The Pattaya Golf Society at Rabbi’s Elephant Bar
Heavy coring at Silky Oak at the weekend meant that the Pattaya Golf Society had no other option than to redirect to Crystal Bay on Monday, 23rd April and found the B and C nines well prepared and once again devoid of golfers. Fairways are now very dry and have a lot of run whilst the greens were also quite hard and less receptive than normal. However the welcome was as warm as ever and the small group enjoyed a round of no more than four hours.
In third place was Peter Ditz with 33 points and in second was Ronnie Ramsay, the Scottish power player recording 35 points on a rare break from work. The winner was Alex Sala and he put together a steady if unspectacular level par round despite finding the greens difficult to assess, three-putting on more than a few occasions.
There were no birdie ‘2’s and Mr Len took the Booby Bevy for his third successive back nine implosion, the current oppressive heat and humidity obviously not to his liking. But what else, apart from golf, is going to get us out of bed on a Pattaya morning?
3G at Bangpra and Boss clicks
The Pattaya Golf Society visited Bangpra on Wednesday, 25th April to play a stableford competition on the exquisite course, a favourite of many Pattaya golfers. A hot, bright day drew the best out of the course visually and the dry fairways gave plenty of run. The greens, having been recently lightly cored and dressed, were running at a more moderate pace and this suited the fair-sized field better than the horrors of the recent downhill putts.
Competition was tight throughout and James Smith joined his brother Chris in a share of second place with 34 points, the latter coming up with an excellent best gross of 75. Masa Takano returned from Japan to muscle in on the place with a fine 34 points also.
On his previous three rounds PGS golf geezer Mr Len has flattered to deceive with excellent front nine figures only to wilt in the heat and drift off the pace but today he was dogged in his efforts and put together his best round for a few weeks, finishing in first place with the only sub-par round of the day, 38 points.
Another “first” for the group was the appearance of three generations of the same family in the field as Ronnie Ramsay introduced son Jonathan to the course to join Ronnie Senior in the same group.
There were no birdie ‘2’s and the Booby Bevy went to Jørn Eriksen for his largest split figures and he responded with a zesty tug of Rabbi’s bell rope to celebrate the occasion. What an excellent day it had been at Bangpra!
Winning return for Sam
On Friday, 27th April, the Pattaya Golf Society visited Mountain Shadow to play a monthly medal event on the tough course, with its trees in the fairways and huge rolling greens. On days like this it is a man’s game and a dozen golfers turned out to be tested on a very hot day again. The course was well turned out but dry fairways gave a lot of run and the greens had a bit of pace to them.
In third place with net 76 was Brian Talbot, again playing some steady error free golf. The runner-up was Wichai Tananusorn, coming off the back of a successful round earlier in the week at Plutaluang and his net 74 showed signs of an exciting return to form for the popular Thai golfer. The winner was Sam McLellan on his return to Pattaya and he recorded a fine net 70 for an emphatic win.
Masa Takano posted the only birdie ‘2’, on the fifteenth hole. Hmm, Mountain Shadow certainly provides some challenges in strokeplay golf.
