Monday, December 19
Greenwood C & B White tees
1st Daryl Vernon (26) 38 points
2nd Paul Smith (0) 36 points
3rd Ken Davidson (28) 35 points
4th Neil Jones (26) 35 points
5th Gary Smith (10) 34 points
Near pins Bob Innes, Luke Kuiten, Curtis Hegge, & Craig Dows.
For the second week in a row, we ventured to our most distant local course Greenwood where we were allocated the C & B nines. Today there was no problem with mud-balls, in the space of a week the course had improved remarkably and was in nice condition, the other change we noticed was an unwelcome hike in green fees, to be fair the increase wasn’t too bad and the fees were comparable if not better than many other courses. A stiff breeze blew all day and kept temperatures cool, in fact, the area is experiencing much cooler temperatures than locals are used to, any visitors from the Northern Hemisphere find it balmy.
A very good day for the high handicappers with three in the top four places. Daryl Vernon topped the list with thirty-eight points. A full twenty-six difference in handicap saw Paul Smith take second place with a fine round of thirty-six. Ken Davidson kept the Liverpool flag flying with thirty-five points in third place with Neil Jones losing on countback to take fourth. Gary Smith edged out Craig Dows also on countback to take fifth place. A couple of newbies Curtis Hegge and Luke Kuiten got in the action with a near pin each with regulars Bob Innes and Craig Dows taking the remaining two.
With reference to Ken Davidson and Liverpool, someone recently remarked that it was so cold in Liverpool recently that people were seen with their hands in their own pockets, no litigation, please.
Wednesday, December 21
Green Valley Golf Club
1st Paul Smith (0) 34 points
2nd Curtis Hegge (4) 32 points
3rd Gary Smith (10) 30 points
4th Bil Richardson (15) 30 points
Near pins Craig Dows & Paul Smith X 2.
The midweek game was played at Green Valley in pleasant conditions, cooler than normal again and slightly windy. The course was in nice condition, but the greens proved to be a real challenge, they were as fast as anyone can ever remember for a very long time. To make matters worse some of the pin placements were evil and tested both the skill and patience of everybody. It’s fair to say that nobody mastered the course today with scoring very modest at best. We are scheduled to play a round of the club championship there next month and some are questioning the wisdom of that choice given how difficult the greens are at present.
Today we had a pleasant surprise at the course when we found the walking fee to be two hundred baht less than quoted at the time of booking, very good value indeed, what was less pleasing was the cost of a cart which was an additional eight hundred baht, needless to say, there were many walkers making for a slow round.
In contrast with Monday when the high handicappers ruled the roost, today it was a complete reversal with the low handicappers dominating the leaderboard. Paul Smith was the only one to post a half-decent score taking first place with thirty-four points. In only his second game at the Bunker Curtis Hegge took second place with thirty-two points. The other Smith, Gaz took third on countback from Bil Richardson both with thirty points Only three near pins were taken with the ever-greedy Paul Smith taking two again and closing in on one hundred for the year, can he do it? Craig Dows took the other one with the easiest par three, the third not won.
Another challenge for Smithy is to win golfer of the month again which would make it six for the year, it seems a long shot at this stage on current standings, but who knows? Kob Glover is currently out in front with an accumulated score that most months would be good enough to win, however, Bil Richardson is hovering just one back so it’s all to play for with four games remaining, who will prevail?
Friday, December 23
Pattavia Golf Club
1st Dave Ashman (29) 38 points
2nd Paul Smith (0) 36 points
3rd Niall Glover (11) 36 points
4th Gary Smith (10) 36 points
5th Geoff Parker (21) 36 points
Near pins Kevin LeBar, Bil Richardson, Craig Dows, & Michael Brett.
It was a return to the past today at Pattavia where particularly on the front nine the greens were so quick that any putt that missed the hole had a good chance of being off the green. It was only slightly better on the back nine where the greens hadn’t been cut so tight, tricky pin placements didn’t help. The wind was blowing again, it feels like we are in a delayed windy season which usually comes in October.
A mixed bag in the scoring department where those at the top did quite well but amongst the rest, there were some lamentable scores. In his first win for some time Dave Ashman took first place with a fine round of thirty-eight points and being the kind soul that he is got the Christmas spirit flowing back at the bar by ringing the bell, well done Dave. A logjam for the rest of the scoreboard with four all locked together on thirty-six and placed in the above order. Near pins were hotly contested and shared between Bil Richardson, Craig Dows, Kevin LeBar, and Michael Brett.
An unusual occurrence on the course where Murray Greig wiped four consecutive holes coming to the eighteenth. There he hit his regular drive so far he was left with a nine iron to the green for his second and put it three feet from the hole where of course he duly sank the putt for the only eagle of the day, you had to be there to believe it.
The Club Championship is scheduled for the third week of January at Greenwood and Green Valley so those with an eye to winning this prestigious event should be honing their game in preparation and those overseas players planning a visit to Thailand should factor in the dates in their travel schedules so they don’t miss out.
Very good news on the bell-ringing front with Geoff Parker announcing that next time he wins he will indeed ring the bell, even better Paul Smith rose to the challenge so when Geoff buys a round he will buy four more, come on Geoff.
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