PSC golf from The Growling Swan
Monday, August 6, Pattana – Stableford
Fourteen golfers rocked into the reception at Pattana golf club and were absolutely delighted to see the staff had dispensed with photocopying everyone’s PSC members card. So were the Greenies.
Prior to tee-off, Paul Simons exclaimed that his chance of a podium finish was in a similar bracket as changing a 100 pound note in a Turkish bazaar. But only time would tell!
Double winner Geoff Williams, left, is congratulated by Peter Blackburn.
We welcomed Australians Geoff Williams from Melbourne and Dane O’Brien and Jimmy McFarland from Perth.
Playing the B and C nines from the yellow tees, which contributed to the pleasure of all concerned, the first group completed the journey in four hours and twenty minutes.
The weather was overcast, a cool breeze prevailed and the course was in great condition. The greens on the B nine had been lightly sanded, however they putted truly.
Only one grade today and Geoff Williams blitzed the field with a great forty two points. Unless Geoff is adept at using a push lawn mower it is anticipated the handicapper may adjust his mark in a southerly direction.
In second spot and as happy as a free range chicken was Martin Todd with seventy-seven off the rod, which equated to thirty eight points.
Despite commenting that his swing was in need of some chiropractic attention, Bernie McCart claimed third spot on thirty five points on a count back from Ebrahim, whilst Neil Skilton with thirty four points finished fifth.
1st Geoff Williams (16) 42pts
2nd Martin Todd (7) 38pts
3rd Bernie McCart (32) 35pts
4th Ebrahim (12) 35pts
5th Neil Skilton (8) 34pts
Near pins: Ebrahim – B3, Jimmy McFarland – B7, Frank Donnelly – C2 and Martin Todd – C7
Long putts: Santa Claus – B9 and Neil Skilton – C9.
Sandy Leiper’s vision of an undertaker and a florist in close attendance at the 14th tee confirmed his suspicions that all was not well with his swing. He commented that his game is to golf what Attila the Hun’s appreciation was of opera. Sandy was correct, which resulted in him being awarded the Coveted Compass Cap.
Once again Deefa the dog was delighted with the donations from the players which will go towards assisting the needy of Pattaya.
Thursday, August 9, Plutaluang West & North – Stableford
It was terrific to be back in Pattaya after 2 weeks in cold & wet Perth, Western Australia and good to see that the Growling Swan is as popular as ever. Many thanks to Mike Gosden, Martin Todd, Stu Rifkin and Ken Bernek for “taking care of business” in my absence, they did a great job.
There were several new faces (to me) in the field of 16 as we assembled at G.S. prior to our departure for the Navy Course (Plutaluang) and we welcomed first timer Mike Prili from Florida, U.S.A. and bade farewell to veteran Kevin Dinan who is returning to Ireland for 5 weeks.
Departing right on time at 8.30 am we arrived at the course 42 minutes later and although fairly overcast the weather was fine and not too hot with a fairly stiff breeze. The course seemed fairly busy but we were able to send away our first of 4 four-balls 15 minutes early at 9.45 am.
The course was looking in very good shape and quite dry considering the recent wet weather and the greens although much slower than we are used to at the other courses were in very good condition. It was mentioned that the holes on most of the greens had obviously not been re-positioned for a while but all in all a very good value for money outing at 500 baht green fee plus 220 baht caddy fee.
Although we did not see a lot of sun throughout the round we did stay completely dry & we were finished in four hours & twenty minutes.
With the smallish field we had just the one grade with four spots on the podium. In addition there were rewards for nearest the pins on the four par 3’s and longest first putts on W9 & N9.
Geoff Williams showed his class by posting another win with a fine 37 points, 4 points clear of Alain (Inspector Clouseau) Taddei in second place. A three-way count back on 32 points for third & fourth spots saw “superstar” Robbie Williams (14 point back nine & 11 points on the last six holes) finish just ahead of the consistent Martin Todd (14 point back nine & 9 points on the last six holes). The unlucky golfer was Mike Allidi (14 point back nine & 8 points on the last 6 holes) whose 77 off the stick was not enough for a spot on the podium.
1st Geoff Williams (13) 37pts
2nd Alain Taddei (19) 33pts
3rd Robbie Williams (29) 32pts
4th Martin Todd (7) 32pts
Near pins: W3 – Martin Todd; W8 – Mike Gosden; N3 – Geoff Williams; N6 – Graham Buckingham
Long Putts: W9 – Robbie Williams; N9 – Mike Gosden
The winner of the Compass Cap (awarded to the player with the worst score on the day) was Max Bracegirdle who once again accepted the “honour” in good spirit. Hunter paraded Deefa the Dog who of course collected many donations to charity from our very generous Growling Swan crew.
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 080 635 1386 or email to [email protected]
