IPGC golf from The Links
Sunday, May 6, Green Valley – Stableford
Back to a full fixture list this week, and we started with a dozen golfers heading off to Green Valley today to find the course still in excellent condition, but the greens not up to their usual challenging pace.
For differing reasons, two players failed to complete the course, but for those that did, the scoring was generally good, with all but one finisher managing 30+ points.
Mark Stanley.
Cliff North just missed out on the places, his 34 points not quite good enough as he was pipped by Sam McLellan on an 11 to 10 back 6 after both scored 16 on the back 9. Alec Hoare was again in the mix on his “home” course, coming in with a strong 36 points. There was a welcome return to the winners enclosure for Jon Batty, who managed to meet all his usual pre-round targets; no 6’s, no 3 putts and two 9’s in the 30’s, on his way to a gross 78 for 39 points.
Frank McGowan scored the only ‘2’ of the day, and took the double rollover pot.
1st Jon Batty (9) 39pts
2nd Alec Hoare (18) 36pts
3rd Sam McLellan (13) 34pts
4th Cliff North (21) 34pts
Tuesday, May 8, Kiarti Thanee – Stableford
Eight players made our first trip of the year to this little gem on the Bang na-Trad highway, with most feeling it was worth the journey of a little over an hour. Although things didn’t look good as we drove through a heavy storm on the outskirts of Pattaya, the storm passed around the Bangpra area and we teed off in very light drizzle which was refreshingly welcome in the hot still conditions.
The course was on the whole in its usual immaculate condition, although the greens were unusually slow and a little grainy.
Mark Stanley played a solid round of golf to score 36 points and register his first victory with the Links during his 5 month trip, after finishing second on three previous outings. Nick Odnoral put the shock of being charged as much for his none-playing partner as he was for himself behind him, as he scored 20 points on the back 9 after only managing 13 on the front, to take second place. Paul Rennel edged out Jon Batty by virtue of a 16-13 count back after both scored 32 points.
There were no ‘2’s, so the kitty rolled over to Phoenix on Thursday.
1st Mark Stanley (12) 36pts
2nd Nick Odnoral (17) 33pts
3rd Paul Rennel (17) 32pts
4th Jon Batty (9) 32pts
Thursday, May 10, Phoenix – Stableford
Another reasonable field made the shorter trip to Phoenix today to tackle the Mountain and Lake courses. Although the sky looked a little threatening when we set off, we were met by very hot and sunny conditions, which made my decision to wear all black rather a strange one! Again, the greens were unusually slow as they are still coming back from their recent coring, but on the whole they ran true, and the course grows on me every time I play there after not really taking to it the first couple of times.
Scoring proved rather difficult today with only two of the field breaking the 30 point barrier, with Cliff North claiming his first podium finish in quite a while, taking second place with 31 points. Victory again went to Jon Batty, who scored a creditable 37 points in the fairly tough conditions.
Again there were no ‘2’s on the tricky par 3’s, so as per last week, any deuces this coming Sunday at Green Valley could prove rather valuable.
1st Jon Batty (9) 37pts
2nd Cliff North (21) 31pts
3rd Grant Cadell (15) 29pts
Note: The Links depart from the hotel on Soi Buakhao at 9.30am on Tuesdays and Thursdays and for Rayong 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 www.ipgc.org.
