PSC golf from The Growling Swan
Monday, Sept. 9, Bangpra – Stableford
The weekend was over and it was time to get back into the serious stuff – Golf! Bangpra has long been a favourite of many and the current Sports Day rate of 800 baht Green Fee is certainly excellent value for money even though after next month it will be back to “High Season” rates.
There was a terrific Monday field of 27 golfers signed up to play and when veteran Hugh O’Donnell turned up at 8.25 am looking for a game due to his golf at another golf outlet being cancelled, that made it an even seven groups of four. Three mini vans had been ordered so with a few travelling in private cars there was plenty of room for Hugh and he was of course given a hearty welcome along with our friend Bob Akapita from Gove in the Northern Territory of Australia, Mark Stapleton from Melbourne and long time Pattaya resident Rita Zoebelli.
Luca Santi, Niall Stuart, Fred Dineley & Ted Morris.
We sped off up No. 7 and arrived at the course just 39 minutes later which meant we had plenty of time before our 10.00 am booked tee off and we were asked by the Starter to please proceed straight away which meant our first four-ball got away 10 minutes ahead of schedule at 9.50 am. The weather was fine but hot with very little breeze and the golf course was as ever in terrific shape with the infamous Bangpra slick greens all too eager to punish anyone with lengthy putts above the hole.
We breezed through the first nine in just over two hours but slowed down considerably on the back nine after catching up with a Japanese lady four-ball. Not to worry as it was a very enjoyable round of golf with excellent company and our eighteen holes were completed in four hours & fifteen minutes.
We had 2 Grades – A Grade for handicaps 0 to 17 and B Grade for handicaps 18 & over with 6 places in each grade. There were also rewards for nearest the pins on the four par threes and longest first putts on the 9th & 18th greens.
John Davis, Paul Kennedy & Bob Akapita.
After having his best round of golf for many months, the visiting Bob Akapita won the A Grade with 35 points, just 1 point ahead of Mike Allidi in second place. With 3 golfers on 33 points a count back was necessary to determine third, fourth & fifth and it was Kevin “Wayco” Waycott (18 point back nine) taking third spot from Jayson Schembri (17 point back nine) in fourth place and fifth went to Sal Brizzi (14 point back nine). Another count back was required to decide sixth place with two on 32 points and Ebrahim (16 point back nine) claimed that spot from your writer, Peter “Blacky” Blackburn (15 point back nine).
The B Grade was won by John Davis who had 35 points and with 2 golfers having 34 points another count back saw Patrick Poussier (18 point back nine) take second place from Rita Zoebelli (14 point back nine) with Thientong Charoenrung fourth on 33 points. Graham “Grunter” Buckingham took fifth place with 32 points and in a count back for sixth with two players on 30 points it was veteran Hugh O’Donnell (19 point back nine) who edged out Max “Corsets” Bracegirdle (16 point back nine).
The golf course was as usual the winner on the day with no-one playing to their handicap or better but it had been a really good day at a quality golf venue.
A Flight (0-17)
1st Bob Akapita (17) 35pts
2nd Mike Allidi (3) 34pts
3rd Kevin Waycott (11) 36pts
4th Jayson Schembri (17) 33pts
5th Sal Brizzi (7) 33pts
6th Ebrahim (16) 32pts
B Flight (19+)
1st John Davis (23) 35pts
2nd Patrick Poussier (24) 34pts
3rd Rita Zoebelli (22) 34pts
4th Thientong Charoenrung (19) 33pts
5th Graham Buckingham (22) 32pts
6th Hugh O’Donnell (33) 30pts
Near Pins: 2nd – Mike Gosden, 8th – Dave Neal, 12th – Rita Zoebelli, 17th – Thientong Charoenrung
Long Putts: 9th – Rita Zoebelli, 18th – Mark Stapleton
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 Paul Kennedy and he accepted & wore the award with pride for quite some time in the bar later.
Thursday, Sept. 12, Pleasant Valley – Stableford
It was a wet Thursday morning as we gathered at The Growling Swan in readiness for the journey to the Pleasant Valley Golf Course and there was yet another bumper field of 34 golfers signed up to play.
We welcomed Graham Rice from Gove in the Northern Territory of Australia, Peter Petroaillis from Brisbane and Italian Luca Santi currently working in Pattaya. It was sadly time to farewell Paul Kennedy who is returning to Melbourne and Bob Akapita who is returning to his work at Gove in the Northern Territory of Australia.
We departed the GS in three mini vans just a tad after our scheduled 8.30 am and proceeded to the golf course in drizzling rain but we were of course confident of an uninterrupted round of golf – well it almost was!
After just 39 minutes we arrived at the course and it appeared to be fairly busy as is only natural on this fine golf course at a good price and after waiting 10 minutes or so we sent our first four-ball away 15 minutes ahead of schedule at 9.45 am. There had been a fair bit of rain overnight so carts were not allowed on the fairways which meant preferred lies were the order of the day and as the fairways were somewhat soggy this did help considerably.
Apart from the wet the course was looking quite good although some of the greens were very slow and took some time to adjust to the pace. We completed the front nine in just over two hours & then the heavens opened but thankfully it only lasted about fifteen minutes and after sheltering for a short while we continued without any more interruptions. Four hours and fifteen minutes was all it took to complete the round even with the stoppage and I have to say it was very enjoyable to have played with another three of the Growling Swan Delinquents in Andrew, Russell and Fred.
We had 3 Grades – A Grade for handicaps 0 to 13, B Grade for handicaps 14 to 21 & C Grade for handicaps 22 and over with 4 places in each grade. There were also rewards for nearest the pins on the four par threes and longest first putts on the 9th & 18th greens.
We played off the white tees mainly due to the wet conditions so I anticipated some good scores but veteran Ted Morris had an absolute day out and almost shot his age (75) in winning the A Grade with a magnificent 45 points off his 13 handicap – Well done Ted! Another terrific score of 69 gross could only give Mike Allidi second spot with his 42 points and Peter Bye was third with 40 points with John Pierrel fourth on 39 points.
There were three players in the B Grade with 39 points so a count back was required which resulted in newcomer Luca Santi (22 point back nine) being declared the winner from Mark “Westy” West (21 point back nine) in second place and Alain “Inspector Clouseau” Taddei (20 point back nine) took out third place. Stu “Heineken” Rifkin finished fourth with 37 points.
In the C Grade Fred Dineley’s 39 points got him first place from Paul “Muncha” Moloney in second place. John Davis finished third with 35 points and Mark Stapleton was fourth on 33 points.
A Flight (0-13)
1st Ted Morrs (13) 45pts
2nd Mike Allidi (3) 42pts
3rd Peter Bye (13) 40pts
4th John Pierrel (11) 39pts
B Flight (14-21)
1st Luca Santi (19) 39pts
2nd Mark West (15) 39pts
3rd Alain Taddei (17) 39pts
4th Stu Rifkin (14) 37pts
C Flight (22+)
1st Fred Dineley (25) 39pts
2nd Paul Moloney (32) 38pts
3rd John Davis (23) 35pts
4th Mark Stapleton (25) 33pts
Near Pins: 5th – Mark West, 8th – Gavin Garfield, 13th – Luca Santi, 17th – Russell Calcutt
Long Putts: 9th – Peter Blackburn, 18th – Mark West
The Growling Swan NAGA Award was well won by Niall Stuart once again and he accepted & wore the award with pride. Andrew “Turtle” Allen then kindly paraded 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.
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.
