IPGC golf from The Haven
Monday, Feb. 20, The Emerald – Stableford
CSS 72
1st Allan Hanlon (12) 37pts
2nd Leif Lossius (30) 36pts
3rd Al Keith (5) 34pts
4th Al Rolnik (18) 34pts
5th Jamie King (16) 34pts
As usual the local course rule of “lift and place in the fairways” was in place to offset the sometimes poor lies amongst the crab grass, but with the course in otherwise good condition and the greens consistent but on the slow side, the scores were reasonable as the weather stayed fair but very hot.
Allan Hanlon just got the better of the in-form Leif Lossius by a single shot to take his first win of this trip with one of his better rounds that was consistent rather than spectacular.
Russell Exley.
Al Keith, who is also showing signs of some return to form although the flat stick is not quite as warm as it used to be, showed good application after a slow start to take third after he won a three-way count back with Al Rolnik, in fourth, and new member Jamie King in fifth. After Jamie dropped to fifth with just 18 over the closing nine, Al Keith won out with a better 12 on the last six after he had tied with Al Rolnik on 19 each for the inward half.
There were no 2’s in the second division but Grant Cadell shared the first division with Allan Hanlon.
Before presenting the prizes The Doc welcomed new members Jamie King, together with Eero and Ari Malinen. There was also a welcome back for an old favorite “The ATM”, in the form of Trevor Edge, who was down from the north to distribute his largesse amongst the needy and not so needy of the local golfing community during his visits to a few of the courses.
Wednesday, Feb. 22, Century Chonburi – Stableford
CSS 72
Division 1 (0–15)
1st Bob Heath (13) 37pts
2nd Al Keith (5) 36pts
3rd Grant Cadell (15) 35pts
Division 2 (16+)
1st Don Everett (21) 37pts
2nd Leif Lossius (30) 36pts
3rd Jim Lanzo (17) 32pts
A surprisingly large turnout for the trip to the almost unbelievably priced Century Chonburi, where a round of golf including the caddy and sharing a golf cart costs just 600 baht, required the formation of two divisions with the cut coming as usual at 15 and below for the first division.
Stephen Beard.
With such a low price it is to be expected that the course would be not quite up to the standard of some others in the area but none of the players complained on the day as the course was in generally good condition, except for a few of the bunkers where the course local rule of ‘lift and place’ was required due to the lack of sand.
The second division was won by Don Everett who has enjoyed a good run of form recently which continued on the day as he consigned Leif Lossius to his second successive second place, after returning a level handicap card, by a single point with Jim Lanzo taking third after a marathon count back which he finally won on the last hole with 3 points to John Murphy’s 2 points after they had tied the nine at 17, the six at 7, the last three at 7 and the final two on 5.
The first division was a straightforward win for Captain Bob as he basked in the memories of old glory days with a one point victory over Al Keith in second and Grant Cadell taking third another shot behind Al. Bob’s round was a tremendous feat following a hectic night of pre-tournament preparations at the Wonderful Bars 1, 2 and 3 along with practicing the downing the winning round of drinks long into the night until he had almost perfected it.
Prior to the presentations there was a welcome for new member Jim Lanzo and welcome backs for Peter Skinner, Bob Heath, Jim Slattery, George Oakley, and Bruce Horn all hailing from the famous South Herts Club in North London, together with Rick Roberts and Toshihiro Aoki. There was also a special welcome back to playing for the regular long drive winner, Trevor Schirmer, after a series of injuries.
Friday, Feb. 24, Phoenix – Monthly Medals
Division 1 (0–15)
Blue Tees CSS 74
1st Russell Exley (8) net 73
2nd Jason Cole (7) net 74
3rd Phil Groves (9) net 74
4th Yasuo Suzuki (11) net 75
Division 2 (16+)
White Tees CSS 75 NC
1st Stephen Beard (22) net 75
2nd Bill Hurd (20) net 76
3rd Steve Clarke (20) net 77
4th Alwyne Burley (17) net 77
Another large field assembled to take on the Mountain and Lake Courses at Phoenix with the first division playing from the blue tees and the second division now playing regularly from the white tees, which seems to have encouraged a few more of the higher handicappers turning out to contend.
Bob Heath.
A very hot and humid day greeted the players and even though a breeze could be felt all around the course, the conditions for playing were quite difficult, although the general condition of the course was excellent with the greens being particularly fast but with many of the pin positions on a slope two putts a good result.
In the first division Russell Exley won his first medal of the 2012 series, leading up to the gold and silver medals at the end of the year, with an excellent round of one under the standard scratch for the blue tees. This came even after losing a ball on the eighteenth hole up a palm tree where several others had lost balls before and even with the assistance of a distance measure meter he could not identify the ball and was forced to play his provisional, thus incurring a two shot addition to finish with a double bogey, but he was still good enough by a shot to win.
Jason Cole returned to take second place with a better count back of 35.5 leaving Phil Groves in third with a net score of 37.5 on the Lakes nine and Yasuo Suzuki in fourth one stroke further back.
The second division was a return to the top of a singles competition for Stephen Beard for the first time since winning a medal exactly three years previously in February 2009, although he tried heroically to fall again at the last hurdle taking a nine on the par four 17th which included a four putt and a double on the last which included an air shot. Amazingly he hung on to win by a single stroke from Bill Hurd who almost won his first medal out of The Haven with a solid round but where the greens just got the better of him. Steve Clarke won a count back with Alwyne Burly to take third place with a better 36 to 38.5 over the inward nine.
Yasuo Suzuki spent a couple of worry filled hours only to discover that for once he had the only 2 in the first division and would collect the full pot alone. Meanwhile Bruce Horn chipped in, from fully 40 yards, on Lakes number 7 to sweep the large pool in the second division and then repeated the feat on the 8th from a similar distance again for a birdie, neither of which helped at all in getting anywhere near the leaders scores.
Back at The Haven there were welcomes for Ronald Hoban and Steve Clarke from the Wakehurst club in North Sydney area and welcome backs for Danny Greer, Gerald Decio, Martin Grimoldby, Jason Cole and Robin Peach.
Note: If you would like to play with The Haven group, you can contact mobile 082 219 0965 or call in to The Haven Hotel, at 185 Soi 13, 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 8.30 on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday on the days you wish to play. A schedule of courses to be played can be found on our web site at www.thehaven-hotel.com.
