions and the course was Mike Lloyd with thirty-six points, despite not liking the fairways for some reason. Most found the course condition very acceptable. Roland Davison and Dave Ashman were second and third respectively on thirty points. Near pins went to Roland again, he never plays without getting a near pin, Mike Lloyd and Michael Brett.
Sadly we have to report the passing of one of our former members, Tom Jones who had been in ill-health for some time. He passed away recently back in the UK. Tom was a bit of a character and had a typical northern sense of humor though not always on display on the golf course. Another of our members, Greg Berry, recently had a serious motorcycle accident suffering a punctured lung, fractured ribs and scapula. We believe Greg was discharged from hospital late last week and is now recovering at home. We wish Greg a speedy full recovery and look forward to seeing him back on the golf course again soon.
Wednesday, March 25th Plutaluang South & East Stableford
1st Keith Smithson (3) 41 points
2nd Mike Lloyd (16) 37 points
Near pins Jimmy Carr, Geoff Atwell, & Michael Brett X 2.
After an absence of a few months, the Bunker Boys made a return to the Navy course on Wednesday. On arrival at the clubhouse, we were marshaled into a line and had our temperatures taken prior to being allowed to pay green fees. Who knew that a simple temperature test was such a definitive diagnosis for Covid-19? As it happened everyone passed. We were then corralled into one small section of the changing room completely ignoring the social distancing recommendations.
We elected to play the South & East nines and as it turned out both were dry as a bone, hard as the road, and bald as Kojak’s noggin. Our first group set out on South 1st with clear air in front of them. By the time they reached the second tee a fourball was on the green in front of them, and as they say in the classics “That was That”.
They were informed it was the Admiral and his group so play stalled to a snail’s pace for the rest of the nine. As is his custom the admiral with his group retired to the restaurant for a mid-round repast so the rest of the round moved along at a good pace.
Most of our group were unimpressed by the course and this was reflected in their scores. However, two found it very much to their liking and took the honours in first and second place. Most of our group like a carper of grass from which to play but both Keith and Mike like a very hard base so they can hit down on the ball and compress it, and justified their preference with two very fine scores of forty-one and thirty-seven respectively. Curiously neither managed a near pin with all four taken, one each to Jimmy Carr & Geoff Atwell and two to Michael Brett.
It took a lot of time and effort to convince our scheduler to book this course, it may take a miracle to convince him to make another booking, certainly not unless we receive months of monsoonal rain.
The last of our seasonal visitors depart this week (Keith, Mike, & Klaus) and in the current situation we don’t expect any more visitors for some considerable time. We are still unsure under the prevailing circumstances if golf can continue to be played.
Friday, March 27th Emerald Stableford
1st Dave Ashman (21) 33 points
2nd Michael Brett (15) 31 points
3rd Tony Robbins (18) 28 points
Near pins Michael Brett, & Dave Ashman X 2.
A stinking hot day for the last game of the week at Emerald. Only four lockers appeared to be occupied in the change rooms so we assumed another group was on the course somewhere but they remained elusive to us. Following the very poor condition of Plutaluang on Wednesday we were hopeful of better conditions Friday. Alas, it was not to be. The course was in the worst condition anyone could remember with the exception of the greens which were ok. To be fair the new owners have done a lot of cleaning up of waste areas so if we ever got decent rain the course will be better than ever, after all, it is a very good layout.
Once again poor scores were the order of the day with Dave Ashman taking first place with a modest thirty-three points. Michael Brett took second with thirty-one and Tony Robbins brought up the rear with twenty-eight. Dave Ashman took two near pins, Michael Brett took one while the remaining par-three went unclaimed.
All week we had been concerned about how long we could continue to play in the current circumstances and Friday we found out. The Governor of Chonburi decided to close all golf courses until further notice which meant that Friday was our last game for the foreseeable future and also the last game of the month.
With one game left unplayable, it was decided that the golfer with the most points after Friday’s round would be declared golfer of the month. Several players performed to a high standard throughout the month, most notably Keith Smithson and Mike Lloyd, both of whom didn’t play enough games to be in contention. Jimmy Carr had a couple of exceptional rounds, most notably a forty-two pointer. Dave Ashman played solid consistent golf all month and came close but in the end, the one with the most points was Michael Brett who was duly crowned golfer on the month for March.
With golf suspended for the foreseeable future, it seems an appropriate time to wish everybody a safe and healthy future, exercise appropriate caution in your dealings with others, maintain a positive outlook, and hopefully in the near future we can all get past this nightmare and return to a normal lifestyle. Cheers.
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