PSC golf from The Outback Golf Bar
Monday, June 13, Burapha C & D – Stableford
Today, the 19 Outbackers got wet big time; hell, if it rained in Pattaya (which it did, flooding many areas) we got more than our fair share at Burapha. A couple went home early, but most weathered the storm getting wet and a bit cold, but despite all that, there were some quite good scores in, a bit of a surprise considering.
Playing the C and D loops, even off the whites the course still played very long in the wet and windy conditions. I think we must have been the only ones on the course as the pace of play was pretty good.
Monday’s “Roo Cup” victors, John Lowe & Dion Lane.
There was challenge for the “Roo Cup”, which was already held by the Kiwis (Capt’ Bob & Shutts) by another Kiwi connection, Dion Lane and John Lowe who had only just arrived in Thailand. This time Capt’ Bob teamed up with the Sugarman (supposedly representing NZ between them); Sugar’s plan was to catch the arriving Kiwis whilst they were still jet-lagged, the plan went miserably wrong however as Dion and John thrashed them (the Capt’ & Sugar), 5 & 4. Suffice to say the cup was retained by the Kiwis, albeit a different pair.
Perhaps Sugar and Capt’ Bob were nobbled by the weather, we are sure that these boy’s are used to playing under these conditions, anyway that is the only excuse we can come up with at such short notice.
Owen Walkley put up another fine display, following his win on Friday at Khao Kheow, scoring 36 points today which was the top score of the day, to win Div A from Paul Bourke (35pts) and John Cunningham on 33. Div B went to Monday regular, Ivan Plunkett (34pts) from one of his regular playing partners, Peter Stonebridge, three back on 31, with Brain Maddox completing the trio on 28. (He beat John Player on count-back)
There were two ‘2’s today coming from Ivan Plunkett and John Cunningham.
Div A (0-13)
1st Owen Walkley (11) 36pts
2nd Paul Bourke (11) 35pts
3rd John Cunningham (8) 33pts
Div B (14+)
1st Ivan Plunkett (20) 34pts
2nd Peter Stonebridge (14) 31pts
3rd Brian Maddox (19) 28pts
Tuesday, June 14, Pattaya C.C. – Stableford
Awakening on Tuesday morning in Pattaya, you would have been right to think it was going to be another wet day for golf, particularly in the aftermath of Monday’s drenching. It was raining heavily again but as breakfast time approached, upon nearing the bar, miraculously, as though by command it stopped, paving the way for a pleasant round of golf, albeit a tad soggy underfoot.
Thirteen Outbackers, which is a good turnout for the time of year, did battle for the one division honours and by the end of the round 36 points was the best anybody had done.
Three of them, Dennis, Jack & Nigel all tied up with 36 apiece. Chad, beer in hand and the regular Tuesday organiser, worked away on the count-back before declaring Dennis the winner, even though Jack and Nigel were trying to devise ways of preventing ‘the Turnip’ from getting the win, they couldn’t and he did. Well done the Swede and General Jack got second.
A special mention goes out to “Our Arthur”, as Nigel often calls him, who celebrated his 83rd birthday last week but regretfully, through illness, was unable to join us for a round of golf on his favourite course. All the best Arthur and get well soon, from all at The Outback and anybody else who knows you.
There were two ‘2’s from two guys playing in the same group; one from Jack who holed a monster putt on the 5th, and the other from Chad, who holed a long one on the 12th.
1st Dennis Persson (17) 36pts
2nd Jack Moseley (15) 36pts
3rd Nigel Cannon (23) 36pts
4th Nigel Flanagan (11) 35pts
Friday, June 17, Khao Kheow B & C – Stableford
Unfortunately a couple of “no shows” meant we ended up with a five-ball in the middle of our 32 Outbacker field but not to worry too much, they managed to keep up.
Playing B and C we got a great run in behind a big tournament being held here; a four hour round, which made up a bit for last week’s mess, thank you to the management.
It rained on the way to the course but cleared up as we arrived. Having loaded the clubs onto the carts and got the caddies lined up ready to go, down came the rain in big doses so it was into the drinks stop for 20 minutes or so; from then on, no rain at all. No carts on the fairways today so ‘lift clean and place’ was the go on the fairways only. It was very wet underfoot and the greens were their usual fast pace, which meant for some extra unwanted putts.
As well as a welcome to Simon Spalding, back from Aussie for a short holiday, who played well off his 1 H/cap, we said goodbye to Tim Gadd as he is on his way home but he is leaving his good mate John Player here to keep us up to speed.
The scores were good and bad, but had a higher than usual look about them in terms of stableford points, which came about as a direct result of the start of the Outback’s pilot period using the EGA Golf Handicap system which resembles the USGA system in that it uses a player’s “Exact H/cap Index” applied to a table (using the course rating and slope) to calculate a player’s “Playing H/cap” for that particular course.
The beauty of this system, it uses the CONGU method of cutting a player’s handicap and it takes place on the same day. It will mean that you will see some higher than usual stableford points being posted on the trickier courses for a few weeks until it settles down but the gross score which is posted to the PSC will remain unaffected.
Suzi Lawton took advantage of her three extra shots to post the top score of the day, 42 points, which gave her the win in Div B and went hand in hand with her handicap at the Outback being reduced from 17.8 to 16.0.
Andy Makara, whose H/cap index meant he would have normally played off 28, got six extra “Playing H’cap” shots back to take second with 40 points, only to receive an immediate cut of 1.9. Owen Walkley, who admitted he found it strange playing off 13 and had a good round to score 41, found himself also on the end of the handicapper’s knife, being cut by 1.0 after winning Div A and Paul Greenaway lost 0.4 of a shot for his 38 points (second place).
All current PSC handicaps are transferable immediately to this software and all visitors to the Outback will now have to play three qualifying rounds off their home club handicap before being added into the system, as recommended by the EGA. These handicaps will not affect your PSC handicap and are not designed to replace your handicap elsewhere at this stage.
You can read all about this handicap system here on our website, www.outbackgolfbar.com.
The Outback are currently preparing the relevant “Playing Handicap Tables” for all the courses and tees that we play, normally only seen at one or two courses like Khao Kheow, Green Valley and Siam Old.
There were six ‘2’s recorded today from Paul Greenaway, Paul Bourke, Suzi Lawton, Sid Ottaway and Chaten Patel had two.
Div A (0–18)
1st Owen Walkley (13) 41pts
2nd Paul Greenaway (13) 38pts
3rd Simon Spaulding (1) 36pts
4th Chaten Patel (14) 35pts
Div B (19+)
1st Suzi Lawton (20) 42pts
2nd Andrew Makara (34) 40pts
3rd John Stafford (25) 36pts
4th Sid Ottaway (28) 35pts
Note: The Outback Golf Bar is situated about 6km from Sukhumvit Road along Soi Siam Country. All are welcome to come and join us for a beer and a hit. Just call in and put your name down on the list or give Bob a call on 087 941 2474.
