PSC Golf from the Phantom Golf Society
Monday, August 3, Bangpra – Stableford
It was time to return to “The Monkey Course” and with 16 golfers signed up and clear skies we were all anticipating a good day of golf on one of Pattaya’s oldest and finest courses. We arrived at Bangpra to find it surprisingly quiet on one of their Sports Days and after a brief practice putt & chip we sent our first four-ball away a couple of minutes before our scheduled 9.42am tee time.
The weather was fine and not too hot with the golf course looking a treat and the greens were nearly back to their tricky best, with most downhill putts causing concern. With no groups to be seen ahead of us we played at a cracking pace and finished our round in three hours & forty five minutes. It was then back to The Phantom Bar where as usual we were treated to free pizzas & French fries and it was pleasing to see that everyone returned for presentations.
Peter Blackburn.
After a couple of months in the “wilderness” your writer, Peter Blackburn found some good form and won the day with 37 points, five clear of second placed Gerd Riedler. There were three golfers with 30 points vying for third & fourth places and it was John Pierrel (16 point back nine) who grabbed third spot from Walter Baechli (14 point back nine) finishing fourth while Dave Edwards (13 point back nine) just missed out.
1st Peter Blackburn (15) 37pts
2nd Gerd Riedler (8) 32pts
3rd John Pierrel (12) 30pts
4th Walter Baechli (15) 30pts
Near Pins: 8th – Christian Boysen, 12th – Peter Soerensen
Long Putts: 9th – Jim Vimoljaroen, 18th – Mogens Melander
Wednesday, August 5, Khao Kheow B & C – Phantom Golf Cup
This was the third Phantom Golf Cup tournament and once again the interest shown was excellent as we had 50 players on the starting sheet, which reduced to 46 after four “no-shows”. Once again we had a low gross prize so we settled on A Flight (0 to 11) playing stroke from the blue tees, with B Flight (12 to 19) playing stableford from the yellows & C Flight (20 & over) playing stableford from the whites.
Bob Watson.
The first-four ball got away off B1 a few minutes before our scheduled 9.00am time and then the rain came down, not really a downpour but enough to cause a delay of 10 minutes or so but our keen golfers proceeded in light rain and after a total of 25 minutes it was fine again. Preferred lies on the fairways were declared and naturally the fairways were fairly wet but it wasn’t too long before they dried out somewhat.
The course was playing long and tough in the conditions and this was reflected in the scores as only four players out of 46 played to their handicap or better. The pace was quite good for such a large number of groups and I guess the average time per group was just under four and a half hours.
Presentations were held back at The Phantom Bar where a fantastic buffet meal was provided for all players, partners & family and many thanks go to Peter, Jim & Lew from Lewiinskis for the food and thanks once again to Christian Boysen for sponsoring this very popular event.
As mentioned earlier, most of the scores were nothing to write home about and the low gross prize was won by Bob Watson with 84 gross.
It was tight at the top of A Flight with 2 players on net 78 and after the count back Christian “Psycho” Boysen (45 on the back nine) was declared the winner from Landis Brooks (46 on the back nine) in second place.
B Flight was well won by “Buffalo” Bill Steinman who scored 39 points and another count back was needed to decide second & third which resulted in Nat Rukkid (17 point back nine) taking second place from Dave Nicholson (14 point back nine) in third spot.
Count backs galore again in C Flight with 3 golfers on 35 points, which ended up with Steve Newton (19 point back nine) winning from Tony Cook (17 point back nine) in second place and third spot went to Rona Carungay (14 point back nine).
Low Gross
1st Bob Watson (3) 84 gross
A Flight (0-11)
1st Christian Boysen (11) net 78
2nd Landis Brooks (8) net 78
B Flight (12-19)
1st Bill Steinman (13) 39pts
2nd Nat Rukkid (18) 37pts
3rd Dave Nicholson (18) 37pts
C Flight (20+)
1st Steve Newton (26) 36pts
2nd Tony Cook (27) 35pts
3rd Rona Carungay (36) 35pts
It was once again a fantastic day and evening with everyone having a great time at the party and the next Phantom Monthly Tournament will be held at Phoenix Gold on Wednesday, September 2, with the first tee time at 9.00 a.m.
Friday, August 7, Mt. Shadow – Stableford
Another slightly earlier tee time meant an 8.15 a.m. departure time from The Phantom Bar and with clear skies above we headed north up the motorway to tackle the testing Mountain Shadow Golf Course.
We had three groups of four for the day’s event and decided on blue tees and our first group got away a few minutes ahead of schedule and with very little traffic ahead. We found that some of the greens were a bit two-paced and many three putts were reported on the day but all in all the course was in good “nick” and our round was completed in just under four hours.
It was your writer, Peter Blackburn who had his second win of the week after carding 36 points, with Christian Boysen in second place on 33 and veteran Ken Hole came third with 31.
1st Peter Blackburn (15) 36pts
2nd Christian Boysen (11) 33pts
3rd Ken Hole (17) 31pts
Near Pins: 5th – Graham Buckingham, 15th – Jared Undery
Long Putts: 18th – Ted Morris
Note: The Phantom Golf Society welcomes golfers of any persuasion – low & high handicappers alike, female golfers and beginners. We generally play Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays, meeting at The Phantom Bar in Soi Buakhow at 8.00 am with transport departing at 8.30 am. Breakfast is now available at the Phantom Bar from 7.30am onwards. For bookings or more information please contact Peter on 0806 351 386 or email to [email protected].
