IPGC golf from The Links
Sunday, Nov. 25, Green Valley – Stableford
The group managed to complete their Sunday round for the first time this season, in almost perfect golfing conditions.
There was a four-way tie for third place on 32 points, but fortunately for the scorer all golfers involved had different back 9’s, so the tie break was not too difficult to work out. First to fall was Andy Galvin (14), followed by John Wood (15) and Alec Hoare (17), which left Frank McGowan with yet another podium finish, after coming home strongly with 19 points after only managing 13 on the front 9.
Charlie Lapsey took second place, his best round in Thailand for some time earning him 38 points, but he was still some way behind the winner, Peter Skinner, who played some outstanding golf to shoot a gross 76 for 42 points.
There were no ‘2’s, and with a day off on Tuesday for the PAGS, the kitty rolled over to Treasure Hill on Thursday.
1st Peter Skinner (10) 42pts
2nd Charlie Lapsey (9) 38pts
3rd Frank McGowan (17) 32pts
Thursday, Nov. 29, Treasure Hill – Stableford
We travelled up to Treasure Hill today with some trepidation, partly because of the likelihood of the heavy rain during the week rendering the course unplayable, and partly because of the adverse reports we had heard regarding the condition of the course, relating to the ongoing improvement works on the green aprons.
We were pleasantly surprised on both counts, with the fairways firm and offering some run, and the works around the greens, although not finished, did not affect play, and with ‘clean and place’ in operation, there was no need to use the drop zones which are no longer compulsory. Unfortunately, we were not surprised about the incompetence of the ineffective starter, who allowed a 6-ball, followed by an un-booked group of 8 to start ahead of us in our allotted time, leading to a near 5 hour round.
Given the expected conditions, we decided in the car on the way up to play off the shorter yellow tees, but this was forgotten by the time we finally got to the 1st tee, and we automatically followed the previous groups off the whites. Scoring proved difficult, with none of the group shooting their handicaps around the tough track – Jon Batty going closest with 35 points, despite only managing 3 points on the final 3 holes. Garry Barling was second on 30 points, with Jorn Ericksen a further point back in third.
Jon Batty had the only ‘2’ of the day on the short 6th.
1st Jon Batty (9) 35pts
2nd Garry Barling (7) 30pts
3rd Jorn Ericksen (21) 29pts
Note: The Links depart from the hotel on Soi Buakhao at 10.30am on Tuesdays and Thursdays and 9.45am for Green Valley every Sunday. Sign up at the hotel or contact Jon on 080 021 1034. A full schedule of courses can be found on the IPGC website.
