Monday, December 12
Greenwood A & B White tees, Medal
1st Bil Richardson (17) Net 64
2nd Ken Davidson (29) Net 69
3rd Paul Smith (1) 71
4th Neil Jones (28) Net 72
Near pins Ken Davidson, John Hughes, & Bil Richardson X 2.
The medal round of the month was played at the Greenwood course in bright sunny and warm conditions on the A & B nines. We found to our great surprise that the course was soft underfoot with mudballs common, this was a bit of a shock as we haven’t had rain for some time, at least in Pattaya. Greenwood is at least forty kilometers from Pattaya so clearly they must have had rain there.
The prospect of lift, clean and place hadn’t occurred to anybody prior to play, with hindsight it would have been a good option, apart from mud balls there were areas of the fairways with no grass on them. This has forced us to revisit both the mud ball and lift, clean, and place rules so some changes are on the way in the very near future.
In a remarkable display, Bil Richardson took first place eight strokes better than his handicap with a net sixty-four points. Ken Davidson produced some of his best golf this season to take second place with a net sixty-nine. Paul Smith returned to form today with a solid net seventy-one in third place with Neil Jones a stroke further back in fourth. Unsurprisingly Bil Richardson took two near pins with Ken Davidson and John Hughes taking one each.
Wednesday, December 14
St Andrews Golf Club
1st Kob Glover (18) 43 points
2nd Craig Dows (5) 39 points
3rd Paul Smith (1) 37 points
Near pins Paul Smith, Craig Dows, & Michael Brett.
At least half the Bunker Boys were up for the challenge today at St Andrew’s, the other half played elsewhere at Pleasant Valley so pretty much a split round today. At St Andrew’s, the course was in nice condition but a blustery wind made conditions tricky, not that you would notice from the scores returned, with several way above average.
Following on from his magnificent round of Monday Bil Richardson set off at a cracking pace with twenty-three points on the front nine only to fade badly and finish out of the reckoning on thirty-six points, still a very decent score. The top score came from Kob Glover with an unbelievable forty-three points, an outstanding result on such a difficult course. Not too shabby either from Craig Dows with thirty-nine points in second place off a five handicap. Third went to Paul Smith despite a string of birdies he finished with thirty-seven points. Near pins went to Craig Dows, Paul Smith, and Michael Brett with one of the easier par threes unclaimed. At the time of writing, we had no scores from the second group.
Friday, December 16
Treasure Hill Golf Course
1st Kob Glover (17) 36 points
2nd Michael Brett (17) 35 points
3rd Bil Richardson (15) 33 points
4th Niall Glover (11) 32 points
Near pins Jay Babin, Gary Smith, Bob Innes, & Craig Dows.
The Treasure Hill Course was in possibly the best condition we have seen it for a very long time. Much work has been done cleaning up in and around hazards and overall the course looked in peak condition in readiness to host a round of the Thailand Kids Golf Tournament. Fairways were well-grassed, bunkers tidy but the greens were a tad slick for most. Despite all of that it remained as challenging as ever, it’s fair to say nobody really ripped it apart, nevertheless on a course of this difficulty scores were respectable.
Following on from her forty-three points on Wednesday Kob Glover’s star continues to shine, today she went back-to-back wins with thirty-six points. Second place went to Michael Brett one back. Bil Richardson continues to play consistently good golf and took third place with thirty-three points. Making it a good day for the Glovers, Niall rounded out the scoring with thirty-two points. All the near pins were taken with one each going to Jay Babin, Gary Smith, Bob Innes, & Craig Dows.
It is very satisfying to see someone achieve something they set their heart on and this week we had such an event when Paul Smith reached his target of playing off scratch at the age of sixty, what an achievement, well done Paul.
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