IPGC Pattaya Golf Society at Rabbi’s Elephant Bar
On Monday, 22nd August, the Pattaya Golf Society’s “golf geezer”, Mr Len celebrated the arrival of his senior status and the imminent arrival of his debut OAP cheque with a pairs scramble at Pleasant Valley, using the occasion as the group’s monthly charity event as well. The course, except for the bunkers, was in fair condition and its very tight back nine would make a stern challenge for the scrambling pairs.
All the golfers were intent on enjoying themselves in good conditions and many technical prizes were up for grabs, all sponsored by the members of the group, with a special contribution from “Golf Click”. The par three near pins went to Fred Land, Wichai Tananusorn and Don Nellis (two) and the near pin second shot on hole twelve was won in splendid style by Ronnie Ramsay and the accuracy of his third shot on the tough par five fifteenth won Mikael Andersson the prize. Tony Thorne took the longest putt on the final hole with a prodigious cross slope effort.
Rabbi and Mr. Len flanked by Monday’s winning pair of Benny Hansen and Don Nellis.
The competition proper saw Mikael Andersson and Roy Thornton record the best gross figures of 71 whilst Fred Land and Kenny Priddy finished in third with net 62.4. Wichai Tananusorn and Mr Len fired the second best gross round the day, level par, to finish with 61.8 net in second place and the winning pair were the individual “form” men currently, Don Nellis and Benny Hansen with net 60.5.
Bryan Barrel and Bobby Shirkey had the ignominy of the Booby Bevy and Ronnie Ramsay and partner Allen Dow recorded the day’s biggest split figures of 41 – 35.
The presentation buffet was provided by Khun Peung and it was a sumptuous affair as always and the highlight of the evening was the presentation of an exclusive engraved IPGC golf bag to Mr Len, by Rabbi, on behalf of all of his golf friends.
Khun Phennipa the Administrative Officer of the Fr. Ray Foundation Outreach Center was present to receive a large donation which had been raised by the amazing generosity of the golfers, pushing the amount raised so far this year to 85,000 baht and keeping the group well on track to meet its first year target of 100K.
For Mr Len “senior moments” will surely come but nothing could beat this particular senior moment in the warm-hearted company of the PGS.
Rampant Ramsay
The Pattaya Golf Society chose Pattaya CC as its venue for a stableford competition on Friday, 26th August, on a cool, stormy and miserable day. The course was surprisingly in good condition and the greens still retained a lot of speed. The bunkers, though well kept, were saturated and spongy. In such conditions good scores were at a premium but amazingly a third of the field recorded scores of level par or better.
Sharing second place on 37 points were Tony Thorne and Don Nellis, the latter enjoying his best spell in quite a few years of golf with PGS. Revelling in conditions reminiscent of a balmy Caledonian summer was Ronnie Ramsay and all the power and focus was there again as he amassed forty points for an excellent win. He even overcame the lack of his golf shoes and had to make an investment in the Pro Shop before teeing off!
The ‘2’s pot was shared by Wichai Tananusorn and Alan Duckett with fine efforts on holes 7 and 12 and the Booby Bevy went to Ronnie Snr for his low return of the day.
And so another week with the Pattaya Golf Society ended. Final word: anyone requiring an almost new pair of golf footwear, size nine, should contact Ronnie Jnr and maybe they could step into his shoes after his four-under performance at Pattaya CC.
