IPGC Golf from The Haven
Monday, July 27, Treasure Hill – Stableford
CSS 75 NC
1st Peter Skinner (12) 32pts
2nd Graham Davis (8) 32pts
3rd Benny Hansen (26) 31pts
4th Allan Flynn (11) 29pts
5th Terry Hodgkiss (23) 28pts
Another exceedingly tough week of golf began at the beautiful Treasure Hill layout where the course was found to be in immaculate condition with hardly another golfer to be seen. That was remarkable in itself, as the management currently offers the best value for money in the area at 1,050 baht inclusive of green fee, caddy fee and golf cart, but no doubt the difficulty of the course and the perceived travel distance ensures that it is one of the least patronised in the area.
Peter Skinner, Rodney Nabbe and Peter Buckley.
As usual the group also found the set-up and length, even from the yellow tees where the Standard Scratch is rated as 72 in competition, to be a little on the hard side, with the scores determining that the CSS for the day would be set at 75 and be a non-counting round.
Peter Skinner continued where he had left off in the previous week with a win but had to rely on a better count back over the back nine to secure the win. This he did with a better 16 to 15, thus denying Graham Davis the win in his last outing with the group on this trip as he prepares to return to the windswept links of Scotland.
Benny Hansen also had a good result in his last event before returning to work, just a single point behind the leading pair in third place.
Allan Flynn was one of the contenders to appreciate the value of the day and was even happier when he also appeared on the podium in fourth place ahead of Terry Hodgkiss a shot adrift in fifth.
There were no 2’s in the second division but Rodney Nabbe scored the sole one in the first division on the 165-yard 17th hole with a simple tap in, after his playing partner Mike Dabanovich, had watched his 9-iron attempt from the tee fly well over the back of the green after a slight misjudgment by his caddy.
Wednesday, July 29. Khao Kheow A & C – Stableford
CSS 72
1st Rodney Nabbe (10) 33pts
2nd Vincent Gras (18) 33pts
3rd Svenn Lund (11) 30pts
4th Mike Hill (19) 28pts
5th Phil Cass (15) 27pts
After a tough day at the previous outing few were looking forward to an easy run out at the always difficult Pete Dye designed course, where the easier A course still had the eighth hole reduced to a par four from the very forward tees, together with the C course, arguably the most difficult of the three nines. But with the greens keepers having spent a lot of time in renovating much of the GUR, the whole course is now a much better proposition which the scores reflected on the day, with the CSS for the day being fixed at 72.
Rodney Nabbe took the win with a two over handicap return after also winning a count back against Vincent Gras after Vincent had dropped a shot on the last and Rodney had picked one up, scoring a par with a shot on the last hole.
Svenn Lund enjoyed his first run out with the group, after he found that he could just turn up without a prior sign up to play, as he took third place another three behind and two ahead of Mike Hill in fourth.
Phil Cass placed fifth after a day spent alternately moaning, grinning and groaning, as he put together a round fairly evenly spaced with ones, threes and zeros.
In keeping with the difficulty that the course was playing, there were no 2’s in either division.
Friday, July 31, Eastern Star – Monthly Medals
CSS 74
Division 1 (0–15)
1st Rodney Nabbe (10) net 77
2nd Peter Skinner (12) net 77
3rd Philip Cass (15) net 79
Division 2 (16+)
1st Peter Buckley (21) net 74
2nd Hal Hart (21) net 79
3rd Don Everett (19) net 82
Playing one of the longest courses in the area from the white tees in a medal stroke play format it is usually certain that the CSS will rise, which it did as predicted, by two on this occasion as the hopefuls all found the going particularly testing, but not without the assistance of the addition of scores from another IPGC group playing the same course on the day, without which it would have been another non-counting event.
Rodney Nabbe continued with his fine form, taking his first medal in the first division from the Haven and adding his name to the list for the end of year Gold and Silver Medal playoffs in December. But he was fortunate that he found Peter Skinner, another player in very good from recently, in a very benevolent mood to enable him to win a count back by a remarkable five strokes, scoring a better 36 to 41, after Peter had uncharacteristically bogeyed the 17th and then inexplicably trebled bogeyed the 18th. Rodney had calmly played theses two holes in one over par to come from three behind and two to play and force the count back.
So Peter had to be satisfied with qualifying for the Gold and Silvers in second place as a consolation prize. Philip Cass had another “in and out day” with as many 3’s on the card as 7’s but was still good enough for third place two behind the leading duo.
The second division also saw a first time winner in Peter Buckley who had the best round of the day at two over handicap as he led the rest of the field in by five clear, with Hal Hart taking second and Don Everett third after he had won a count back over Mike Hill with a better 39.5 to 41.5.
Once again with the par 3’s set at their maximum yardages there were no 2’s in either division.
Note: If you would like to play with The Haven group, you can contact 038 710 988 or call in to The Haven Hotel, 185 Soi 13, situated between Beach Road and 2nd Road. All transportation to the course is arranged and you do not need to sign up prior to the day, but you should be there by 8.15 on a Monday, Wednesday, and Friday on the days that you wish to play. If you would like to leave your golf clubs at The Haven, there are usually lockers available at a nominal charge. A schedule of courses to be played can be found on our web site at www.thehaven-hotel.com.
