Monday, January 9
Greenwood C & B Golf Course
1st Neil Jones (27) 41 points
2nd Hubert Stiefenhofer (21) 36 points
3rd Sam Gershon (18) 36 points
4th Mark Hayward (20) 36 points
5th Kob Glover (16) 36 points
Near pins Kob Glover, Craig Dows, & Sam Gershon X 2.
The biggest group this year (twenty-seven) played the first game of the week at Greenwood on the C & B nines. To our surprise, there were not enough caddies when we arrived at the course so a bit of a delay in getting sorted out so that at least the lead groups could get away while those at the back waited for caddies to become available.
The course was in nice condition as always at Greenwood, but a strong wind blew all-day making for some difficult shots depending on the direction of the wind.
Apart from Neil Jones who had a very strong game with forty-one points to win, the rest of the winner’s circle were all bunched together on thirty-six points and placed as listed above. No doubt Neil Jones and Mark Hayward will come to the attention of the handicapper after recent performances. Having dropped six strokes to handicap in the last year Kob Glover looks very comfortable with her current sixteen handicap and on this form looks like a real dark horse to take out the club championship in a few weeks’ time. Kob also took a near pin today with Craig Dows while Sam Gershon got two.
Wednesday, January 11
St Andrews Golf Course
1st Colin Greig (14) 38 points
2nd Craig Dows (4) 37 points
3rd Alan Harris (10) 36 points
4th Paul Smith (1) 35 points
5th Hubert Stiefenhofer (21) 34 points
Near pins Colin Greig, Hubert Stiefenhofer, John Turnbull, & Herbert Felder.
Having threatened all day the rain came tumbling down in torrents on the closing holes to such an extent that the course became flooded and the last two groups failed to finish, this is the first time in months that we have had a rain-affected game.
Another day when we had a delayed start due to a lack of caddies, had we not had to wait for then we would have probably missed the rain, many residents are longing for the low season when we don’t encounter those kinds of issues, and also lower pricing.
Once again we had a breakaway group of eight who for reasons best known to themselves decided to play elsewhere, henceforth they shall be known as LIV golf society, nevertheless, the bulk of the Bunker Boys in a group of twenty-four took up the challenge of St Andrews which some handled much better than others. Playing with a dodgy knee and an even more dodgy handicap Colin Greig took first place with thirty-eight points, does anyone see a pattern here leading into the club championship?, Colin confirmed the old adage “beware the injured golfer”. Craig Dows took second place a stroke back. Straight from a late arriving plane from the UK and with sleep in his eyes, Alan Harris was right on song with thirty-six points. Paul Smith no longer off scratch took fourth with thirty-five points. Despite missing the last two holes Hubert Stiefenhofer had done enough to take the final spot in the winner’s list with thirty-four points. Colin Greig, Hubert Stiefenhofer, John Turnbull, and Herbert Felder all got near pins.
Some fake news about new rule changes has been circulating recently, anyone who was compos mentis would have seen that it was all a stitch-up despite some of the proposed changes making a modicum of sense.
Due to the vast numbers of visiting golfers from varying locations and one in particular we have been forced to revise our schedule for the club championship. The new arrangements are as follows, 1st round at Khao Kheow on Monday, January 23rd with an 11.25 tee time, 2nd round at Greenwood on Friday, January 27th with an 11.00 tee time. A limit of thirty players had to be imposed as courses cannot accommodate a bigger number, although this may change again as it seems unacceptable to have to play five-balls and also unfair to bar people who put in a late entry. It is possible that we have to postpone the competition till we can find suitable courses that can accommodate the required number of players.
Friday, January 13
Mountain Shadow Golf Course
1st Kob Glover (16) 37 points
2nd Hubert Stiefenhofer (21) 35 points
3rd Craig Dows (4) 33points
4th Steve Evans (11) 33 points
5th Jimmy Carr (19) 33 points
6th Gerry Cooney (25) 32 points
Near pins Craig Dows, Les Cobban, Jay Babin, & Paul Smith
The Mountain Shadow Course is to be congratulated for having the most sensible and pragmatic approach to pricing during the high season. A three hundred baht fee for carts ensures that far more people use them providing greater revenue to the course, greater utility of carts, and faster rounds. More courses would do well to follow their lead. Also, there was no waiting for caddies today so we got away on time.
By Mountain Shadow standards scoring was as good if not better than normal. Despite several Bunker Boys missing today we still had a good turnout with
thirty-one players listed to play. In a very rich vein of form recently Kob Glover took pride of place at the top of the results sheet with thirty-seven points. Another in good nick, Hubert Stiefenhofer took second with thirty-five points, his third time on the winners list this week. Craig Dows, Steve Evans, and Jimmy Carr were locked together on thirty-three and placed in that order on countback. The final place on the winner’s list went to the ageless Gerry Cooney with thirty-two points, Gerry is now officially the older Bunker Boy still playing at the ripe old age of eighty, long may he continue. All the near pins were won unsurprisingly in such a big field with one each going to Craig Dows, Les Cobban, Jay Babin, and Paul Smith.
A few more of our regular seasonal visitors turned up today in some cases after a three-year break, including Gordon Melia carrying an arm injury, Eddie Kelly, and others.
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