PSC Golf from The Growling Swan
Monday, May 13, Bangpakong – Stableford
A relatively small field of 16 golfers were signed up for the day’s competition at Bangpakong Riverside Golf Club and we assembled at the Growling Swan ready for the longer than usual journey. We welcomed back yours truly from Perth Australia, Wanta Dacha & Suparp Korboon from Bangkok, Ted Morris and his mate John Davis and of course the colourful Walter Baechli recently returned from an overseas holiday.
We had just the one minivan thanks to people with cars helping out (notably Wendy & Alain) and as everyone was reasonably early we departed the GS 10 minutes ahead of schedule at 8.20 am. The traffic was fairly light exiting Pattaya and we had a very good run and arrived at the golf course just 64 minutes later.
Dick Braimbridge, Gerry Crilly & Kevin Waycott.
The course was not too busy and for a change whilst playing here we managed to send our first four-ball away right on schedule at 10.00 am. It was extremely hot & humid and fairly overcast at first with no breeze at all so fluid intake was going to be the order of the day but thankfully a breeze did eventuate but unfortunately did not last too long.
This usually pristine course is suffering a bit at the minute with many dry fairways and course renovation in process but as usual the greens were in tip top shape. The “no carts on the fairway” rule on the day was quite puzzling and tended to make the going slow particularly as we had groups in front that were certainly in no hurry. It was still an enjoyable outing on this lovely course and we managed to complete the full round in the slow time of four hours & forty five minutes.
Mike Gosden & Peter Long.
We were able to have 2 Grades with three podium spots in each. A Grade was for handicaps 0 to 17 and B Grade for 18 and over. Due to the smallish field we had nearest the pins on two of the par threes and longest first putt on the 18th green.
Kevin “Wayco” Waycott thrived in the oppressive conditions and took out the A grade section with a fine 42 points, two points ahead of Suparp “Anna” Korboon in second place and Takeshi Hakozaki finished third with 36 points. The B grade was won by Dick “Reverend” Braimbridge with 34 points and John Davis was second on 33 points with Max “Corsets” Bracegirdle finishing third with 31 points.
A Flight (0-17)
1st Kevin Waycott (11) 42pts
2nd Suparp Korboon (10) 40pts
3rd Takeshi Hakozaki (11) 36pts
B Flight (18+)
1st Dick Braimbridge (36) 34pts
2nd John Davis (24) 33pts
3rd Max Bracegirdle (28) 31pts
Near Pins: 7th – Wanta Dacha, 16th – Kevin Waycott
Long Putts: 18th – Dick Braimbridge
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 well won by Geri Crilly who naturally accepted the “honour” in good spirit and wore the cap for a short while.
Thursday, May 16, Bangpra – Stableford
The venue for the day was the popular Bangpra and we had fourteen golfers ready to play after 2 late withdrawals due to sickness. We assembled at the Growling Swan and were happy to welcome back for a short visit Peter Long from Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Once again we managed with just the one minivan thanks to help from Alain & Ebrahim who were happy to take the “overflow” and we departed the GS five minutes earlier than scheduled at 8.25 a.m.
We arrived at the course just 42 minutes later and as it was not too busy there was ample time for a few practice putts where the putting green reminded us of what was to come. The first of our 2 three-balls hit off 18 minutes before our booked time and the weather was terrific although we knew we were in for yet another hot one.
The golf course was in great shape and of course the greens as slick as ever but unusually no-one spotted any monkeys so I guess it was even too hot for them. It was necessary to stop for drinks several times due to the heat and we managed to complete the round in four hours & fifteen minutes. Once again a very pleasurable day on an excellent golf course with quality company.
As a result of the small field we had just the one grade with six podium places. There were also rewards for nearest the pins on two of the par threes and longest first putt on the eighteenth green.
Mike “Hunter” Gosden was a clear winner on the day with 38 points, 5 points ahead of Alain “Inspector Clouseau” Taddei in second place and Gary Monley (18 point back nine) was third with 32 points, just beating Wanta Dacha (13 point back nine) on a count back. Another count back was required to sort out fifth & sixth with Suparp “Anna” Korboon (15 point back nine) edging out yours truly, Peter Blackburn (13 point back nine) with both scoring 31 points.
1st Mike Gosden (11) 38pts
2nd Alain Taddei (17) 33pts
3rd Gary Monley (36) 32pts
4th Wanta Dacha (9) 32pts
5th Suparp Korboon (10) 31pts
6th Peter Blackburn (11) 31pts
Near Pins: 8th – Walter Baechli, 17th – Frank Donnelly
Long Putts: 18th – Russell Calcutt
The Growling Swan NAGA Award was won by the visiting Peter Long who naturally wore the NAGA Cap with distinction in the bar afterwards. Many thanks to Shane “Jockey” Young who took Deefa the Dog for his customary walk & collected many donations for the needy in Pattaya from the generous Growling Swan crew.
Note: Growling Swan 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 a.m. with transport departing at 8.30 a.m. For bookings or more information please contact Peter on 0806 351 386 or email to petermalcolmblackburn @gmail.com.
