PSC Golf from The Growling Swan
Monday, Feb. 10, Plutaluang E & S – Stableford
With the colder weather well and truly behind us it was shaping up to be a hot one as we met at The Growling Swan in readiness for our departure to Plutaluang for our first outing of the week.
A late inclusion saw a field of 20 on the starting sheet and we headed off South down Sukhumvit in 2 mini vans 5 minutes ahead of schedule at 8.25 am, arriving at the golf course 45 minutes later. It was reasonably busy as it usually is on a Monday and we were allocated the East & South nines, starting on E1 and managed to get our first group away 17 minutes after our scheduled 9.28 am tee time.
Martin Todd, JC Lhoste & Patrick Poussier.
With no groups immediately in front of us we were able to set a fairly good pace as we enjoyed the excellent condition of the course with the greens being very well prepared & maintained and considerably quicker than we have been used to in the past on these 2 nines. The weather did indeed turn out to be hot so plenty of water was consumed and as we slowed down somewhat on the back nine our round turned out to be a little slow taking four hours & forty minutes.
The first nine was probably quicker with less time spent on the greens (four birdies for Martin Todd) but he did let us down on the second nine with just the one birdie. It was a very enjoyable round, particularly watching Toddy exercise his skills while the other three of us enjoyed the walk.
It was of course Martin “Toddy” Todd who finished on top in Division A with 38 points although just 1 point ahead of Mike Allidi whose 74 gross got him into second place. With 2 golfers on 32 points a count back was required to determine third spot and it was Colm Mullen (17 point back nine) who got the honours from Ebrahim (16 point back nine).
It was extremely tight in B Division with four golfers on that very popular score of 32 points and the count back saw Patrick Poussier (18 point back nine) finish first from Nolan “No-one” Wise (16 point back nine) in second place and Alan “Colonel” Sanders (15 point back nine) finished third. The one to miss out was Max “Corsets” Bracegirdle (14 point back nine).
Division A (0-20)
1st Martin Todd (8) 38pts
2nd Mike Allidi (3) 37pts
3rd Colm Mullen (18) 32pts
Division B (17+)
1st Patrick Poussier (23) 32pts
2nd Nolan Wise (36) 32pts
3rd Alan Sanders (26) 32pts
Near Pins: E2 – Martin Todd, E5 – Colm Mullen, S4 – Duangjai Tusagad
Long Putts: E9 – Ebrahim, S9 – Max Bracegirdle
Thursday, Feb. 13, Pleasant Valley – 2 Person Scramble/Stroke
It was time for our once a month novelty competition and this time it was Ambrose Pairs (2 person Scramble) with a random draw, pairing a low handicapper with a high one with the names being drawn out of a hat. After several late withdrawals and additions we luckily ended up with an ideal field of 28 (7 groups of four) and Pleasant Valley was the venue for the event.
As all were on time we left the GS 5 minutes early at 8.25 am and after a very good run exiting Pattaya and up number 7 we arrived at the course 40 minutes later to find a fair bit of activity there. We did the draw and after a few moans & groans (good natured of course) after discovering partners we headed to the first tee where there were a few groups ahead of us but we managed to send our first group away 5 minutes later than our scheduled 10.00 am time.
Masa Tojo & Rita Zoebelli.
The weather was quite hot with plenty of crowd cover and a bit of wind (not Peter Grey this time) and the golf course was in great shape with the fairways lush and the greens, although a touch slow were very well kept.
The views on this course are spectacular and to be honest when some people speak negatively about this course I just shake my head! It is terrific value for money and that was the opinion of most on the day. The going was quite slow at first but did quicken up somewhat and even with a 10 minute drink stop after the 15th green we managed to complete the round in four hours & twenty minutes. Everyone enjoyed the format and there were some good results with the winning pair having an outstanding round.
With an excellent score of net 60.75 it was Rita Zoebelli and Masa Tojo who finished on top, with Colm Mullen & Russell Calcutt in second place on net 62.5. In third spot came Martin “Toddy” Todd & Max “Corsets” Bracegirdle with net 63.75 and Alain “Inspector Clouseau” Taddei and Gerd Riedler finished in fourth place on net 64.25. Roy “Plums” Dayton & Steve Reeves completed the podium with a net 64.5, finishing in fifth place.
1st Rita Zoebelli (25) & Masa Tojo (12) net 60.75
2nd Colm Mullen (18) & Russell Calcutt (36) net 62.5
3rd Martin Todd (8) & Max Bracegirdle (25) net 63.75
4th Alain Taddei (19) & Gerd Riedler (8) net 64.25
5th Roy Dayton (23) & Steve Reeves (11) net 64.5
Near Pins: 5th – J C Lhoste, 8th – Don Richardson, 13th – Don Richardson, 17th – Max Bracegirdle
Long Putts: 9th – Steve Reeves, 18th – Gus Walker
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 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.
We also play bowls out of the Growling Swan every Wednesday and Sunday. All are welcome and for anyone that is interested the transport leaves The Growling Swan at 10.00am on each of those mornings. For more information please contact Paul Rennison on 0843 454 005.
