IPGC golf from The Haven
Monday, August 15, Treasure Hill – Scramble
With heavy overcast skies and a poor weather forecast the ever hopefuls from Soi 13 took off up the 331 to Treasure Hill, where the course was found to be in excellent condition with almost pristine fairways which were showing practically no wear and offering first class greens.
Unfortunately the possibility of a great day’s golf was dramatically and prematurely ended when the clouds eventually became thunderstorms, the skies lit up to huge lightning flashes and the rain fell in torrents.
Mike Dabanovich.
Everyone had at least completed nine holes and some even had started on the twelfth when the heavens opened and after waiting it out for over an hour, the competition was finally abandoned with all entries being carried forward to the next outing at Bangpra.
Wednesday, August 17, Bangpra – Stableford
CSS 72
1st Mike Dabanovich (10) 39pts
2nd Alan Gadsby (18) 34pts
3rd Joe McArdle (11) 34pts
4th Mark Armstrong (24) 30pts
5th Rodney Hayes (11) 30pts
Following a very disappointing day at Treasure Hill an even bigger turnout signed in for the always popular trip to Bangpra, even though the forecast was once again “thundery showers”.
Alan Gadsby.
Although the greens are nowhere near as fearsome as they were in the past, they still proved to be a real test especially when the approach shot had been left above the hole. But with the rest of the course in tip top condition, all was set for a great day’s golf.
Mike Dabanovich showed his ability to at least keep the golf ball on the straight and on the part of the course designed for it, avoiding every obstacle and tree on his way round and carding a very good three under handicap return that was the best by five, as the rest of the field struggled to keep up. This was a huge improvement on his last round where there were as many scratches on the card as there was on the cart.
Alan Gadsby slipped into second place scoring a win in the count back over Joe McArdle by a margin of 17 to 15 on the back nine, to leave Joe in third spot.
Mark Armstrong.
Mark Armstrong started slowly with just 9 points on the front nine but then covered the inward half three under handicap which included a five pointer on the 16th as he birdied the hole with a two shot allowance.
That resulted in a 21 to 15 in the count back with Rodney Hayes for fourth and fifth places, leaving Rodney once again bemoaning the loss of an extra shot or two on his handicap.
Once again there were no 2’s in the second division but Norman Cheetham had his usual one in the first division to sweep the pot.
Prior to the prize giving Stephen Beard welcomed new members, Gavin Hargrave and Alan Gadsby and also welcomed back Mark Armstrong, Toshihiro Aoki, Joe McArdle, Sean Connolly and Mike Dabanovich from his intensive driving course following his unfortunate accident during his search for the elusive Jackalope, although he claimed he was in the back seat at the time of the incident and the person actually driving had a bushy tail and long ears and at least one antler.
Friday, August 19, Plutaluang East & South – Stableford
CSS 73
1st Mark Armstrong (24) 39pts
2nd Alan Gadsby (18) 36pts
3rd Phil Stevenson (22) 33pts
4th Mike Dabanovich (10) 33pts
5th Gavin Hargrave (29) 32pts
6th Kenny Priddy (22) 32pts
Once again the forecast was for rain and thunder throughout the day, none of which materialized as the skies stayed mostly overcast and the conditions stayed almost perfect for golf. Unfortunately Plutaluang is a course that never lets a player get settled, as the mixture of old and new courses are mixed in the new East and South layouts, with greens that differ tremendously from hole to hole making a consistent putting stroke and result almost impossible for those that do not play the courses regularly. But all in all the course was very good value and very playable for all levels of expertise.
After a very strong showing over the back nine in the previous outing Mark Armstrong opened up with a big 19 points on the front half and then followed up with another 20 points coming home to take the day’s top honours by three from Alan Gadsby who took his second placing in successive competitions with a solid level handicap round.
Phil Stevenson made sure of a happy farewell to Pattaya with another podium finish as he won the count back over Mike Dabanovich with a better 20 to 19, leaving Mike in fourth after they had both tied over the eighteen.
Gavin Hargrave received his first honourable mention in fifth as he also won a count back over Kenny Priddy with a better 16 to 15 result.
There were no 2’s in the first division but Mark Armstrong cleared out the huge second division pot with the only one.
Back at The Haven there were farewells for Phil Stevenson and Gary Warren.
Note: The Haven group is now departing Soi 13 at the earlier time of 9 am until further notice. If you would like to play with the group you can contact mobile 082 219 0965 or call in to the hotel at 185 Soi 13 between Beach Road and 2nd Road. All transportation to the course is arranged and you do not need to sign up prior to the day, but you should be there by 8.30 on Mondays, Wednesday, Fridays and 9.00am on Sundays on the days you wish to play. A schedule of courses to be played can be found on our web site at www.thehaven-hotel.com.
