IPGC golf from The Haven
Sunday, Feb. 13, Silky Oaks – Stableford
CSS 71
Division 1 (0-16)
1st Toby Jones (15) 38pts
2nd Gary Hookey (16) 37pts
3rd Paul McDonald (15) 34pts
Division 2 (17+)
1st Rod Howett (24) 33pts
2nd Zach Philipps (17) 33pts
3rd Keith Melbourne (24) 31pts
St Andrews – Stableford
CSS74
Division 1 (0-14)
1st Brian Talbot (13) 38pts
2nd Andy Redmond (14) 36pts
3rd Joe McArdle (11) 35pts
Division 2 (15+)
1st Jim Byrnes (15) 38pts
2nd Frank McGowan (16) 38pts
3rd Jackie O’Connell (18) 37pts
As Sunday golf at Green Valley is becoming fairly congested, the management of the course agreed to the competitions being changed to Silky Oaks and St Andrews with a special concession allowed for the green fees and so a large contingent of 14 groups of golfers suddenly became much more manageable to every ones advantage after they were split into seven groups on each course.
Ole Stamnes.
The end result was a lot of happy golfers finishing much earlier than anticipated, allowing for a least an extra glass of sustenance before the prize giving which as usual at the weekends was held in John and Jeff’s 19th hole bar.
As is usual, Silky Oaks played pretty benignly although the scoring was not particularly sparkling with Toby Jones leading the first division with a two under handicap round followed by Gary Hookey, one behind in second, and Paul McDonald taking third.
The second division was won by Rod Howett who seems to save his best results for Sundays, although this week it only needed a three over handicap round to win allied to a better back nine of 17 as Zach Philipps could only manage 15 with the same score for the eighteen, and Keith Melbourne taking third another two back.
There were no 2’s in either division.
Over St Andrews played from the white tees the general scoring was much better with the first division being won by Brian Talbot at two under handicap from Andy Redmond in second and Joe McArdle in third.
The second division was also won with 38 points plus a better count-back of 19 to 18 by Jim Byrnes, which denied Frank McGowan a long awaited win and left Jackie O’Connell in third one further back.
Brian Talbot added to his days spoils as he had the only 2 during the day.
Monday, Feb. 14, Khao Kheow – Stableford
CSS 72
Division 1 (0-10)
1st Bob Lamond (6) 37pts
2nd Danny Miller (8) 36pts
3rd Barry Wellings (5) 34pts
Division 2 (11-19)
1st Jens Gunnarsson (14) 38pts
2nd Shuichi Kodaka (17) 35pts
3rd Paul Hartley (19) 32pts
Division 3 (20+)
1st Rod Howett (24) 38pts
2nd Al Rolnik (23) 37pts
3rd Derek Salmon (26) 33pts
Another large contingent of golfers out of Soi 13 required the formation of three divisions at the always popular but hard to score at Khao Kheow, but with the management and starters being particularly helpful everything went smoothly until the rains came. After an hour’s delay scoring became even more difficult with hardly any run on the fairways and the odd soggy lie to make things just that little bit harder.
Rick Roberts.
Bob Lamond had the best of the conditions as he just completed his round before the deluge and held on to win the first division, with Danny Miller showing strongly in second and Barry Wellings taking third.
The second division was won by Jens Gunnarsson as he prepares to go back to sea for a few months, with Shuichi Kodaka in second and Paul Hartley locking up third place.
Rod Howett followed his Sunday success with another good round to claim the third division top spot as Al Rolnik, who continues to improve, taking second and Derek Salmon, reaching the podium for the first time, in third.
Keith Evans shared the first division 2’s pool with Danny Miller, and Don Everett, Rod Howett and Shuichi Kodaka shared the second division pot.
Before presenting the prizes The Doc welcomed back Don Everett, Paul McDonald, Michel Desloover, Denis Jamison and Keith Evans, just back from reviewing his potential property investments in Dubai, and Barry Wellings back from a similar activity in northern Thailand.
Wednesday, Feb. 16, Green Valley – Stableford
CSS 72
Division 1 (0-14)
1st Rick Roberts (12) 38pts
2nd Don Scott (9) 37pts
3rd Danny Miller (8) 36pts
4th Alan Hanlon (12) 35pts
Division 2 (15-21)
1st Paul Hartley (19) 39pts
2nd Maurice Byrne (17) 38pts
3rd Paul McDonald (15) 37pts
4th Tony Pieroni (16) 35pts
Division 3 (22+)
1st Ole Stamnes (29) 41pts
2nd Don Everett (23) 36pts
3rd Leif Lossius (29) 35pts
4th Rod Howett (24) 33pts
For the third day in succession a very large turnout meant the necessity for three divisions and fortunately for once Green Valley was not over crowded, but the situation was alleviated by an extra early start from The Haven coupled with an earlier than usual first tee time.
Rick Roberts took the first division with a two-under handicap round that just edged out Don Scott, who, having got his guitar finely tuned in readiness for his solo concert at The Haven, has been struggling to do the same with his golf game but on this occasion managed to get under handicap for the first time during this tour.
Danny Miller again slipping in a level round took third, leaving Allan Hanlon one back in fourth place.
The second division was won by Paul Hartley with a powerful three under that is sure to see his handicap cut to its lowest for some, while Maurice Byrne continued his good week two behind, and Paul McDonald took his second placing of the week in third and new boy Toni Pieroni in fourth.
Ole Stamnes had his equal career best round which after the week end handicap adjustments will see his handicap at its lowest ever with possibly still even more to come, which was good enough to take the third division by half a street from Don Everett who again confounded the pundits with another level par round in second.
Leif Lossius was once again up near the top of the list with the almost ever-present Rod Howett in fourth.
Wayne Harman had the lone ‘2’ in the second division and Bob Lamond and Paul McDonald, with two, shared the first division.
Prior to the presentations there were welcomes for Tony Pieroni, Adrian O’Sullivan, Maurice Byrne, John Donovan and Otto Haeling and welcome backs for Ted Murphy, Wayne Harman, Patrick Quinlivan and Brian Vale.
Friday, Feb. 18, The Emerald – Stableford
CSS 75 NC
1st Shuichi Shibata (28) 32pts
2nd Danny Poole (18) 32pts
3rd Paul McDonald (15) 32pts
4th Brian Kelly (19) 30pts
As is usual when the competition falls on a public holiday and the rates increase dramatically, the turnout went down sharply with less than 30% of the numbers that had been seen for the other three days earlier in the week, but part of the decrease could be attributed to the Honda LPGA tournament where many of the usual suspects could spend a day free of charge, so no contest.
But at least the weather held fine and those that played enjoyed the day although the scores were a long way from good as the wind blew and the slow greens played havoc with the player’s short games.
The other Shuichi, Shibata, took top spot on the podium winning for the first time out of Soi 13 after edging a three-way count back. He had a better 21 after Danny Poole, almost taking his first win for more than two years, could just scrape 20 for second and Paul McDonald slipping up over the inward half after going out in 17 back in third with just 15 coming home.
Brian Kelly surprised himself and everyone else taking fourth spot at six over handicap, which was a strong indicator of just how difficult the days scoring had been.
Unsurprisingly there were no 2’s in either division.
Back at The Haven Thomas Magnusson and Thomas Sjodt were welcomed as new members and Kinya Akiyama, Shuichi, Shibata, Gerald Mapson, Keith Emerson and Danny Poole were all welcomed back.
Note. If you would like to play with The Haven group you can contact mobile 084 782 4582 or call in to the hotel at 185 Soi 13 between Beach Road and 2nd Road. All transportation to the course is arranged and you do not need to sign up prior to the day, but you should be there by 8.30 on Mondays, Wednesday, Fridays and Sundays on the days you wish to play. A schedule of courses to be played can be found on our web site at www.thehaven-hotel.com.
The 15th Pattaya
Am-Am
The 15th Pattaya Am-Am golf tournament will take place on Wednesday 9th March 2011 at Greenwood Golf Course and will feature teams of 4 players (75% of playing handicaps per player) playing a Stableford format with 2 team members scores to count on each hole.
Entry fee of 1500 baht includes prizes for 1st 2nd 3rd places plus technical awards and superb buffet. The presentation will be held at The Haven (see above for contact information). Entry forms can also be obtained at Donovan’s (Steve Mascari), Jomtien Golf (Glyn Evans), The Links (Russell Exley), The Rabbi’s Elephant Bar (Len Jones) and The Sportsman’s Retreat (Paul Tebbs).
