PSC golf Bunker Boys @ The Ranch
Monday, Nov. 25, Plutuluang – Stableford
Our previous scheduled visit to the Navy course in October had ended in chaos with our group being double booked with a large tournament, but we decided to give it another try because the course is popular and certainly offers good value for money. Today there were no such problems and we chose to play the more difficult West and North nines, since our last few visits had been played on the South and East courses.
The weather was bright and sunny accompanied by a fresh breeze as the first group tee’d off on schedule, with the prospect of another great day’s golf ahead of them.
Geoff Parker receives the KPK voucher from Buff surrounded by the girls from The Ranch.
The round progressed smoothly, albeit a little slowly, until the last group was on the 17th fairway when a nasty storm rolled in and the last two holes were played in torrential rain, much to the amusement of the earlier groups, who by that time were comfortably ensconced in the clubhouse.
Mike Lloyd produced another fine performance to record the best score of the day with 42 points, six better than second placed Gordon Melia and winning the B Flight in the process.
Gez Williams won the A Flight with a more modest total of 35 points, with a count back being needed to separate Geoff Parker and Tony Scambler for second and third places.
A Flight
1st Gez Wiiliams (13) 35pts
2nd Geoff Parker (14) 34pts
3rd Tony Scambler (9) 34pts
B Flight
1st Mike Lloyd (16) 42pts
2nd Gordon Melia (20) 36pts
3rd Ken Davidson (23) 34pts
Near Pins: Keith Smithson, Tony Scambler, and Geoff Cox (2).
Wednesday, Nov. 27, Royal Lakeside – Stableford
A smaller group of golfers today, but those golfers that were deterred by the slightly longer trip missed a treat. The fairways and greens were in their normally excellent condition and the weather was almost perfect, so everything was set for a great round of golf on what is always a challenging course.
Some of the rough just off the fairways has been allowed to grow longer than usual (probably due to recent heavy rain) and was especially challenging to those golfers unlucky enough to stray just a few yards off target. Playing from the blue tees, some of the holes here play long (especially playing into the breeze) and perhaps this factor, together with the always tricky greens, was responsible for the low scoring on the day.
John Hughes was the only golfer to come close to playing to his handicap, scoring 35 points to win the B Flight one point ahead of Gordon Melia.
In the A Flight, Tony Robbins took first place with 34 points, beating Mark West on a count back, with John Graham taking third.
Today was the first time in the Bunker Boys’ last sixteen games that no golfer managed to play to his handicap or better – and the last occasion was at Royal Lakeside as well – so clearly we need to play here more often!
A Flight
1st Tony Robbins (15) 34pts
2nd Mark West (15) 34pts
3rd John Graham (10) 32pts
B Flight
1st John Hughes (17) 35pts
2nd Gordon Melia (20) 34pts
3rd PJ Redmond (27) 30pts
Near Pins: Keith Smithson, John Graham and Steve Durey.
Friday, Nov. 29, The Emerald – Medal)
Today was our final competition of the month and was kindly sponsored by KPK Foods. Tony Scambler was holding a narrow lead in the race for the Golfer of the Month title, ahead of Mike Lloyd, Keith Norman and Gerry Cooney. Following our normal tradition, the four protagonists played together in the final group, and fittingly the format was medal for the final shootout.
The Emerald course is now almost back to its best condition and once again the weather was fine with a fresh breeze keeping the temperature to a reasonable level. Although this course is the shortest that we play on our regular schedule, the layout always provides a tough test, and today was no exception with the breeze being a significant factor on several holes.
The pressure must have taken its toll on the main contenders and surprisingly none of them managed to find their “A”game, so Tony’s score of net 76 was enough to secure a sixth place overall finish, and take the November title.
Geoff Parker was the only player to better his handicap on the day to secure the overall win, and thereby winning the A Flight two points clear of Colin Greig.
There were three new faces on the podium in the B Flight with Mike Corner having his most successful round since returning from U.K. to take the honours ahead of Ken Young and Les Burns.
A Flight
1st Geoff Parker (14) net 70
2nd Colin Greig (9) net 72
3rd Keith Smithson (2) net 73
B Flight
1st Mike Corner (19) net 75
2nd Ken Young (27) net 76
3rd Les Burns (29) net 77
Near Pins: Keith Norman, Keith Smithson, Mike Lloyd and Paul Smith.
Note: The Bunker Boys are a PSC affiliated golf society that play out of The Ranch bar on Pattaya 3rd Road (in front of the fire station, and almost opposite the Buffalo Bar). We play three times per week 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. 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.
