IPGC Pattaya Golf Society
A cloudless sky dawned over Pattaya on Monday, 21st November as the Pattaya Golf Society took to the road to play a stableford competition from the blue tees at Pleasant Valley. How disappointing it was to find a course undergoing green maintenance! Full marks to the management team however as they charged the full amount, so as not to drain the company’s coffers. “Customer service” is obviously way down their list of concerns.
The PGS group viewed the situation stoically and proceeded to bite the bullet and as a result some more than reasonable scores emerged. In third place was the consistent Peter Wilson with 33 points, again recording the best gross of the day, 80 shots. He found himself three points behind the joint winners Stuart Thompson and Richard Dobson on 36 points.
Liverpool golfer Dave Heyes, playing his first return round found his rhythm on the fifth hole to record a birdie ‘2’, as did Peter Wilson and the lucky man to emerge from the non-winners’ draw was Huw Phillips, currently grossly out of touch with his game.
The day was expertly marshalled by John Mason for whom Rudyard Kipling undoubtedly penned “If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you, If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you…etc.” But, again, Kipling never played Pleasant Valley as it was this day.
John Preddy
Memorial Tournament
On Wednesday, 23rd November the Pattaya Golf Society hosted the annual John Preddy Memorial Tournament. John was a lifelong PGS member (the group formerly known fifteen years ago as the “Bunker Boys”). This day would have been John’s 78th birthday and his memory was certainly honoured with a fine golf tournament at Khao Kheow, on the A and B nines off the yellow tees.
The format was the usual “best three from four” stableford team event and there was also an individual trophy for the holder of the best stableford score of the day. The course was in splendid condition and a quality field went off on time.
During the day many references were also made to other good friends of the PGS and other Pattaya golf groups who sadly are now no longer with us – friends like Jack Robertson, Jean Morel, Don Nellis and George Robinson – and most golfers had a special moment for the memory of one or more of the absent friends.
The team event was won by the Danish-Thai fourball of Christian Boysen, New Satita, Torben Lingaard and Mogens Melander with 121 points, with the runners-up being the team of Steve Truelove, Gerd Riedler, John Fenwick and Roger Rees with 116 points.
The individual event was won with an excellent score of 41 points by John Coetzee, Roger Rees coming second with 38. In all, five of the golfers broke par and most also won one or more of the eighteen technical prizes sponsored by Mr Len and the PGS.
Mike Firkin sponsored the consolation prize and this was presented to the team of Gary Bolger, Wayne Peppernell, Ken Page and the unfortunate Stu Thompson who had to withdraw after the first hole with a hip/side injury.
The presentation was a special affair with a superb buffet provided by the team at the Links Bar, the PGS “clubhouse”, and the guests of honour were Jim and Donald Preddy, brothers of John and they presented the prizes for the event as well as sponsoring the winners’ trophies.
Every Pattaya golfer has a particular memory of a dear Pattaya friend who no longer walks the fairways of the province and in future the event will be an opportunity for golfers to come together to share fond memories and thoughts of their friends. In golf you can lose form, touch and even shots but in life special friends are there forever.
Cooper’s coup at Emerald
Friday at Emerald is always a popular Pattaya Golf Society fixture and on the 25th November a large group of PGS regulars visited to play a stableford round on the course which was in presentable condition with fairways soft in places.
It was good to have a number of old friends back, especially Austrian golfer Peter Ditz who has not played for many, many months since enduring a painful back condition. Peter was joined by John Holmes and Terry Pipe also back for their annual golf “fix”.
As always Emerald tested patience and skill and when Lady Luck is with you scores can be good. In fourth place on 30 points was Wichai Tananusorn, deserting his Chiang Mai fruit farm for more pleasurable pursuits and two points better was Tony O’Neill in third with 32 points. John Holmes returned in style with a second place 35 points, leaving Mark Cooper the top spot with 37. The ‘2’s pot was shared by Mark and Ken Page.
