Monday, June 12
Pattavia, Medal Golf Course
1st Geoff Parker (20) Net 72
2nd Barry Lecerf (24) Net 72
3rd Gerry Cooney (22) Net 73
Near pins Craig Dows, Jimmy Wu, & Michael Brett X 2.
A cool day with a blustery wind was what we faced today at Pattavia, the benefit being that the fruit flies, normally in plagues were absent, the disadvantage being that the swirling wind never seemed to favour us. The course had benefited from recent rain, in particular, the greens were more manageable holding approach shots instead of the usual when they run through to the back or off in many cases. The water catchments are yet to fill up with very little water in them.
It is not uncommon to encounter snakes on the course, sometimes we can go for months without seeing any, today we came across three, a baby cobra just outside the clubhouse, a green tree snake on the first green, (difficult to see), and yet another on the fourteenth fairway, much bigger than the other two, it would seem that there are far more snakes around us than we realise.
A day for the high handicappers to shine with all three on the winner’s list with handicaps of twenty-plus. Top of the heap was Geoff Parker with net seventy-two beating Barry Lecerf on countback. Gerry Cooney was again in the frame taking third with a net seventy-three. All the near pins were taken with one each to Craig Dows and Jimmy Wu with Michael Brett taking two. The loser of the day was Peter Bottrell who was in a winning position after fourteen holes only to fade badly on the closing holes and miss out on countback. He consoled himself with the thought that he will be back in Melbourne next week at Flemington to see his horse continue its winning ways.
Wednesday, June 14
Greenwood A & B Golf Course
1st Michael Brett (15) 35 points
2nd Sunny Khanna (15) 35 points
3rd Gerry Cooney (21) 35 points
Near pins. Sunny Khanna, Bil Richardson X 2, & Craig Dows,
Millionaire golf was back today at Greenwood where we played the A & B nines and had the course virtually to ourselves, the lead group without any rushing was back in the clubhouse within three hours. The course was very nice as usual but a very strong wind blew all day making for tricky conditions, particularly for anyone with a tendency to slice, the upside again was no fruitflies.
Very tight at the top of the leaderboard with three tied on thirty-five points and placed as listed, Sunny had a chance to win on the last but took a circuitous route to the green and ended with a double bogey. He did however take a near pin with Craig Dows, while Bil Richardson took two.
Great news for Keith Norman who will be doing handstands and cartwheels with news that the Sports Lounge now has Thatcher’s Gold Somerset cider on tap, no doubt he will quench his thirst with a couple on his return. At this time most of our UK-based group should be at Silverdale for their annual get-together, we look forward to hearing all the latest from the group.
Friday, June 16
Pattaya Country Club, Blue tees Golf Course
1st Witt Mann (18) 44 points
2nd Gerry Cooney (21) 39 points
3rd Bil Richardson (17) 38 points
4th David Playford (8) 37 points
5th Billy Shepley (7) 36 points
Near pins Peter Bottrell, Alan Sullivan, Kob Glover, & Billy Shepley.
A very good field of twenty-one for today’s Game at Pattaya Country Club. Once again the wind was blowing, it seems that the October winds have come early this year. Our last visit was for the Pattaya Sports Club Championship about two months ago and with recent rain, the course has improved markedly since then.
An unusually large field of twenty-one was on hand just to emphasise the popularity of the course. Speed of play was acceptable, certainly nowhere like the midweek game at Greenwood, where we were at almost at a record pace. The fact we played off the blue tees today didn’t have any effect on scoring which was of a very high standard.
What was exceptional today was the score of our winner Witt Mann who posted a fabulous score of forty-four points off an eighteen handicap, no doubt a serious cut in handicap is in store for him. It’s been said many times that like a fine wine, Gerry Cooney improves with age, and today he was at it again with an impressive score of thirty-nine points in second place, his third time on the winner’s list this week. Bil Richardson put in a very solid day’s work with thirty-eight points in third place. David Playford, a very clean striker of the golf ball took fourth place with thirty-seven points, a stroke ahead of the equally impressive ball striker Billy Shipley. Peter Bottrell signed off on this tour today taking a near pin, Billy Shepley and Kob Glover took one each with Alan Sullivan getting particularly close on the difficult seventh.
