The Players Lounge Monthly Scramble
Tuesday, June 16, saw The Players Lounge hold its very first monthly 2-man scramble, played at Phoenix Golf Club. It is hoped that this tournament becomes a regular fixture on the Pattaya golf scene and, judging by the success of this one, it seems highly likely to do just that.
For a first time event a very creditable forty two players turned out and we would like to extend our thanks to all of those players and invite them to join us for the next comp at Emerald golf club on July 14.
Bob Newell (centre) with scramble winners Nick Shaw and Phil Davies.
As ever at this time of the year we are very much in the hands of the weather gods and, certainly early on, it looked like we were going to be unlucky and get severely soaked. However, after a brief few showers, the wind blew them away and we continued our round in blistering heat.
We put a slight twist into the format, making each player take 6 drives each but also having to take 3 on each nine, which certainly made good tactics a priority. We anticipated that scoring would be difficult but was pleasantly surprised by the extremely high level of play. We had numerous net 68’s and 67’s but that just didn’t cut it today.
Returning a score of 65.2, the pairing of Steve Balfour and Karen Craigie came in a commendable third place and they were rightly very pleased with their efforts. In second spot with a score of 64.4 were John McHugh and Jez Lees. Anyone who has been golfing in Pattaya for any length of time will know these two stalwarts. Johnnie’s prodigious length off the tee still remains as ever but it now seems that love has given him a short game too. Jez is, well, Jez …no one lives up to his nick name more appropriately, ‘The Enigma’!
Victorious today and claiming the engraved lead crystal tankards were Nick Shaw and Phil Davies with a fantastic total of 62.8. All conversation ceased when the sound of breaking glass happened just as Nick was tilting the box to take a photo, followed by a collective sigh when we all realised it wasn’t one of the trophies. Congratulations boys on a great round.
Back at the bar we enjoyed a delicious curry, wings and spring rolls provided by Moo and her kitchen people and Nut, Dion and the girls did a great job keeping the refreshments flowing.
Courtesy of Roachy, our professional caddy and business partner, we held a terrific raffle with some fantastic prizes (and I hope Sal liked his ‘special’ prize at the end).
We’d like to give thanks to Bob at the Billabong and all the guys from there who supported us, and finally a word of appreciation to the boys from Pattaya Cricket Club who turned out to play, it was great to see you all and I hope you’ll be out with us again.
