Monday, October 3rd
Greenwood C & A Golf Club
1st Paul Smith (3) 38 points
2nd Kob Glover (20) 33 points
3rd Dave Stockman (8) 31 points
Near pins Dave Stockman, Les Cobban, & Michael Brett.
The Greenwood course was close to unplayable for today’s game, the first game of a new month. Many areas of the course were just like a bog, the rough hadn’t been mowed for weeks due to the weather and every ball was a mud-ball. One player lost three balls in the first five holes, they just could not be found thereby putting paid to any chance he had of posting a decent score.
Rain fell at different stages throughout the round but the heaviest kept away till the last hole, it seems we are destined to endure a month more of monsoon before we can look forward to a bit of sunshine.
Despite the tough conditions Paul Smith was able to post a remarkable thirty-eight points to take first place, continuing on from where he left off last month, will someone challenge him before he wins everything? Kob Glover took second place with thirty-three while Dave Stockman took third with thirty-one. Dave also got himself a near pin as did Les Cobban with Michael Brett taking a third with a tap-in birdie on A2, after all this time a hole-in-one is as elusive as ever.
Wednesday, October 5th
Pattaya Country Club, Blue tees. Medal
1st Kob Glover (20) Net 68
2nd Mike Smith (21) Net 72
3rd Michael Brett (14) Net 74
Near pins Sam Gershon, Kob Glover, & Paul Smith
The medal round of the month was played at Pattaya Country Club in some of the best weather conditions we have had for weeks. The course was remarkably dry given the amount of rain that has fallen in recent weeks, nevertheless the pick clean, and drop rule was applied luckily as mud balls were common.
Playing off the blue tees made for a very different course as it threw out all the club selections people were used to nevertheless, a few decent scores were returned. Kob Glover topped the winner’s list with a very tidy net sixty-eight points in a round that contained her first eagle on hole fifteen, needless to say, she also got a near pin with the red tees well forward of the blues on a few of the par threes. Mike Smith is starting to find his feet and is becoming a regular in the winner’s circle taking second place with a net seventy-two. Third place went to Michael Brett with a net seventy-four beating Niall Glover on countback One near pin on the difficult sixth wasn’t taken with the other two going to Paul Smith and Sam Gershon. Sam making his first appearance at the Bunker in over three years. Amongst other returnees are Niall Jones, Graeme Mullins, Bil Richardson, and Dave Ashman so it looks like a decent high season ahead.
Friday, October 7th
Pattana B & C white tees.
1st Gary Smith (9) 33 points
2nd Neil Griffin (27) 28 points
3rd Michael Brett (14) 25 points
Near pins Bil Richardson, Gary Smith, & Alan Bertram X 2.
Much of the joy of golf is missing in Pattaya, at least for the present. Courses are so wet and so much time is spent in vain looking for plugged balls on fairways and in the rough, rounds are increasing slowly and there is no possibility to establish any type of rhythm or continuity in play leading to lots of frustration. Today’s round started in bright conditions and finished after sixteen holes when the course was hit by the mother of all thunder and lightning storms. After the siren sounded people could be seen rushing to the clubhouse from all directions.
Courses are starting to edge up their green fees as high season approaches and the added cost of replacing several balls per round is only adding salt to the wounds. It seems courses have the expectation of large numbers over the holiday period; increasing airfares may put a dent in those expectations.
The course double-booked our tee time so we began on the B nine while the other society started on A, both groups were scheduled to play the C nine second so the inevitable happened with both groups coming together almost at the same time, luckily we had to wait for only one fourball to play before we could resume our game. This delay probably resulted in us failing to finish before the storm hit.
Gary Smith was leading after sixteen holes with thirty-three points and was declared the winner. Straight off a plane Derbyshire native Neil Griffin got straight down to business and took second place with twenty-eight points, no settling-in period for him. Third went to Michael Brett on twenty-five points. All the near pins were taken, one each going to Bil Richardson and Gary Smith with Alan Bertram taking two.
One of the longest-standing members of the Bunker Boys Richard Baldotto whom we haven’t seen for at least four years has been seen around town but not yet on the golf course, we need to find a way to lure him out of his lair, hopefully, he will find his often missing swing.
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