The Golf Club weekly review
Monday, Feb. 13, Green Valley (white tees) – Stableford
1st Martin Zimmerman (14) 40pts
2nd Alan Rothwell (7) 38pts
3rd Steve Sweeney (22) 35pts
T4th Andy Makara (26) 34pts
T4th Ian Whitworth (20) 34pts
Another good turnout saw 8 groups hit the road for Green Valley. It’s a shame about the roadworks causing such chaos but in a few months it will all be back to normal… I think.
‘The Sweeney’ had a good day and 35 got Stevie third on the podium. Eternal bridesmaid (but in the frame once more) Alan Rothwell bettered his handicap with 38 points for second. He’s making a career out of this game!
Our old pal the Z-Man joined us and showed the regulars how the game is played with a big red 40 circled at the top of his scorecard to claim the win. Martin is a regular at Siam so maybe these greens were a bit easy for the 14 handicapper!
I had to buy Mark Wood a drink as his birdie on the Caddy Smile near pin gave him the required “2” for a bevvie of choice back at The Club.
Tuesday, Feb. 14, Mt. Shadow (blue tees) – Stableford
T1st Kenny Aihara (6) 32pts
T1st Rob Taylor (9.6) 32pts
3rd Alan Rothwell (7) 30pts
T4th Dan Dietz (10) 29pts
T4th Fred Birch (17) 29pts
As we all know, the clubhouse here has seen better days but the course is holding up OK and reports back from the lads were positive. Mountain Shadow is at a great price point and as a local it can be recommended. If I were flying 16 hours to get here, there would be other courses higher on the list.
Boy was it windy out here today! Gusts up to 30mph protected those quick greens and made for some laughable scoring. Having a 29 and being in the money was a shocker for some!
Dandy Dan Dietz and Fred Birch were the two blokes with raised eyebrows and smiles on their faces and were happy to collect some handsome man vouchers from Capt. Dave.
The ‘Mayor of New York’ took sole third behind his Wangjuntra partner Kenny Aihara and Rob Taylor, both on 32, who were the winners.
Thursday, Feb. 16, Wangjuntra Highlands (white tees) – 2-Man Scramble
T1st Darren Stanton & Mick Neyland (5.7) net 65.3
T1st Sean McHugh & Andy Bell (4.7) net 65.3
3rd Alan Rothwell & Kenny Aihara (2.9) net 66.1
I can give you all a piece of advice when playing this course, book a room at the hotel and stay overnight and play the Jungle or Valley the next day. It is just too long of a day to drive 2 hours out there, play a round and then drive 2 hours or more back to Pattaya, even when somebody else is driving.
The hotel rooms here are quite nice, very large but basic and all are clean and comfortable. You must bring your own nightlife, and the game room has a big TV, pool table and foosball in a log cabin motif. By 9 o’clock you will be knackered anyway.
A 2-man scramble was on the cards for today and that is the perfect format for this crazy course. The Highlands track is spectacular and truly a one of a kind design, but offers certain challenges that would take the wind out of your sails playing a standard comp.
We had 18 teams (36 golfers) and 9 tee times booked and chose the 6,340 yard white tees for the scramble. Our first group teed off at 10:10 and the last of the groups came in at 4:30 so it turned into an 11 hour day with traffic on the way back. The course was in really good condition and weather was a bit warm but beautiful.
The lower handicapped teams seemed to rule the roost and the podium was full of Pattaya’s best. I thought for a minute about going to the hundredths for the handicaps, and in retrospect should have, as the winners tied at 65.3!
The reason for this trip was for me ol’ mate Darren Stanton who had some lads coming over from Oz and he wanted to show them Wangjuntra. They were well impressed but trust Dazza to go out and win the darn thing! With his mate Mick Neyland, they tied with Sean McHugh (Yep, that’s Johnnie’s nephew.) and his buddy Andy Bell. These boys were just killin’ it off the tee box and drove the green on a couple of par-4’s!
William Hill and Ladbrokes favourites Kenny Aihara and Alan Rothwell had a big disadvantage playing off just 2.9, but had a respectable day with a 66.1 on the card for third place.
Friday, Feb. 17, Crystal Bay (yellow tees) – Stableford
T1st Zed Belogavec (19) 40pts
T1st Masao Ishikawa (18) 40pts
3rd Fred Birch (17) 36pts
28 golfers joined us today and the venue was Crystal Bay. The sister to Mountain Shadow, this course is remembered by the three tall condo towers looming over the clubhouse and visible from most holes. There are 27 holes here and it is an enjoyable track.
Today was a lovely day for golf, clear skies and that wind we had earlier had died down to a nice breeze.
Scoring was good, Ishi and Zed both managed to hit that 40 mark and Freddy Birch came good for third place as well. Masa Tojo got the Caddy Smile near pin and the birdie, but ran off after the presentation so Masa-san, I still owe you a drink!
