Golf for all from The Outback Golf Bar
Monday, Sept. 7, Burapha – Stableford/Stroke
The 2nd round of the Outback birthday competition was played on Burapha’s A and B courses with 2 groups in attendance. One group, who didn’t make “the cut” from Friday played in a stableford competition from the white tee’s while the other group, comprising of the best net score winners from Day 1, played a strokeplay competition from the blue tees. The day was very well attended with 46 players in total.
There were 2 divisions in the Plate (stableford) comp and in the second flight (h/cap 18+) John Lawton took fourth on 37 points while the top three were all tied on 38; Waldo (Stephen Blazsanyik) just getting the edge over Sugar Ray and Greg Hirst on countback.
In division 1, Andy Butterworth, scoring a great 39 points, took the win ahead of Kim Danboise Andre Coetzee just one point behind while Martin Grimoldby secured fourth on 36 points.
(Left to right) Wez Smart, Harry Vincienzi, Kevin Hamilton, Peter Nixon, John Lawton, Sugar Ray Handford, Waldo, Eddie Beilby, Norm Cheetham and Mick Beresford.
In the Day 2 strokeplay group, Norm Cheetham and Wez Smart both came in at net 71 in fifth and fourth places respectively while Mick Beresford was third on net 70. Peter Nixon, with a great net 67 took second place but out in front was Kevin Hamilton, playing one of his best rounds ever and scoring a fabulous net 64 to win the day.
In the overall 2-day comp, Harry Vinzienzi and Sugar Ray Handford finished fourth and third respectively in the Plate group with a combined 2 day total of 67, and John Lawton lost on count back to Waldo for the top spot with both on 68 points each.
In the strokeplay group Mick Beresford came in fourth with a total of 145, Eddi Beilby secured third on 142 and Kevin Hamilton’s second day heroics saw him rise to the runner-up spot on 141, but even that was not enough to keep Peter Nixon at bay, Peter taking the title with a great 139 tally after two consistent rounds.
After golf everyone retuned for the Outback’s birthday party event where Rick and Harpic with Band of Smiles did an excellent job entertaining the attendees well into the night.
Wednesday, Sept. 9, Treasure Hill – Stableford
Treasure Hill was beautifully laid out on Wednesday, greener and lusher than any other course around Pattaya (except maybe the Siam’s). We utilised the cheap rate on offer and found that even the restaurant was well priced – except for beer, that is!
Despite all the positives, this is still a difficult course with a lot of tricky holes that need accuracy above all else and where higher handicappers might struggle. For this reason we had a bit of a smaller group than usual playing on Wednesday but it is definitely a very worthwhile course to visit.
Friday winners Wayne Cotterell (2nd left) and Eddy Beilby (far right) pose with Freddy Starbeck and Sunanta (Eng) Cotterell.
The golfing highlight of the day was Andy Makara’s tee shot on the par-3 6th hole, as close to a hole in one as you are ever likely to see with the ball literally overhanging the lip of the cup but just refused to drop.
Scoring on the day was difficult, with Andre Coetzee coming third on 30 points (playing from white tees), Andy Makara was second, just one point better, and Phil Mitchell secured top spot with a solid 33 points.
Andy Makara and John Fitzgerald both recorded ‘2’s, on holes 6 and 17 respectively.
1st Phil Mitchell (06) 33pts
2nd Andy Makara (27) 31pts
3rd Andre Coetzee (09) 30pts
Friday, Sept. 11, Silky Oak – Stableford
Green Valley had a competition on today so we opted to play Silky Oak instead of the alternate which would have been St Andrews. 27 Outbackers made the trip, with two late pull outs due to injuries.
Silky Oak has a new layout these days, there are 5 par-3’s and 5 par-5’s which makes it interesting, especially the new par-3 where you have to play the ball up the hill and then you could have an impossible downhill putt to follow. There are some holes which are blind from the tee and make it difficult for the big hitters to know how far and where they should be aiming although, to be fair, the pro shop does give you a printout showing you were to aim.
With many great courses around Pattaya, some of our pundits indicated that they would like to play this course again in a few months once it has settled down a bit and matured. On the day, the greens were medium if a bit slow but very true and the bunkers had suffered some rain damage.
A Flight
1st Wayne Cotterell (11) 38pts
2nd Freddy Starbeck (9) 36pts
3rd Bob Finley (14) 36pts
4th Pat Regan (11) 34pts
B Flight
1st Eddy Beilby (16) 35pts
2nd John Stafford (15) 35pts
3rd Eng Cotterell (16) 33pts
4th Stefan Hoge (16) 33pts
2’s: Freddy Starbeck (2), Wayne Cotterell, JP Maffray, Peter Nixon
Note: The Outback Golf Bar is situated about 6km from Sukhumvit Road along Soi Siam Country. Call Andre on 092 167 4951.
