PSC golf Bunker Boys @ The Ranch
Monday, Feb. 18, Mt. Shadow – Stableford
A good turnout of 26 golfers showed up today to tackle the short but tricky Mountain Shadow course. The course is in excellent condition and the tree lined fairways and fast undulating greens make it a good test of golf.
Only two golfers managed to play to their handicap and they were both in the B Flight, with Freddy Starbeck edging out Lars Strom on the count back. Paul Smith also beat Mashi Kaneta on a count back to win the A Flight, despite having a tiff with his long time friend John Hughes on the first tee – hope you kiss and make up soon guys!
A Flight
1st Paul Smith (3) 35pts
2nd Mashi Kaneta (14) 35pts
3rd Tore Eliassen (15) 34pts
B Flight
1st Freddy Starbeck (22) 36pts
2nd Lars Strom (23) 36pts
3rd Gordon Melia (17) 34pts
Near Pins: Paul Smith, Lars Strom and Geoff Cox (2).
Wednesday, Feb. 20, Treasure Hill – Stableford
The effort and money that the management has put into this course is now paying dividends and the impressive new drinks station at the 12th tee is maybe a sign of things to come. The course is in good condition, although some players commented that the greens were not as quick as they have been recently, and there are signs of feral grass creeping into the fairways which will need to be contained if the high standard is to be maintained.
PJ Redmond.
We elected to play off the yellow tees today, which are the closest to our norm of 6,500 yards, and still provide a stern test. There were hardly any other golfers ahead of us and the round progressed smoothly, so the first three-ball was back in the clubhouse in well under four hours.
Mark Stanley produced his best performance for some time, parring the first 4 holes and keeping out of trouble for the rest of the round, to comfortably win the A Flight with an excellent score of 39 points. It was a tight contest in B Flight with three players tied on 32 points, but PJ Redmond prevailed on the count back.
A Flight
1st Mark Stanley (12) 39pts
2nd Bernie Stevens (15) 36pts
3rd Geoff Parker (12) 33pts
B Flight
1st PJ Redmond (25) 32pts
2nd Dave Keats (31) 32pts
3rd Neil Griffin (27) 32pts
Near Pins: Bernie Stevens, Colin Greig, and Peter Platt (2).
Friday, Feb. 22, Crystal Bay A & B – Rainbow Stableford
The good thing about playing an occasional Rainbow competition (6 tee shots taken off each of the red, white and blue tees, with the player choosing which tee for each hole) is that regular players get to play a course they know well in a different layout. Some thought is required as to how you intend to play each hole, before selecting which tee to play from, and it didn’t take long for some of the higher handicappers (26+) to realize that the par 3 hole fifth hole on the A nine was handicap 8 and if played off the red tee was only 110 yards, so some easy points could be picked up there.
We arrived at Crystal Bay to find the car park full and that yet again there was a shortage of caddies, but we were eventually able to tee off only a few minutes later than scheduled, and it turned out to be a long but enjoyable day.
The greens and fairways were once again in excellent shape, but the bunkers continue to be badly neglected, to the point where the bunker on the second hole on the B nine now has a one metre high sapling growing in it! Does this mean that it’s now a waste area?
There was a three-way tie on 40 points in the A Flight, but no one could match PJ Redmond in the B Flight carding an impressive 45 points – probably no one has played this course more often than PJ, so that knowledge must have helped his tee selections.
A Flight
1st Tony Scambler (8) 40pts
2nd Geoff Parker (12) 40pts
3rd Gez Williams (15) 40pts
B Flight
1st PJ Redmond (23) 45pts
2nd Thomas Nyborg (20) 39pts
3rd Peter Habgood (21) 39pts
Near Pins: Gez Williams, Mark Stanley, Neil Griffin and Peter Habgood.
Note: The Bunker Boys are a PSC affiliated golf society, who now play out of The Ranch bar on Pattaya 3rd Road (in front of the fire station, and almost opposite the Buffalo Bar). We play three times per week on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, so if you enjoy a fun day out, and a friendly but competitive golf competition why not come and join us.
We meet at The Ranch at 9 a.m. for breakfast and transportation, and new players are always welcome. Contact Buff on 086 046 5091 or 080 605 5663 for all enquiries. You can find all the news, schedules and results on our website at www.bunkersociety.com.
