PSC Golf from the Billabong Golf Bar
Monday, March 14, Phoenix – Stableford
Playing our usual venue Phoenix today we were subjected to a very short course as the tee blocks are being renovated for the upcoming King’s Cup on the 21st of July, a major coup for the management of the Phoenix Gold Golf Club and hearty congratulations from the Billabong.
Even though it was playing short, nobody took the course apart and there were no ‘2’s, which was quite strange indeed. This should have been a day for the higher handicappers as even the short hitters could reach the greens in regulation, but only 9 out of 21 players managed to beat 30 points.
John Mills with Lucky Meldrum and Peter Bird.
The course is in great condition at the moment and the greens are so fast it was difficult to gauge your putt if you were above the hole, however it was a glorious day for golf and with a nice breeze blowing it made it not too hot.
Coming in fourth today was Peter Bird with 33 points whole one place and one point further up the podium was Craig Wheeler with 34. Second spot went to the only lady in the field today, Lucky Meldrum, with an even par 36 points but taking line honours was one of our guests from Australia, John Mills, with a fine 38 pointer.
Wednesday, March 16, Green Valley – Stableford
We started in near perfect weather conditions with some cloud cover and a gentle breeze. Our internal temperatures started at medium but had risen to well done towards the end of the round, with the temperature approaching 36 degrees according to my caddie’s gauge.
Although the greens played well enough, the management once again demonstrated their lack of imagination when we discovered that 17 of the pins had the same colour flag as the Wednesday before, and for some weeks previously. The holes on 3 of the greens had moved about 25cm (10 inches) from the previous week. Come on management, think about it.
Steve Compton, Sel Wegner and Bill Marsden.
17 ladies today with Miss Anucha (Nu) and Miss Nichawa (Sa), 2 ladies who are playing consistently well, battling it out to be the day’s winner. Standing on the 18th tee Miss Sa was leading the field by 1 point with 35 on her card, but she failed to score on the final hole and was relegated to third. Another ever-present lady, Synanta (Miss Eng) leapfrogged Sa with her 36 points but just fell at the last hurdle to finish second losing on a count back to Nu. Miss Noy had 34 points to finish in fourth place.
Playing to your handicap today was necessary for the 26 men that vied for a spot on the podium, which meant that Bob Newell on 35 points had to settle for fifth place. Bill ‘I only play once a month’ Marsden, had a creditable 36 points for fourth place, with Steve Compton being edged into third place by Sel Wegner, both with 38 points overall, John Mills played well to win the day with 39 points and take his second victory in the space of three days.
Whilst the greens played well it was a surprise that there was only one ‘2’, which went to Steve Compton.
Friday, March 18, Burapha – Stableford
Playing our normal venue Burapha today and the course was in great shape. We played the A and B loops as there was a large tournament on C and D, and we were back in the showers in just on 3 hours 45 minutes. It was a great day out for all.
We were joined by the Kiwis boys today, Dion, Carlos and Geoff and the Australia versus the New Zealand cricket game was on when we got back to the bar, with the Kiwis winning by a very close margin. But it wasn’t the same result in the golf as 1st and 2nd went to the Aussie boys and one of the Kiwi lads had to settle for 3rd.
It is not too often you get to see a hole in one on a par-4 hole but today it was almost achieved by Geoff Christie. With the scribe putting out on the B2 hole a ball landed just short of the green, rolled up past the hole, caught the ridge and rolled back to about 18 inches from the cup. What a great shot from Geoff and an easy eagle. Elsewhere on the course we were nearly subjected to a hole in one by Greg Ritchie on B8, which was very close indeed.
Coming third in the comp was the aforementioned Geoff Christie with a fine 35 points. Second place went to Steve Erdelyi with 36 points and in first was Tony McDonough with 37.
There were only three ‘2’s today, coming from Ron Meldrum, Greg Ritchie and the eagle two by Geoff Christie.
