Travellers Rest Golf Group
Monday, Feb. 13, Pleasant Valley – Stableford
Div 1 (0-15)
1st Victor Ko (13) 41pts
2nd Paul Stanton (12) 38pts
3rd Richard Kawagoye (14) 36pts
Div 2 (15 up)
1st Reg Glass(19) 43pts
2nd Ged Blairs (28) 40pts
3rd Dave Maw (15) 37pts
Monday’s visit to Pleasant Valley proved to be one of those wonderful experiences in Thailand when the golf club decided to try and get out every golfer that was in the nearby vicinity. With tee-off times put back and 32 golfers from the TRGG present, it meant that some golfers were on the golf course for 6½ hours.
With this in mind some of the scores achieved on the day were remarkable, especially as there was also a healthy gale blowing. In Division 1 Richard Kawagoye’s 36 points was good enough for 3rd place whilst 2nd place was won by a very good round of 38 from Paul Stanton. However Victor Ko had one of those days as his 41 points took the top prize.
In Division 2 Dave Maw scored 37 points to take 3rd place and it was a welcome return to form for the man from the potteries, Ged Blair, as he scored a fine 40 points. On another day this would have been good enough for the top spot but Ged’s hopes were shattered by Reg Glass who scored a remarkable 43 points to secure his fifth win in the last 4 weeks
Tuesday, Feb. 14, Burapha – Stableford
1st Reg Glass (17) 35pts
2nd Darren Stanton (15) 34pts
3rd Dave Palmer (8) 33pts
Tuesday’s visit to Burupha saw a continuation of the “Reg Glass story” as this proved to be win number 6. He really has proved to be a “pane in the backside” to both the scribe (boring writing all the time about a stuntman) and fellow competitors (keeps taking the prizes) and there were tears (of joy?) later as we were to be told that Reg was Canada bound on Friday (thank the Lord!).
Darren Stanton came 2nd with 34 points and “Dancing Dave Palmer” took 3rd place with 33.
Wednesday, Feb. 15, Parichat – Stableford
1st Ted Senior (17) 35pts
2nd Mr Mehtra (14) 34pts
3rd Reg Glass (17) 33pts
Parichat was the destination for the 20 golfers of the TRGG on Wednesday and it was hardly surprising that not one golfer scored their handicap as the hazards continued to claim vast numbers of balls.
It was only natural that Reg Glass should continue to be on the podium with his 33 points claiming 3rd place. Mr Mehtra produced a good round of 34 to secure 2nd spot but the day belonged to Ted Senior, who in his twilight years is now consistently producing rounds of golf of a high quality. This course is tailored made for Ted as his driver travels around 180 yards, which is perfect for the majority of holes here.
Thursday, Feb. 16, Green Valley – Stableford
1st Reg Glass (17) 38pts
2nd Mike Rushant (13) 38pts
3rd Derek Thorogood (15) 35pts
Thursday’s visit to Green Valley saw the top 15 golfers only separated by 8 points. In 3rd place, boss Derek Thorogood scored a fine round of 35 points but the real battle came for first prize as Reg Glass and Mike Rushant came head to head in a “Canadian Confrontation”. With both players scoring 38 points it was left to count back to separate them and for the third time in a week Reg managed to come out on top. As he departs home he must be asking himself the question, “Can I really afford not to be in Pattaya?”
Friday, Feb. 17, St. Andrews – Stableford
Div 1 (1-15)
1st Alan Thomas (6) 35pts
2nd Garry Blackborne (7) 34pts
3rd Joe Stranks (13) 34pts
Div 2 (16+)
1st Ken Brehm (21) 32pts
2nd Freddy Starbeck (15) 32pts
3rd David Booth (15) 26pts
The TRGG were treated to playing St Andrews golf course off the yellow tees on Friday. This gave each player the wonderful opportunity of playing all 6500 yards of this fantastic but treacherous course. In fact there are still some players out there now trying in vain to reach the fairway on the first par 6.
There are lies, damned lies and then there are statistics but all the numbers of the day showed that the golf course conquered the players, and it must be just a sheer coincidence that neither of the co-owners were playing on this day. None of the 27 players managed to shoot their handicap, the closest to doing so being Alan Thomas with his 35 points, managing top spot in division 1. Just trying to be the best player on the day in his own family is a major feat, with his son Ryan playing off scratch.
Garry Blackbone came 2nd with a fine round of 34 points on the back of his red hot putter. In 3rd place came “jolly Joe” Stranks and there was not a moment during his round when Burhill’s finest wasn’t expressing to anyone conscious enough to listen, what great fun he was having.
It was hardly surprising that the scores in Division 2 were not high. The 26 points of David Booth were good enough to take third place and the 1st place was a head to head between Freddy Starbeck and Ken Brehm. On this occasion Freddy was not in luck and the popular Canadian Ken took the top prize money.
Saturday, Feb. 18, Plutaluang – Stableford
1st Billy Allen (18) 37pts
2nd Mike Rushant (12) 35pts
3rd Dave Palmer (8) 35pts
On Saturday all roads led to Sattahip. As well as Siam Navy hosting Buriram United in the Thai Premier league, the TRGG golfers were also present testing their golf skills on the magnificent surroundings of the Plutaluang Golf course.
Rather rustic in nature, this course will always give a golfer the opportunity of a good round if they are striking the ball well. However, the downside is that if you are not on your game the course is capable of winning the day.
This was very much the case with a wide range of scores being posted. Dave Palmer’s 35 points were not quite good enough to wrestle 2nd place away from Mike Rushant who skillfully circumnavigated a count back to claim the silver. However, the top round came from co-owner Billy Allan with his score of 37 points leading the way. The previous day the owners had controversially opted out of playing St Andrews (off the flaming yellows) to partake in a day of pedicure, manicure and lipstick removal techniques. With his extremities satisfactorily softened Billy proved to be way ahead of the rest of the field
