PSC golf from the Bunker Boys @ The Ranch
Monday, March 3, Royal Lakeside – Stableford
It’s always a pleasure to visit this challenging course and to relax in its impressive clubhouse after the round, and today 20 golfers turned up at The Ranch.
The golfers made the one hour trip down the 7 motorway and Chonburi bypass, arriving before our scheduled start time, and we were able to tee off a few minutes early. The course was quiet and in its usual excellent condition with immaculate fairways and greens which were running true, if a little slower than usual.
Mashi Kaneta celebrates a return to form.
Our leading four-ball enjoyed an uninterrupted round with no other groups ahead of them, although the following groups felt that they should have moved a bit quicker in such ideal conditions.
It’s rare for anyone to produce a great score on this testing course, and today was no exception, with Colin Greig being to only golfer to play to his handicap, winning the “A” flight in the process. Mark Stanley insists he isn’t the biggest fan of this course, but he still managed to take the runner’s up spot in the “A” flight on a count back ahead of Geoff Parker.
Tom McDowell produced his best performance in his 10th game with the Bunker Boys to take the honours in the “B’ flight, three points clear of John Hughes, with new arrival Keith Hemmings fighting off jet-lag to take third place.
The par three’s here are testing, so it was something of a surprise that the four near pin prizes were split between two stars from the “B” flight, namely John Hughes and Raleigh Gosney, with the usual “A” flight suspects left empty handed.
A Flight
1st Colin Greig (7) 36pts
2nd Mark Stanley (7) 33pts
3rd Geoff Parker (15) 33pts
B Flight
1st Tom McDowell (21) 35pts
2nd John Hughes (18) 32pts
3rd Keith Hemmings (17) 31pts
Near Pins: John Hughes (2) and Raleigh Gosney (2).
Wednesday, March 5, Green Valley – Medal
We had twenty-four golfers today for our visit to the always popular Green Valley course to play our first medal competition of the month.
Since the management here introduced a high season policy of accepting bookings with six minute intervals for tee times, there’s always a delay in setting off, and today was no exception, as the first group got away around over 15 minutes later than our scheduled time. Fortunately the pace of play was good once we got past the first couple of holes, and all the groups were back in the clubhouse in good time.
The course was in excellent condition and the weather almost perfect, so it was no surprise that the scoring was generally good, particularly in the A Flight.
Mashi Kaneta is re-finding his form after a relatively bleak spell, and romped home to win the A Flight by two clear shots ahead of Dave Ashman and Peter Kelly who had to be separated by a count back. This was Mashi’s first win in his 15th appearance of the year with the Bunker Boys, but nowadays he spreads his games over many golf societies in Pattaya, and none will be surprised to see him returning to good form.
Gordon Melia’s long standing position in the B Flight may not last much longer as his handicap continues to drop after a string of steady performances (if he could putt he’d be in single figures already), but with the cut set at 15 and under, he still managed to take first place today in the higher handicap division.
Special mention is due to Arthur Rowley who took his first ever podium position with the Bunker Boys finishing in second place, two points ahead of Les Burns in the B Flight.
A Flight
1st Mashi Kaneta (15) net 69
2nd Dave Ashman (14) net 71
3rd Peter Kelly (12) net 71
B Flight
1st Gordon Melia (16) net 72
2nd Arthur Rowley (31) net 74
3rd Les Burns (32) net 76
Near Pins: John Graham, Mashi Kaneta, Peter Kelly and Rab McDonald
Friday, March 7, Khaow Keow A & B – Stapleford
We arrived at Khaow Keow to find the course surprisingly quiet and our first group were able to tee off a few minutes ahead of schedule with an empty course ahead of them. The course was in great condition and once again the weather was glorious, if a little humid.
The leading group (led by “Galloping Graham”) never encountered any other groups ahead of them and returned to the clubhouse in a little under three and a half hours, with the following groups well strung out behind them.
Mashi Kaneta continued his excellent form from Wednesday, and once again comfortably won the A Flight three points clear of the ever consistent Colin Greig in second place.
Gordon Melia won the honours in the B Flight also for the second game in succession, followed by a three-way tie on 32 points, with Tore Eliassen taking second place ahead of John Hughes, and Les Burns being he unlucky player to miss out on the prizes.
A Flight
1st Mashi Kaneta (14) 40pts
2nd Colin Greig (7) 37pts
3rd Geoff Parker (15) 33pts
B Flight
1st Gordon Melia (16) 33pts
2nd Tore Eliassen (18) 32pts
3rd John Hughes (18) 32pts
Near Pins: John Graham, Geoff Parker, Roger Touhey and Tony Robbins
Note: The Bunker Boys are a PSC affiliated golf society who play out of The Ranch bar on Pattaya 3rd Road (in front of the fire station, and almost opposite the Buffalo Bar). We play on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, so if you enjoy a fun day out, and a friendly but competitive golf competition why not come and join us. We meet at The Ranch at 9 a.m. for breakfast and transportation, and new players are always welcome.
Contact “Buff” on 086 046 5091 or 080 605 5663 for all enquiries. You can find all the news, schedules and results on our website at www. bunkersociety.com.
