IPGC golf from The Links
Sunday, February 12, Pattaya C.C. – Stableford
Thirty-two golfers made the regular Sunday trip to Pattaya Country Club where the staff had learned from previous weeks and with ample carts and caddies readily available, we were able to start slightly earlier than our allotted time, in what proved to be a good day for the large Irish contingent, who between them scooped all the places plus the ‘2’s pot.
The group as usual was split into two flights, today the cut coming at 0-18 and 19+.
In the A flight, 3 players could only be split by count back after scoring the regulation 36 points, with Ted Lodge just missing out on a place, his 17 point back 9 falling short of the targets set by Joe Peters (19) and Jackie O‘Connell (21). The three finished a full 5 points behind new member Don Byrne, whose 15 handicap will no doubt come into review this coming weekend.
Tony Duthie (left) & Kevin McIntosh (right) were the runners-up.
In the B flight, Ted Murphy returned to the winner’s enclosure with a 40 point haul, edging out the always smiling Theresa Connolly by a single point with returnee Ben O’Neill in third with 36 points.
There were four ‘2’s, with Terry Kelly, Alec Hoare, Ted Murphy and Gilbert Brosnan sharing the pot.
A Flight
1st Don Byrne (15) 41pts
2nd Jackie O’Connell (18) 36pts
3rd Joe Peters (15) 36pts
B Flight
1st Ted Murphy (22) 40pts
2nd Theresa Connolly (25) 39pts
3rd Ben O’Neill (21) 36pts
Tuesday, February 14, Laem Chabang – Stableford
With Laem Chabang always being popular with the Links group, the entry sheet was full within a couple of days of being posted with the allocation limited to 36. At the time of booking, we were informed we would be playing the easiest combination of the Mountain and Lakes courses, so the intention was to play off the blues and whites, as per Lotus Valley the previous week – a format that seemed to work well.
Jon Lay & Kari Kuparinen (center) receive their prizes after finishing first in The Links Challenge charity scramble.
On arrival, however, the Mountain had been substituted for the difficult Valley course, and with the long carry off the tee on some of the holes proving too much for some, the decision was made to revert to the whites, with the cut coming at 0–16 and 17+.
In the A flight, gentle giant Keith Woolley, normally limited to Sundays only due to work commitments, showed that with more regular golf, he is more than capable of going lower than his 13 handicap, his 39 points beating Rob Taylor into second by a point. Marty Rock came third with 35 points, ahead of Barney Sheedy on the same score, but with a better last 6 of 10-9 after both scored 17 on the back 9.
In the B flight, Andy Galvin, a regular visitor to the podium, posted 40 points to take first place, ahead of Mike Korney whose smooth putting stroke helped him to 36 points, with Ted Murphy back in third on 34.
The ‘2’s went to Rob Taylor, Marty Rock and Theresa Connolly.
A Flight
1st Keith Wolley (13) 39pts
2nd Rob Taylor (8) 38pts
3rd Marty Rock (9) 35pts
B Flight
1st Andy Galvin (20) 40pts
2nd Mike Korney (19) 36pts
3rd Ted Murphy (22) 34pts
Thursday, Feb 16, Eastern Star – The Links Challenge
Thursday saw the launch of what will be an annual charity event for the Links, a 2-man scramble, with the proceeds of today going to Jesters Care4 kids charity. The aim was to have 50 pairs teeing off at the popular Eastern Star course, but this was well surpassed, as with the support of many of Pattaya’s other golf groups, a total of 126 signed up for the day.
With excellent prizes for the first four pairs, together with technical prizes at every hole, a big thank you went out to all the corporate and individual sponsors, who made what turned out to be a truly excellent day, extremely successful.
The format for the day was a 2-man scramble, with 30% of combined handicaps, and each player needing 7 tee shots to count. With the course playing long and tough, birdies were hard to come by for most, but the single figure pairing of Jon Lay and Kari Kuparinen played some excellent golf to register eight, to take first place with a net 61.1 off their 3.9 handicap. Tony Duthie and Kevin McIntosh were next best followed by the pairings of Geoff Parker & Barry Murnin and Pierre Cere and Patrick Engels.
Technical prizes went to Andy Galvin (2), David Lowe, Stephen Donahue, Piere Bietry, Arthur Hancock, John McHugh, Geoff Parker, George Cullen, John Dearden, Barry Murnin, Nicky Clow, Mark Stanley, Yui Bietry, Michael Byrne and Shane Ruddle.
However the big winner of the day was Jesters Care4 Kids charity, for whom over 150,000 baht was raised.
1st Jon Lay & Kari Kuparinen, net 61.1
2nd Tony Duthie & Kevin McIntosh, net 61.7
3rd Geoff Parker & Barry Murnin, net 63.4
4th Pierre Cere & Patrick Engels, net 63.5
Note: The Links depart from the hotel on Soi Buakhao at 9.30am on Tuesdays and Thursdays and 10.00am for Pattaya Country Club every Sunday. Sign up at the hotel or contact Jon on 080 021 1034. A full schedule of courses can be found on the IPGC website www.ipgc.org.
