Monday, November 14
Royal Lakeside Golf Club
1st Keith Smithson (2) 32 points
2nd Niall Glover (13) 32 points
3rd Brendan Hartnett (16) 32 points
4th Gary Smith (10) 31 points
Near pins Peter Bottrell, Keith Smithson, Niall Glover, & Craig Dows.
A first visit back to Royal Lakeside since high season pricing kicked in where the all-in fee was now eighteen hundred baht and the walking price was fourteen hundred baht. Those with a PSC member card got a two hundred baht discount and a voucher valid till the end of December for an all-in fee of fourteen hundred baht which is quite reasonable compared to other courses so we will return again next month.
Playing off the blue tees and with a strong wind blowing conditions were difficult and this was reflected in scoring which was low by normal standards with nobody really coming to terms with the extra distance and the wind. In his first gamer back since pre-COVID days, Keith Smithson took first place on countback from Niall Glover. Also on the same score, Brendon Hartnett took third and never seems to be out of the frame. Gary Smith rounded out the scoring one stroke adrift. One near pin each to Peter Bottrell, Craig Dows, Keith Smithson, and Niall glover
The weather gods smiled on us today as threatening rain didn’t come until we were back in the clubhouse. On the way back to Pattaya we ran into an enormous storm which made driving hazardous and difficult while it lasted.
Wednesday, November
Green Valley Golf Club
1st Niall Glover (13) 39 points
2nd Paul Smith (2) 36 points
3rd Gary Smith (10) 35 points
4th Kob Glover (19) 33 points
5th Jay Mitchell (22) 32 points
Near pins Craig Dows, Bil Richardson, & Gary Smith.
To our great surprise today we found the walking fee at Green Valley was nine hundred baht as opposed to the all-in fee of sixteen hundred so many people took the opportunity to get some exercise and walk. By any measure seven hundred baht for a cart feels excessive, no doubt a more reasonable fee would have garnered more revenue for the club
What started out as a very pleasant day for golf with mild temperature and no wind turned ugly by the middle of the front nine with thunder and lightning all around and intermittent rain, once heavy enough to force a quick rain break. As always the course was in good condition.
In a rich vein of form recently Niall Glover took first place with thirty-nine points. Paul Smith took second place three strokes back, with Gary Smith a further stroke back in third, Gary set off in a rush with three birdies in the first six holes and twenty-three points on the front nine only to fade badly on the back. Kob Glover took fourth with thirty-three points and in a rare appearance Jay Mitchell rounded out the scoring with thirty-two points. Three near pins went to Craig Dows, Bil Richardson, and Gary Smith.
Friday, November 18
Pattavia Golf Club
1st Brendan Hartnett (16) 35 points
2nd Paul Smith (1) 35 points
3rd Keith Norman (14) 33 points
4th Craig Dows (5) 33 points
5th Gary Smith (9) 32 points
Near pins Brendan Hartnett, Geoff Williams, & Paul Smith X 2.
The Pattavia course had received a lot of rain since our last visit a week ago and greened up quite a bit. Fairways were a bit softer with little or no run and mudballs were common. The greens were weird, to say the least, much slower than we are used to and had been scarified leaving virtual tramlines running in all directions making for difficult putting.
Rain threatened all day and by the close of play it looked like we would get a drenching, luckily we finished just in time before it hit.
Steady Eddie, Brendan Hartnett took the honours again today with thirty-five points off his very generous sixteen handicap edging out Paul Smith on countback. Keith Norman and Craig Dows also finished with the same score of thirty-three points with Gary Smith rounding out the winner’s list with thirty-two points in fifth place. All the near pins were taken with Geoff Williams and Brendan Hartnett taking one each and as usual Paul Smith took two.
A split round for next week with at least fourteen golfers making a flying visit to Royal Hills for two games with a further game booked for Lam Lu Ka on the return trip. Those that are staying in Pattaya are making their own arrangements with games scheduled for Crystal Bay and Mountain Shadow, two courses we haven’t played for a long time so we will be interested to get their feedback on both courses.
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