PSC golf from The Growling Swan
Thursday, July 4, Mountain Shadow – Stableford
Well, I must say it is great to be back in sunny Pattaya again after a couple of weeks in the UK where the weather was shall we say somewhat different. First of all many thanks to the guys who looked after the show in my absence, mainly Paul Hack who was ably supported by Dick Braimbridge, Sal Brizzi, Graham Buckingham, Max Bracegirdle and the redoubtable Peter Grey.
On this morning it was fantastic to see a terrific field of 32 golfers who were signed up to play the popular Mountain Shadow Golf Course and we assembled at The Growling Swan in readiness for the journey.
Peter Starr, Fred Dineley & Martin Todd.
Hearty welcomes were handed out to your writer returning from his UK trip, Rocky Lawson & Rob Cross from Melbourne and also Rohan Wright and his brother Ian. It was sadly time to say farewell to good & loyal friend Bob Akapita who is returning to his work in Gove in the Northern Territory of Australia, Peter Starr who is off back to Brisbane for a while, Graham Rice returning to the Northern Territory of Australia and his brother John who is returning to Brisbane.
We arrived at the course in plenty of time and it was not at all busy so we were able to relax in our preparation and our first of eight four-balls got away 10 minutes ahead of schedule at 9.50 am under cloudy skies and the usual high humidity.
The course was in great shape and although we were warned that some of the greens had been partly cored this was not really evident and we found them to be fine. There were some tricky pin positions which did cause a few problems for some but all in all the golf course was terrific as usual.
Despite the thunder “booming” overhead for all of the back nine we amazingly felt only a few drops of rain and many thanks to the “Rain Gods” who once more looked after us. We did have a lady three-ball in front of us all the way but they didn’t really hold us up and we finished the round in an even four hours.
We were able to have 2 grades with A Grade being for handicaps 0 to 19 and B Grade for handicaps of 20 and over with 5 prizes in each grade. There were also rewards for nearest the pins all the par threes and longest first putts on the 9th & 18th greens.
The winner in A Grade with a fine 38 points was Martin “Toddy” Todd and with 2 golfers on 36 points the count back saw Kevin “Wayco” Waycott (21 point back nine) finish second from veteran Ted Morris (20 point back nine) in third spot. With 3 players on 35 points vying for fourth & fifth places it was your writer Peter “Blacky” Blackburn (20 point back nine) who finished fourth from Paul Avery (19 point back nine) in fifth spot with Mark West (14 point back nine) just missing out.
Fred Dineley was victorious in the B Grade with 37 points, 2 points ahead of Max “Corsets” Bracegirdle in second place and John Davis finished third with 32 points. With 2 golfers on 31 points another count back was required which saw Graham “Grunter” Buckingham (14 point back nine) grab fourth spot from Geri Crilly (12 point back nine) who finished fifth.
A Flight (0-19)
1st Martin Todd (9) 38pts
2nd Kevin Waycott (10) 36pts
3rd Ted Morris (13) 36pts
4th Peter Blackburn (11) 35pts
5th Paul Avery (10) 35pts
B Flight (20+)
1st Fred Dineley (26) 37pts
2nd Max Bracegirdle (24) 35pts
3rd John Davis (23) 32pts
4th Graham Buckingham (23) 31pts
5th Geri Crilly (27) 31pts
Near Pins: 5th – Rohan Wright, 8th – Andrew Allen, 15th – Peter Blackburn, 17th – Graham Rice
Long Putts: 9th – Paul Avery, 18th – Kevin Waycott
The Growling Swan NAGA Award (awarded to the golfer who has the worst score on the day) was easily won by Peter Starr who now has the distinction of being a member of the first Father & Son combination to have won the Growling Swan NAGA. Peter of course accepted the award in fine spirit and wore the cap for the rest of the evening back at the bar.
Toddy was kind enough to parade Deefa the Dog and of course collected many donations for the needy in Pattaya from our generous Growling Swan Golfers.
Note: Growling Swan Golf welcomes golfers of any persuasion – low & high handicappers alike, female golfers and beginners. We generally play Mondays & Thursdays, meeting at The Growling Swan (formerly The Bunker Bar) in Soi Chaiyapoon at 8.00 am with transport departing at 8.30 am. For bookings or more information please contact Peter on 0806 351 386 or email to petermalcolmblackburn @gmail.com.
