PSC Golf from The Growling Swan
Monday, July 8, Bangpra – Stableford
After a last minute cancellation due to sickness there were 18 of us who assembled at The Growling Swan on a wet Pattaya Monday morning ready to take the journey to the popular Bangpra Golf Course. We welcomed Alex Field from Sydney and Alan “Colonel” Sanders from Queensland and we headed off five minutes ahead of schedule at 8.25 am.
The rain continued and in fact increased throughout the journey to the course & by the time we arrived it was apparent that our day’s golf was in doubt. Seeing the “No Rain Check” sign on the counter at reception prompted us to hang around for a while, along with several other groups that were scheduled to tee off ahead of us and lo and behold, our patience was rewarded.
Rob Cross & Martin Todd.
It was still raining lightly after we had waited for around 90 minutes but the skies appeared to be clearing so we made a decision that we would play so we paid our fees and trundled down to the first tee. Unfortunately five of our group were not too keen and decided to return to Pattaya rather than get a little damp and it was not really a good call as the day turned out fine. We finally got our first group away at 10.45 am and thankfully, although it was still drizzling rain the skies were starting to clear and after 3 holes the rain had just about ceased.
Naturally the golf course was wet but we had the appropriate rules in place so we continued our round and after four hours & twenty minutes we finished in sunshine. Bad luck to the five “deserters” who missed a very good day on one of Pattaya’s oldest & finest layouts.
Sandy Leiper, Warwick Anderson & Ted Morris.
With the reduced field we had just the 1 grade with 5 places on the podium and there were also rewards for nearest the pins all the par threes and longest first putts on the 9th & 18th greens.
Martin “Toddy” Todd continued his good form and won with a very good 38 points and another form golfer, Max “Corsets” Bracegirdle, finished second on 35 points. In third place came Peter Bye with 30 points and Alan “Colonel” Sanders was fourth on 29 points. There were three golfers on 28 points vying for fifth spot and the count back saw Frank “Woody” Donnelly (14 point back nine) edge out Takeshi Hakozaki (13 point back nine) and Ebrahim (9 point back nine).
1st Martin Todd (10) 38pts
2nd Max Bracegirdle (23) 35pts
3rd Peter Bye (14) 30pts
4th Alan Sanders (17) 29pts
5th Frank Donnelly (20) 28pts
Near Pins: 2nd – Takeshi Hakozaki, 8th – Ebrahim, 12th – Kevin Waycott
Long Putts: 9th – Frank Donnelly, 18th – Alex Field
The Growling Swan NAGA Award, (awarded to the golfer who has the worst score on the day and discreetly their score is not made public) was won by Rob Cross and he of course accepted the award in fine spirit and wore the cap for a short while 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. Back at the bar there was a small, quality group of us who of course had a load of fun and once again thanked the “Rain Gods” for looking after us.
Thursday, July 11, Pleasant Valley – Stableford
Once again I awoke at 5.30 am to the sound of pouring rain and thought here we go again. I was waiting for my phone to ring with cancellations but thankfully our faithful crew are starting to get the message about Pattaya weather. There was of course the one cancellation from a guy who thinks if he gets wet he will probably dissolve but the remaining true and dedicated 29 starters turned up at the Growling Swan ready to tackle Pleasant Valley Golf Course. We welcomed Tony Yemm, Dane O”Brien and Craig Pensini from Perth in Western Australia and also Warwick “Kiwi” Anderson. Three mini vans had been ordered and we got away from the GS right on time at 8.30 am under cloudy skies and drizzling rain which stopped and started throughout the 45 minute journey, but by the time we got there it was fine. The golf course was very quite and after our preparation we were invited to tee off at our leisure which meant our first group, a three ball was able to get away 10 minutes ahead of schedule at 9.50 am. The course was of course quite wet after the recent rains but nonetheless was looking a treat and with the appropriate relief rules in place the course was perfectly playable and as mentioned was in fine “nick”. We had groups in front of us but they “scooted” away and when the four ball in front of us called us through at the half way mark we proceeded at a cracking pace and completed our round in the excellent time of three hours & thirty minutes. It was a very enjoyable round of golf with great company, terrific weather and some pretty good golf played in our group.
We were able to have 2 grades with A Grade being for handicaps 0 to 18 and B Grade for handicaps of 19 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.
In a count back for first & second place in the A Grade with 2 golfers on 43 points it was veteran Ted Morris (22 point back nine) who took first spot from Rocky Lawson (21 point back nine) in second place. In form golfer Martin “Toddy” Todd was third with 42 points, Peter “Blacky” Blackburn fourth on 41 points and Alain “Inspector Clouseau” Taddei rounded off the podium with 40 points. In B Grade it was a welcome return to form for Sandy “Cindy Lauper” Leiper (22 point back nine) who won in a count back from John Davis (19 point back nine) with both golfers having a terrific 45 points. In third place came Shane “Jockey” Young with 43 points and with 2 players on 35 points another count back resulted in Fred Dineley (21 point back nine) taking fourth place from Andrew “Turtle” Allen (18 point back nine) in fifth place.
A Flight (0-18)
1st Ted Morris (13) – 43pts
2nd Rocky Lawson (17) 43pts
3rd Martin Todd (10) 42pts
4th Peter Blackburn (11) 41pts
5th Alain Taddei (16) 40pts
B Flight (19+)
1st Sandy Leiper (36) 45pts
2nd John Davis (23) 45pts
3rd Shane Young (31) 43pts
4th Fred Dineley (26) 35pts
5th Andrew Allen (36) 35pts
Near Pins: 5th – Ted Morris, 8th – John Davis, 13th – Kevin Waycott, 17th – Martin Todd
Long Putts: 9th – Dane O’Brien, 18th – Alan “Colonel” Sanders
The Growling Swan NAGA Award was won by Warwick “Kiwi” Anderson who accepted & wore the award with pride for most of the evening. Max “Corsets” Bracegirdle 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, the home of friendly golf in Pattaya 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.
