PSC golf from the Café Kronborg
Monday, February 6, Crystal Bay (A & B) – Stableford
On a beautiful, sunny Pattaya morning we assembled at Café Kronborg to prepare for the journey to another of our favorite courses, Crystal Bay. This time we had a full field of 40 golfers and despite a few late cancellations we retained that number due to a list of reserves. Five mini vans were required for the trip and opposite the Kronborg was more like the taxi ramp outside Hard Rock Café when the US Fleet is in town!
We welcomed back Martin Todd from Mandurah in Western Australia, Monte Sykes from Virginia, USA, Bill Plath from Hawaii, Russell Goldsworthy & Don Everett from my old Golf Club Gosnells in Perth, Western Australia, Barry Emery from Somerset, England & Barry Elphick from Tropical Berts.
Barry Elphick, Peter Sindberg & The Admiral.
Departing the Kronny right on time at 0815 hrs we headed off down Highway 3 and arrived at the course 47 minutes later. We had already been informed that this popular course would be very busy and sure enough we had plenty of time to relax before our scheduled 1000 hrs tee off time. Eventually getting our first group away at 1005 hrs we proceeded at a leisurely pace in great weather conditions with the course once more looking a treat. There were a couple of minor delays at par threes and we had one or two drink breaks but considering the amount of traffic on the course our round was quite reasonable, four hours & twenty minutes.
Scoring on the day was quite good, particularly in A Flight which was won by Peter Sindberg with 41 points. A count back for second & third saw Stu “SMS” Rifkin (22 point back nine) edge out Ken “Let’s hear it for” Bernek (18 point back nine), both having 39 points. In fourth spot came the returning Monte Sykes with 37 points and another count back on 36 points saw Mike Gosden (21 point back nine) take fifth place from yours truly (20 point back nine) in sixth spot.
Barry Elphick won the B Flight with 38 points with Jan Lovgreen second on 37 points and the day’s winner of the Fashion Award, Bjarne Kjaer third with 36 points. Fourth place went to Jesper Rasmussen on 34 points and Mike Winfield was fifth with 33 points, one point ahead of Kjeld Ravn in sixth spot
A Flight (0-20)
1st Peter Sindberg (13) 41pts
2nd Stu Rifkin (14) 39pts
3rd Ken Bernek (19) 39pts
4th Monte Sykes (9) 37pts
5th Mike Gosden (11) 36pts
6th Peter Blackburn (13) 36pts
B Flight (21+)
1st Barry Elphick (22) 38pts
2nd Jan Lovgreen (23) 37pts
3rd Bjarne Kjaer (21) 36pts
4th Jesper Rasmussen (21) 34pts
5th Mike Winfield (21) 33pts
6th Kjeld Ravn (21 32pts
Near Pins: A5 – Bjarne Kjaer; A8 – Jan Lovgreen; B4 – Stu Rifkin; B6 – Erik Andersen
Long Putts: A9 – Mike Gosden; B9 – Don Richardson
The Compass Cap (awarded for worst score on the day) was awarded to visitor Barry Emery and Hunter paraded Deefa the Dog who once more collected many donations to charity from the ever generous Kronny crew.
Thursday, February 9, Royal Lakeside – Stableford
Once more almost a full field for the day’s event after a late cancellation the night before and 39 of us assembled at Café Kronborg in preparation for the drive to the challenging Royal Lakeside Golf Club.
Carole Kubicki & Peter Blackburn.
There were welcomes given to Beat Michael from Switzerland and Jens Gundorph from Denmark. We were also able to report that the prolific winner of recent weeks Mrs Bo Cardwell gave birth to baby boy Alex three days ago and both are doing fine. Congratulations go out to Dr Paul & Bo and it’s remarkable when you realize that she won the B Flight with 41 points on Thursday of the previous week and gave birth 4 days later. Perhaps some of us should re-consider sometimes when we think about not playing because of a “sore back” or a “runny nose”!
Leaving the Kronny in 5 mini vans right on time at 0815 hrs we arrived at the course 59 minutes later and it appeared quite busy. Plenty of time for a practice putt and in Walter’s case several cups of coffee and our first group managed to tee-off behind a Thai five-ball right on schedule at 1000 hrs. Despite threatening rain clouds the weather was fine but hot & humid and the pace was surprisingly good despite the groups in front.
The golf course looked a treat and the greens in terrific nick with emphasis on being below the hole in order to avoid three putts or more. With a couple of enforced drink breaks we were able to complete our full round in four hours & thirty two minutes.
This golf course is now a bit tougher than before as is indicated by the scores where only 3 golfers played better than their handicap. Your writer was able to sink a few crucial putts for a change and won the A Flight with 39 points and Rob Brown was second on 37 points. In third place came Richard Kubicki with 36 points and in a count back for fourth & fifth Ingi Magnfredsson (18 point back nine) edged out the day’s fashion award winner Walter Baechli (17 point back nine), both on 35 points. Monday’s winner Peter Sindberg finished in sixth place with 34 points.
The A Flight was won by Carole Kubicki who had 37 points and another count back was required as 3 golfers had 36 points. Susan Gaarde (19 point back nine) finished second with Kjeld Ravn (17 point back nine) in third spot & his wife Ulla (15 point back nine) was fourth. Graham Buckingham finished fifth with 35 points and Mike Winfield sixth on 34 points.
Interesting to note that in Bo Cardwell’s absence the ladies flag was well & truly flown with all the ladies participating in the day’s event having places on the podium.
A Flight (0-20)
1st Peter Blackburn (13) 39pts
2nd Rob Brown (8) 37pts
3rd Richard Kubicki (14) 36pts
4th Ingi Magnfredsson (14) 35pts
5th Walter Baechli (18) 35pts
6th Peter Sindberg (12) 34pts
B Flight (21+)
1st Carole Kubicki (24) 37pts
2nd Susan Gaarde (25) 36pts
3rd Kjeld Ravn (21) 36pts
4th Ulla Ravn (38) 36pts
5th Graham Buckingham (22) 35pts
6th Mike Winfield (21) 34pts
Near Pins: 3rd – Richard Kubicki; 6th – Mike Allidi; 12th – Henry Wong; 15th – Ingi Magnfredsson
Long Putts: 9th – Martin Todd; 18th – Carole Kubicki
The Compass Cap (worst score on the day) was awarded to the luckless Jens Gundorph who managed to beat Eddie Glisek’s previous low score record by one and Hunter paraded Deefa the Dog who collected many donations to charity from the ever generous Kronny crew.
