PSC golf from Tropical Bert’s
Tuesday, March 4, Khao Kheow – Stableford
This course is always the first we play every month, for two reasons; first it is a great test of golf and second, who really needs a second. We are always looked after at K.K and as we go to the course the attitude of the golfers is, ‘here we go for another great day out’, and it is rare it is not a good day.
This day promised to be a warm one so the players all put their sunscreen on in the changing room and went out to the start. The challenge for the day was to be the B & C Nines, which in many respects is the lesser of the 18 holes to my way of thinking. Still a game is a game so off we went.
Derek Brook (right), on behalf of the Royal British Legion Thailand, presents a certificate of appreciation to the staff at Khao Kheow Country Club.
The B nine lead off straight into the wind, but you always know you have the second and third holes with the wind behind. Except of course the wind always seems to drop when it is behind you. We usually play the yellow tees here, but just for a change we decided to play off the whites. After playing the course every month for a long time, and being beaten every time, the thought was that just for once we would like a chance of a walk in the park.
The wind proved a leveler but it was a pleasure to just be able to go around the course and not be beaten into the ground. The B Nine was in fine condition and very enjoyable and all who know Khao Kheow can sympathise with the odd lost ball in the water. The greens were a little slow however the ball seemed to miss the holes frequently. Such is life.
It was soon time to get onto the C Nine, probably my least favourite of the three nines. C1 is always a difficult par 5 as it is usually straight into the wind with water all down the left side and OB down the right. But play it well and you can have a great start to this nine holes. Unfortunately there is water on the left of the pin and as is usual my ball found it. Back to the drawing board! The round continued and the C Nine proved tough for many people. I think that C8 as a par 3 is as difficult as any around, and so it proved on this day.
Tuesday winners Mashi Kaneta (right) and Dick Warberg (left) with one of Bert’s finest.
So it was a windswept group that finally came down the last and went to the changing room for a shower, however it was a pleasure to play a round and not be struggling with the course all the way around.
I have been trying to make a presentation to the manager at Khao Kheow for months as the course always helps me out on ‘Poppy Golf Day’. So I wished to present them with a ‘Certificate of Appreciation’ from the Royal British Legion Thailand, and on this day caught the assistant manageress. I thanked them, especially Khun Surapol, the manager, not only for their help to the Legion, but also to Tropical Bert’s golf players.
Soon back at Bert’s we got the results under way. In the A Flight, 0 to 18, we had the perennial winner in first place, yes Mashi Kaneta won with 39 points. In second was John Hackett with 36 points on count back over Alan Sullivan in third.
The scores in the B Flight were a little better and that ‘Old Warhorse’ Dick Warberg won with a great 41 points. In second place was Paolo De Grandis who shot his best score ever with 40 points, well done. We then had a count back on 38 points that saw your scribe, Derek Brook, beat Tom Cotton on handicap. I felt really sorry for Tom but skill must out and also Tom loses too much sleep in his other sport to have the stamina for a full round.
Near Pins: Doug Maiko, Tom Herrington, Brian Gabe, Bob Britton
Long Putts: AVD, Dave Cooper
Friday, March 7, Wangjuntr – Stableford
I sometimes wonder if on a day such as this I should not try to get someone else to do the report, as I have clear views of this course that some of the others so clearly disagree with. This was my first visit to this the Highlands course and one I had heard so much about, so I thought I would go along. I have played the other course here though and thought it very interesting.
Friday winners Mark West and Silvano Pizzato pose with one of Bert’s helpers.
It is a long drive to Wangtunjr but once you get past Greenwood it is all downhill and the trick is to go with either a kind player with a car, or jump on the bus. On arrival you drop your clubs off and walk up the steep steps to the clubhouse. It is a fair climb but if you wait they will run you up there on a sort of small flatbed with seats on. However, just having arrived and looking forward to the day, most skip up the stairs like Spring lambs, till near the top.
The changing room is small but comfortable, but then you can walk down the steps to the caddies. Here the fun starts as they load you on to the back of a truck and take you for a drive through the countryside for ten minutes or so until you disembark at a rest stop. With us, that is when the caddies went off with the truck to find some carts. This is a fine time to top up on water and other such goodies.
When the carts arrived, we all loaded up and started the long drive, maybe 5 to 10 minutes, uphill to the first tee. We stopped at a drink station and I was surprised to see a set of steps up the side. I then was told we teed off on this hole from the roof of the rest stop. Not bad actually and it gave a great view down to a green that seemed a long way away.
So there we were, and all we had to do to get on to the roof was drive for miles, take a pickup up a hill, take a truck to a café in the wilds, go for a drive in a cart and climb onto a roof. And that was the easy bit!
The drive, with a golf club, from the roof was very interesting as we then went down the hill in the cart and I lost Darren as he got out of his cart and went for a walk across the fairway as his ball was on the left and this was when I discovered that carts were not allowed on the course. However, so far so good, and I was enjoying the fresh air and the scenery.
Have you ever taken a cart and not been allowed off the cart path? You tend to walk as far as you would if you had not taken a cart, and this I think is the point where those who enjoyed the course and those who did not parted. I have been on rollercoasters that were more level.
Wangtuntr Highlands is amongst the most picturesque courses I have seen, that is indisputable. It is also the one with the biggest climbs and drops I have ever played. So here we have the difference between those who thought the course was really fine and those who thought it a bit too much and gimmicky. And maybe it all has to do with age or ability.
Some of the holes are so above or below your feet it defies logic, and ones like the ‘Stairway to Heaven’ entails you to look at a green way above you with flat levels every hundred yards or so. Now hit on one of these flats and you have to go from the cart to the ball and climb to the green following the ball while your caddy dashes back and forth from the cart. However, once we got to the top of the hill we were usually met with large greens in fine condition that had wicked hollows on them. Indeed one green has a pond in the middle with yellow stakes.
After 13 holes I was absolutely physically beaten and they should have a health warning advising the ‘not as young as they were’ players to take insurance out before tackling the course. I scored one point in the last 5 holes, so a bit tough to say the least, with shoulder and back not working and my legs aching. Oh to be young again!
Round over and back at Bert’s we could get on with the presentation, and the scores were not very good.
In the A Flight, (0-20), the winner was Mark West with 35 points ahead of Mike Allidi in second with 32 points on count back over Richard Kubicki in third.
In the B Flight the winner was Silvano Pizzato with 34 points ahead of Jim Ferris in second with 32 and Don Cameron in third with 29.
Near Pins: Eddie Glinsek, Paul Alford, Tom Herrington, Richard Kubicki
Long Putts: Mike O’Brien, Mike Allidi
