IPGC golf from The Haven
Sunday, March 27, Green Valley – Stableford
CSS 72
1st Mark Armstrong (26) 37pts
2nd Russell Goldsworthy (12) 36pts
3rd Ted Murphy (22) 35pts
4th Joe Peters (19) 35pts
The signs are that the low season is almost upon us, as the numbers dropped to one division for the weekly visit to Green Valley where the group is now playing regularly after having been switched around frequently during the high season to one or other of Silky Oakes or St. Andrews. Now that they will have some choice in the matter it will interesting to see the number of players wishing to play Silky Oakes, where golf carts are not only necessary but compulsory and the quality falls a long way short of St. Andrews. A review of the pricing policy may make a considerable difference.
Mark Armstrong took good advantage of the smaller field and his current form to notch up his first win with The Haven, albeit by the slimmest of margins, ahead of Russell Goldsworthy whose outstanding gross 74 could command only second on the day.
Trevor Schirmer & John Kendall.
Ted Murphy and playing partner Joe Peters had to be separated by a count-back for third and fourth places with Ted just taking it by 18 to 15.
There was only one ‘2’ by Russell Goldsworthy which swept the pot.
The presentations were conducted and overseen by Russell Exley as usual at the Golf Centre Bar at the course, with amiable hosts John and Geoff assisted by their lovely staff, taking excellent care of the golfers.
Monday, March 28, Treasure Hill – Stableford
CSS 73
1st Benny Hansen (27) 36pts
2nd Stuart Thompson (9) 35pts
3rd Yasuo Suzuki (10) 35pts
4th Mark Armstrong (26) 34pts
5th Bob Lamond (6) 33pts
6th Phil Knight (9) 32pts
On yet another tough day for scoring at the always difficult to beat Treasure Hill, even though the tees for the day were the reputedly easier yellows, Benny Hansen became the second player in the week to take his first win out of The Haven.
Barry Wellings.
Benny had taken good advice to play within his handicap abilities and treat par 4’s as if they were par 5’s and par 5’s as if they were par 6’s and attempt to get on the greens in one over regulation and then try to get level two putts, and it seemed to work most of the time even allowing for one or two less than perfect shots.
At the final analysis he just edged out old campaigner Stuart Thompson who needed no such advice having been working it around hundreds of golf courses throughout the world over the past years. This stood Stuart in good stead as he continued to apply the pressure right to the end and therefore won out in a count-back for second with Yasuo Suzuki by a margin of 13 to 10 over the back six after they had tied the back nine at 19 apiece.
Mark Armstrong again showed good application as he took fourth place ahead of Bob Lamond in fifth and Phil Knight in sixth.
There were no 2’s in the first division, but Colin Kershaw had the very first one of his golfing career to sweep the second division pool, which included several rollovers to make it an even more memorable event.
Before presenting the prizes The Doc welcomed new members Karl Hnat, David Purkiss, Kelvin Hazel and Jed Goodridge and also welcomed back Colin and Chris Kershaw, Philip Voas, Arthur Todd all in transit from the Hong Kong 7’s back to the UK, and Carl Lovatt and Ray Underwood.
Wednesday, March 30, Mt. Shadow – Pairs Scramble/Stableford
1st Trevor Schirmer & John Kendall (13) 48pts
2nd Chris Dopp & Norman Cheetham (10) 45pts
3rd Phil Groves & Yasuo Suzuki (8) 44pts
4th Shuichi Kodaka & Danny Greer (16) 44pts
5th Russell Exley & Mark Armstrong (14) 41pts
6th Russell Gilroy & Paul Redmond (14) 41pts
The monthly scramble was once again a two person event held at the always popular, at least for team events, Mountain Shadow, where the greens were as fast as they ever were and the fairways and rough were in very good condition as compared to its sister course at Crystal Bay.
Benny Hansen.
As usual the handicaps were set at 40% of the combined with a requirement that each player should provide at least seven tee shots.
For the first time since the dynamic duo of Trevor Schirmer and B.J. Smith split up following B.J.’s transformation into a serious house person, babysitter and family man, Trevor found a new partner who on the day was nearly as good as B.J., in the form of John Kendall who had been assiduously practicing in secret with another clandestine group in preparation for the big event. The new combination of Aussie and AmeriTico worked so well that the winning margin of three strokes was the highest for some months, leaving new pairing Chris Dopp and Norman Cheetham in second after their very tidy round at nine under.
Following them in just one back was a two-way tie between the last minute pairing of Phil Groves & Yasuo Suzuki and the, as of now at least, fully bonded pairing of Danny Greer and Shuichi Kodaka. Following a count-back the former pair were placed third after winning by 15 to 14 after they had tied the nine on 24 each.
Danny was left pondering the lipped out putt on the 17th followed by a double miss from both of the team from under two feet which could have seen them finish in second place. Probably a case of too much bonding and not enough practice.
Fifth and sixth places also needed a count-back which Russell Exley and Mark Armstrong won on the last 3 against Russell Gilroy and Paul Redmond by 7 to 6 after they had tied the back nine and six on 22 and 13 respectively.
Russell Gilroy.
Back at The Haven there was a welcome for new member Chris Dopp and a welcome back for John Kendall.
There was also a very sad announcement of the death of long time member Kjell Christiansen who passed away after a short illness in Norway earlier on March 29 just a week prior to what would have been his 74th birthday, surrounded by his family and close friends. Condolences have been sent to Kjell’s wife Kirstin who was at his side at the end.
On a happier note there was a round of “Happy Birthday” for Chris Kershaw who was celebrating his 64th on the day.
Friday, April 1, Khao Kheow – Stableford
CSS 72
Division 1 (0-13)
1st Barry Wellings (5) 40pts
2nd Brian Beaupre (5) 35pts
3rd Phil Groves (9) 34pts
Division 2 (14+)
1st Russell Gilroy (17) 37pts
2nd Paul Hartley (19) 36pts
3rd Arthur Todd (15) 35pts
Another good sized group took on the popular but hard to beat Khao Kheow, as usual off the yellow tees, on a great day for golf when the cloud cover was good but a steady wind blew just enough to keep the humidity to an acceptable level
Barry Wellings, who many will remember as a very tough but fair professional footballer having played many seasons with the Everton 1st team squad and in the Portuguese Premier League, took his first win out of The Haven during this trip, which has lasted almost five months so far as the lure of the pleasures of Pattaya in particular and Thailand in general have taken hold, but until recently following an extended series of practice sessions it had shown little reward on the local golf courses.
These efforts at last paid off handsomely as a gross 73 attested, earning him the top spot in the first division a clear five shots ahead of Brian Beaupre in second. Brian had been very steady as is usual and always goes about the business of golf in a measured and thoughtful manner.
Phil Groves rounded out the first division podium another shot back and staying within the buffer zone once again.
The second division was a much tighter affair as Russell Gilroy led in Paul Hartley by a single stroke after a very solid performance at the end of very a quiet week when results were hard to come by. Paul tried his hardest to catch Russell over the inward half, scoring an exciting 23 points and ruing the slow start to the round which surely cost him another win.
Arthur Todd rounded out the top three in the division ensuring that he would be taking home one good memory of his far east trip, after having had to watch England lose in the final at the Hong Kong Sevens but at least getting a shirt from the former activity to add to his huge collection.
There were no 2’s in the second division but as usual when Yasuo Suzuki gets one in the first division there are several more and this day he shared the pool with Leslie Cobban, Russell Exley and Alan Pilkington.
Prior to the presentations there were welcome backs for Brian Beaupre, Barry Wellings, Leslie Cobban and Paul Hartley and farewells to Yasuo Suzuki, Phil Groves and the wandering rugby supporters, Colin and Chris Kershaw Philip Voas and Arthur Todd.
Note: If you would like to play with The Haven group you can contact mobile 084 782 4582 or call in to the hotel at 185 Soi 13 between Beach Road and 2nd Road. All transportation to the course is arranged and you do not need to sign up prior to the day, but you should be there by 8.30 on Mondays, Wednesday, Fridays and Sundays on the days you wish to play. A schedule of courses to be played can be found on our web site at www.thehaven-hotel.com.
