PSC golf from Tropical Bert’s
Tuesday, March 27, Crystal Bay – Stableford
Turn left on Sukhumwit and keep going until you hit the three big towers on your right, U-turn and on your left is the entrance. I say this because this is the only course ‘locally’ you go to that you in fact do not, in some way, have to cross a set of railway lines. That alone makes it unique, but when this was in its most pristine condition, this course, in my opinion, was the best one around.
I say that because on this day we were playing a golf course that is in many respects a faded image of the splendor of several years ago. But at the end of the day the general opinion was that this was the most enjoyable venue we have played for weeks.
Mashi Kaneta (left) receives the ‘golfer of the month’ award from Dick Warberg.
Today we were to play the A & B Nines, in many respects they were, or seem to be, similar to each other. Despite a strong wind the things that were obvious were that the fairways were well grassed and you could see the ball tee itself up. The rough was really tough and the greens were really fast and tricky.
Now it seems that all the courses we have played of late have been below par, either through bad and bald greens, bare and hard fairways or just not up to scratch. Very disappointing!
Round over we were through the changing room where we were reminded of the limitations of Crystal bay, with cold water and ragged towels and into the Restaurant with its slightly worn out interior. However, as always with golfers these problems were ignored and the only discussion was how much the players had enjoyed the course. Yes it is a regular on our list for definite.
Back at Bert’s it was time for the presentation and not only that, but being the end of the month it was time for the MBMG Golfer of the Month award to be handed out.
Tuesday’s top three with one of Bert’s finest.
On the day the winner was Kevin Dunn with 40 points on count back from Mashi Kaneta. Kevin, as befits a builder, first gave us an estimate of his result but when pressed we got a reworked final quote. In third place we also had a count back but on 39 points when Doug Maiko came in third and Bernie Cairns came in fourth. Brian Parrish came in fifth with 38 points.
Onto the winner of the MBMG Golfer of the Month, and I wonder who it was? Well with a late run Mashi once again stormed into first place. Now despite having many photos of Mashi winning the MBMG Golfer of the Month we lashed out and took another one. Well done Mashi!
Near Pins: Bob Watson, Mick O’Connor, Kevin Dunn
Friday, March 30, The Emerald – Stableford
On this day we had the promise of a really hot day, and so it proved with no air movement and very humid. Still we were away a little early, and despite having a 3-ball to start we were not held up. However, it has to be said that those who played without carts really struggled towards the end.
B Flight top three at Emerald.
The course itself was not in bad condition. You have to realise that if you play here you will have very few level lies, you will nearly always have to play the ball above or below your feet and usually a cross hill lie. You are also most times playing into elevated greens that are shallow as you play into them. A difficult test – but on this day all was fine and the course was in good condition.
Round over it was back to Bert’s and soon time for the presentation where it was found the B Flight had scored better than the A Flight. In the A Flight, 0 to 16, the winner was Andre Van Dyk with 34 points on count back over your scribe in second while in third was Mike Gaussa with 33.
In the B Flight the winner was Tom Cotton on count back over Don Carmody, both with 37 points, and in third was Brian Gabe with 34 points. T.T.F.N.
Near Pins: David Hutchinson, Mike Gaussa, Stan Everingham, Doug Maiko
