Golf from The Billabong Bar
Monday, Dec. 26, Phoenix – Stableford
Playing Mountain and Ocean loops at Phoenix we were away on time and just played ‘millionaire’s golf’. This was the second time we had played the Mountain loop since it was opened a few weeks ago the rough on this nine is absolutely brutal. This was probably reflected in the scoring today with only 4 players beating 30 points.
The course is otherwise in fantastic condition and the greens are coming along nicely at the moment, being fast and consistent.
Taking third place on the podium was John Nicholas with 35 points and second went to Gerard Lambert with 38, being beaten on a count back by Rick Culley. There were no ‘2’s recorded.
Wednesday, Dec. 28, Green Valley – Monthly Medal
Brian Chapman of Haven Financial Advisors sponsored the monthly medals throughout 2016 and the Billabong thanks him for his generosity. The grand final will take place in March to find the overall champion.
This was our last adventure around the Green Valley before the new changes come into effect. The area around the first tee has been landscaped and the new elaborate entrance area will be finished shortly.
We had a good turnout today but it was quite obvious that Tony, Auke and a few others had overindulged during the Christmas period and had not yet recovered. There were more scores of 10 recorded today than ever before and even an 11 when the ball stopped on a broken coconut in a hazard.
13 Billabong ladies, dressed immaculately in yellow shirts and red shorts, arrived on the 1st tee to contest their separate flight and it was Miss Poopay missing out to Miss Sa for third spot both on net 72. Miss Som had a superb net 71, despite a 10 on the 7th hole, to finish second, but Miss Tan recovered even better from a nightmare start (having an 8 on the 1st and a 10 on the 4th) to win the day with a net 69.
Murray Hart lost out to Chaten Patel with a net 72 to finish in fourth spot in the men’s flight, Chaten beaten by just the one shot by Alistair Gall for second place. The winner, for the second time this year, was William Macey with a net 70.
The greens are very good here at the moment but only three 2s were recorded, going to Miss Poopay, Chaten Patel and Glyn Davies.
Friday, Dec. 30, Plutaluang – Scramble
The monthly scramble was played at a Plutaluang golf course in great condition. With 13 teams playing there was just the one tee start but it was very orderly and all went smoothly.
The scores were good and coming in third place was one of our stalwart teams, Ramsay Smith, Rick Culley, Dave (The Donater) Bramley and American Randy, with a net score of 59.8. Taking second place was another of our regular quartets, Brian Orr, Michael Anderson, Vincent Smyth and Ted Gardner with a net 58.7. The top prize went to a first time team consisting of Tewin Lamthong, Fergus Brennan, Chaten Patel and Swiss Joseph with a net 58.2. A bell ring came from the winners along with a thank to all who made the day an enjoyable experience.
