PSC golf from The Outback Golf Bar
Monday, Feb. 4, Burapha – Stableford
Twenty-six players went to Burapha to play the C and D courses. What a lovely day, sunny with a light breeze to start with but it just got hotter as the day progressed; however still good weather for golf.
The course was in good condition with good fairways, bunkers that were raked and greens that had been cut and rolled; some wet areas in the front of the greens but that’s only from watering the greens. The greens were good but some found them hard to putt on; they looked fast but they really weren’t, just a good pace and unfortunately some pins were in bad positions.
The course is coping well with all the rounds that are being played and we had another day today where the course was heavily booked but the starter at least got us away on time, unfortunately it took us well over four hours to complete the round and we never saw a marshall all day.
David Davies – top scorer at Pattana with 40pts.
Two divisions plus the ‘2’s and the best score of the day was returned by the Division 2 winner John Player who had 42 points off his 20 handicap, great golf John. Second was John Stafford with 37, from Noddy Moyle on 36 and fourth was Clint Pingree with 35 points.
Division 1 was won by Sel Wegner with 38 points, from the ever consistent John Cunningham (7) on 37. Third place went to Paul Bourke with 35 points and fourth was John O’Keefe with 34. Both winners lost strokes so check your handicap before playing next.
Two ‘2’s were recorded today by Colin Goon (welcome back) on C8 and Rick Kaban on D2.
Div A (0-16)
1st Sel Wegner (13) 38pts
2nd John Cunningham (7) 37pts
3rd Paul Bourke (11) 35pts
4th John O’Keefe (16) 34pts
Div B (17+)
1st John Player (20) 42pts
2nd John Stafford (18) 37pts
3rd Noddy Moyle (18) 36pts
4th Clint Pingree (29) 35pts
Tuesday, Feb. 5, Khao Kheow – Stableford
A good turn-out for KK today with the numbers being 27, it was originally full with 28 but unfortunately one player called in sick. We played C & B, in that order and once again the course was the clear winner with some very ordinary scoring, still proving that this course is much tougher than the official rating suggests.
Friday podium placers: (from the left) Peter LeNoury, Eddie Beilby, Geoff Doody, John Player, Ron Dickie, Paul Bourke and Tim Knight.
No preferred lies today, but the course was fair to good even though the greens were a little bit slow unlike one month ago.
Welcome back to Vinny Connellan and the Irish lads from Dublin and also welcome to Leigh Fielder having his first game with the Outback; one or two unfamiliar names here at Khao Kheow as the Old Course at Siam is now closed in preparation for the LPGA tournament there which starts on Thursday 21st Feb.
Peter Ennis took Div 1 with a mere 33pts over his Irish mate, Vinny on the same score and big Steve Poznanski got the better of Pat Regan for the minor honours, both with 31.
Div B was won by the 2012 Outback Champion, Suzi Lawton with 34 from Clint Pingree on 29 and Tim Knight also on 29. Today was Suzi’s last game for a couple of weeks as she heads off to South Africa to experience a Safari, visit Sun City and also to travel on a very expensive “Blue Train”. Poor old John who’s meeting her there, travelling from Nigeria where he works, will have to borrow a jacket but I’m not even sure if you two could drink that much champagne!
Thanks Suzi for organising the day and have a great holiday, in the meantime Tim Knight is to help out with the organising, so welcome aboard Tim.
There were six ‘2’s from Stephen Mann, Cav Kenyon, Allen Raaen, Peter Ennis, Jim Bryan & Tim Knight
Div A (0-17)
1st Peter Ennis (13) 33pts
2nd Vinny Connellan (13) 33pts
3rd Steve Poznanski (11) 31pts
Div B (18+)
1st Suzi Lawton (19) 34pts
2nd Clint Pingree (29) 29pts
3rd Tim Knight (22) 29pts
Wednesday, Feb. 6, Siam Plantation – Stableford
One short of a full house of 15 players, played at Siam Plantation on A & C today. The course was as usual in great condition and even though the Sugar Cane (A) greens had been lightly sanded they were still great to putt on.
Some of the tees on Pineapple (C) were back today which made for a better course as sometimes off the whites it can be a little short but when you play Sugar Cane of whites it is still a great challenge.
The day was perfect for golf even if it was a little steamy, but clear skies and a little breeze helped keep conditions pleasant; the pace of play for the first three groups, all four-balls was great with everybody finishing in under four hours but the three-ball at the back got lost and held up the field behind – not good enough for Outbackers and two of the three-ball didn’t even bother to return their cards!
Losing a tooth this week didn’t hold back Rosco on this course he loves, from scoring a brilliant 41pts to win by five from Geoff Stimpson and Craig Poeling both with 36; the remaining podium place going to Colin Goon with 34pts playing off 3.
There were three ‘2’s from David Rose (C8), Geoff Stimpson (A3) & Sel Wegner (A6).
1st Rosco Langoulant (14) 41pts
2nd Geoff Stimpson (6) 36pts
3rd Craig Poeling (10) 36pts
4th Colin Goon (3) 34pts
Wednesday, Feb. 6, Pattana – Stableford
This booking at Pattana nearly didn’t happen but for some frantic phone-calls on Monday. The course was originally booked for the Wednesday before (Jan 30th) but due to a tournament, Pattana management had asked General Jack if he could postpone the visit for a week, the only problem was they rebooked for Thursday instead of Wednesday.
Again like Siam, one player short of a full house but nevertheless a great turnout of 27 Outbackers to play on this increasingly popular course which represents very good value for money as well as one that golfers may still walk.
Playing B & C from the yellows, David Davies posted the top score of the day of 40pts to win Div B by three from Noddy Moyles (37) who was having his last game of his two month stay, before returning to Aus later in the week. The day’s organiser, Tim Knight kept up his position in the “Race2Bkk” with a third place today worth another three hundred points.
Div A went to Steve Plant on 39 from one of the visiting Irish lads, Peter Ennis with local Irishman, Pat Regan taking third with 35.
There were four ‘2’s from Peter Erikson, John White & 2 from Pat Regan.
Div A (0-18)
1st Steve Plant (13) 39pts
2nd Peter Ennis (13) 36pts
3rd Pat Regan (12) 35pts
Div B (19+)
1st David Davies (26) 40pts
2nd Noddy Moyle (19) 37pts
3rd Tim Knight (22) 32pts
Wednesday, Feb. 6, Pattaya C.C. – Stableford
The Outback Bar supported Pattaya Country Club for many years, however following the opening of the back nine on 1st November after being closed for 7 months it was felt that the course did not come up to the standard expected of many of Pattaya golfers. PCC have now announced they will be closing the front nine on March 1st for a similar period.
Whilst the fairways and greens are reasonable the bunkers have sand, the like of which many golfers has not seen before, and the rough is mainly earth – not grass. What is the constant factor at PCC is the efficiency and friendless of the staff – sadly the course does not reach the same standard.
There are however a number of Outbackers – many are long standing PCC members – who continue to play and enjoy the course despite the shortcomings,
Today there were 12 Outbackers split into 2 divisions (up to 18 and 19+). It was ‘Birthday Boy’ Mike Coleman (16) who led the way in ‘A’ division with a fine 37 points, with John Aylott (18) and Bob Pearce following with 30 points.
Doug Chalkley, who has just returned from a nine month stay in the UK, came in top spot in division ‘B’ with 36 points and Jim Payne (28) and Dave Earthrowl (22) following with 34.
It is hoped when all 18 holes open around October the course will be in a condition that Pattaya golfers will want to play!
Friday, Feb. 8, Green Valley – Stableford
Forty-eight players went to Green Valley for another great day. This course proves to be very popular with not only Outbackers but many others, so it was heavily booked and at this time of the year a slow round is usual, and it was slow today.
The course is showing the wear on the tees from all the rounds but at present the fairways and greens are holding up well; but the greens are slow and two-paced but maybe they hadn’t been cut before we started, however they were reasonably true.
The worst part of Green Valley at the moment is the bunkers as the caddies don’t seem to rake them properly or fix damage done by others. When asked, they shake their head and say not my problem, which really is not good enough.
If I picked up a rake to rake a bunker at Siam Plantation and a marshall saw me then the caddie gets a ‘holiday’ and if she doesn’t do it right she will go back and fix it properly. It’s the golfer’s responsibility to make sure the caddie repairs the damage and maybe it’s time to have another word with the management to ensure that the caddies do their job properly as required by the golfer, for the benefit of the course and of the players following you.
Nothing spectacular on the scoring front as the top score was a mere handicap equalling 36pts from Eddy Beilby to win Div C, from the new “Race2Bkk” leader, John Player with 35. Other notables include Ron Dickie (Div A winner with 35), Peter Murphy (Div B winner with only 32pts & after a 3 way count back) and Div D winner, Tim Knight with just 34.
There were six ‘2’s from Murray Hart & Greg Hill (9th), Steve Plant (12th), and Paul Bourke, Peter LeNoury & David Day all on the 16th.
Div A (0-11)
1st Ron Dickie (8) 35pts
2nd Paul Bourke (11) 33pts
3rd Peter LeNoury (10) 33pts
Div B (12-16)
1st Peter Murphy (13) 32pts
2nd Stephen Mann (12) 32pts
3rd Kev Reid (14) 32pts
Div C (17-19)
1st Eddy Beilby (17) 36pts
2nd John Player (19) 35pts
3rd Greg Hill (18) 33pts
Div D (20+)
1st Tim Knight (22) 34pts
2nd Geoff Doody (24) 33pts
3rd Dick Hobson (23) 32pts
Note: The Outback Golf Bar is situated about 6km from Sukhumvit Road along Soi Siam Country. Call Jack on 081 578 1956.
