PSC golf Bunker Boys @ The Ranch
Monday, April 21, Royal Lakeside – Stableford
A welcome return to normality today following the craziness of Pattaya Songkran, but it was only a small group of golfers that turned out for the visit to Royal Lakeside.
An uneventful trip up the Chonburi by-pass saw us arrive at the course in under an hour, and a pleasant surprise awaited us when there were no other golfers to be seen. We tee’d off at our leisure and throughout the round we didn’t see another golfer on the course, either ahead or behind us – millionaire’s golf indeed.
Roger Mitchell (right) – winner of the KPK voucher at Eastern Star.
The weather was hot but a steady breeze kept conditions bearable, and the only downside to the day was that the greens were a little bumpy, being in the process of recovering from recent coring.
Lakeside is a challenging course off the blue tees (6,653 yards) and not many golfers manage to play better than their handicap here. Today though, Thomas Nyborg was the exception, shooting 38 points (admittedly off a very dodgy handicap!) to take the overall win, with Colin Greig taking second place, one point clear of Tore Eliassen.
Steve Durey was playing only his third game since a long layoff following a knee operation, and he’s still struggling to regain his previous form, but did manage to win two near pin prizes.
1st Thomas Nyborg (27) 38pts
2nd Colin Greig (6) 36pts
3rd Tore Eliassen (18) 35pts
Near Pins: Colin Greig, Gerry Cooney and Steve Durey (2).
Wednesday, April 23, Burapha B & D – Stableford
Fourteen golfers today for our first visit of the year to Burapha, which only comes onto our schedule when the low season rates kick in. We were allocated to play the unusual combination of the B and D nines which were the courses used for the Singha Open tournament held here the previous week.
We set off with some trepidation, knowing from previous experience that the rough is set up to be penal when professional tournaments are held here, but in all fairness it wasn’t as severe as we expected, although the course still proved to be a tough test.
The round progressed smoothly until a storm rolled in as the final group reached the ninth hole, but the rain cleared within 20 minutes and after a brief refreshment break, the remainder of the round was completed in bright sunshine.
Geoff Parker and Peter Habgood were the only players to play to their handicap on the day and finished level on 36 points, but Peter took the overall honours on the count back (18 points on the back nine).
Ken Young managed to claim his first near pin prize of the year after successfully managing to find his way to the course – unlike the previous week, when he drove to the Navy course only to find everyone else was playing at Pattana!
Only three near pins were claimed, by Geoff Parker and Gerry Cooney along with Ken.
1st Peter Habgood (21) 36pts
2nd Geoff Parker (15) 36pts
3rd Geoff Cox (16) 34pts
Friday, April 25, Eastern Star – Stableford
This was our first visit to the Eastern Star course since October last year, when the management brought in a voucher system for the high season which didn’t suit our and probably most other local societies’ needs.
Although the car park was quite busy, they must have been early starters, and our first group teed off at their leisure with only a two-ball in sight ahead of them.
The course was generally in good shape but the greens have always been a problem here, and today they were even slower and more inconsistent than ever. Nevertheless our return visit was enjoyed by most players, none more so then Roger Mitchell who picked up his second win of the month. Today’s win brings him into contention for the April Golfer of the Month award, with two games remaining.
Gerry Cooney who is also a contender (and probably the favourite) took second place ahead of Peter Habgood.
At the presentation back at The Ranch, Roger Mitchell was presented with the KPK Foods voucher, and had to request directions to find this popular farang food shop, which he’d never heard of before!
Only two near pin prizes were claimed, by Roger Mitchell and Thomas Nyborg, both of whom picked up their first NP prizes of the year.
1st Roger Mitchell (25) 37pts
2nd Gerry Cooney (13) 35pts
3rd Peter Habgood (21) 34pts
Note: The Bunker Boys are a PSC affiliated golf society, who now play out of The Ranch bar on Pattaya 3rd Road (in front of the fire station, and almost opposite the Buffalo Bar). We play on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, so if you enjoy a fun day out, and a friendly but competitive golf competition why not come and join us.
We meet at The Ranch at 9 a.m. for breakfast and transportation, and new players are always welcome. Contact “Buff” on 086 046 5091 or 080 605 5663 for all enquiries. You can find all the news, schedules and results on our website at www. bunkersociety.com.
