PSC golf from The Growling Swan
Tuesday, May 6, Bangpra – Stableford
As it was a Thai Public Holiday on the Monday we opted for a game the following day and Bangpra was the chosen venue. After a late withdrawal we ended up with 17 on the starting sheet and as we all assembled at the Growling Swan we welcomed Okada Michio from Japan.
Our 2 mini vans left the GS right on time at 8.30 am and arrived at the golf course 43 minutes later. After we got things sorted out we wandered down to the first tee and our first group, a three-ball, teed off 10 minutes ahead of schedule at 10.20 am in hot and humid conditions.
Martin Todd, Sandy Leiper & Alain Taddei.
The skies above were looking ominous as we proceeded and with plenty of thunder and the occasional flashes of lightning we continued our round, enjoying the fine condition of the course with well grassed fairways and of course beautifully prepared greens, although I found them just a tad slower than normal. The thunder continued for most of the round but thankfully we did not get a drop of rain and we were back in the clubhouse three hours & fifty minutes later.
Martin “Toddy” Todd, one of my playing partners in the first group played some terrific golf with 15 pars and 3 bogeys and was the winner in Division A with 42 points, 8 points ahead of Mike Gosden in second spot. With 2 golfers on 32 points a count back was needed to determine third place and it was your writer, Peter “Blacky” Blackburn (18 point back nine) who prevailed over “Big” Bill Steinman (16 point back nine).
In Division B it was Alain “Inspector Clouseau” Taddei who got the chocolates with 37 points and Ken Hole came second with 33. There were 3 golfers on 29 points vying for third place and the victorious one was John Davis (16 point back nine) from Rita Zoebelli (14 point back nine) and Volker Buley (11 point back nine).
Division A (0-13)
1st Martin Todd (9) 42pts
2nd Mike Gosden (12) 34pts
3rd Peter Blackburn (11) 32pts
Division B (14+)
1st Alain Taddei (15) 37pts
2nd Ken Hole (20) 33pts
3rd John Davis (14) 29pts
Near Pins: 2nd – Takeshi Hakozaki, 12th – Takeshi Hakozaki/Ken Hole (tied)
Long Putts: 9th – Sal Brizzi, 18th – Ebrahim
The Growling Swan NAGA Award (awarded to the golfer who has the worst score on the day) was won by Sandy “Cindy Lauper” Leiper.
Thursday, May 8, Greenwood – Stableford
Greenwood Golf Course was the chosen venue for this Thursday game and we had a good field of 21 signed up to play. After a 52 minute drive we arrived at the golf course which was practically deserted and we were allocated the A & B nines in that order and proceeded to the A1 tee.
Martin Todd & Geri Crilly.
Our first group, a three-ball, got away just 5 minutes after our scheduled 10.00 am tee time and in hot & humid conditions we commenced our round, finding the golf course in excellent conditions with some greens recently sanded but posing no problems at all.
Water intake was essential but didn’t slow us down and even though our last three holes were accompanied by thunder and some lightning we escaped the rain which commenced a few minutes after we had finished our four hours & fifteen minute round. The last few groups weren’t so lucky but managed to complete their rounds after a short rain delay.
Playing his last round in Pattaya for a couple of months, Martin “Toddy” Todd made it two in a row when he won the A Division with another fine round, scoring 39 points, 4 points ahead of “Big” Bill Steinman in second place. With 3 players on 33 points a count back was required to find out who was third and it was Gerd Riedler (18 point back nine) who prevailed over Ebrahim (15 point back nine) and your writer, Peter “Blacky” Blackburn (15 point back nine).
Division B winner was Geri Crilly with 33 points and Andrew “Turtle” Allen came second with 30 points. Another count back was required as there were 2 golfers on 29 points and it resulted in Dick “Reverend” Braimbridge (19 point back nine) finishing third with Ken Hole (13 point back nine) just missing out.
Division A (0-19)
1st Martin Todd (9) 39pts
2nd Bill Steinman (10) 35pts
3rd Gerd Riedler (8) 33pts
Division B (20+)
1st Geri Crilly (26) 33pts
2nd Andrew Allen (32) 30pts
3rd Dick Braimbridge (36) 29pts
Near Pins: A2 – Geri Crilly, A6 – Bill Steinman, B5 – Volker Buley
Long Putts: A9 – Mike Gosden, B9 – Martin Todd
The Growling Swan NAGA Award was won by Growling Swan Mine Host, Peter Grey, and he accepted the award like the good sport that he is.
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. Sunday is Lawn Bowls and Wednesday is Indoor Bowls. 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.
