Monday, March 10th
Pattavia
1st Steve Downes (6) 40 points
2nd Paul McDonald (19) 34 points
3rd Tony Robbins (26) 34 points
4th Graham Davis (9) 32 points
5th Eddie Kost (15) 32 points
Near pins Les Cobban, Paul McDonald & Steve Downes X 2.
A field of twenty-one for the first game of the week at Pattavia or as locals call it (Patta- wee- ya) .Following Friday’s rain interrupted game it was nice to get through dry today. Not only that it was also a nice fast round with no hold-ups anywhere.
Today’s round threw up some interesting results. On debut with the Bunker Boys Aussie Eddie Kost took out the last spot in the winners list. What could have been for Graham Davis who three putted seven greens to take fourth place, he should at least have had second. Another case of what might have been for third placed Tony Robbins who had twenty points on the front nine only to fade out on the back and concede second place on countback to Paul McDonald who is becoming a regular in the winners circle. Runaway winner today was Steve Downes who finally seems to have a handle on his new driver winning by a six point margin. To rub it in more Steve took two near pins with Les Cobban and Paul McDonald taking the other two.
No local golf on Wednesday as most are on an away trip to the beautiful resort venue of Royal Hill in the National Park district.
Wednesday, March 12th
Royal Hills, Day 1
1st Colin Greig (14) 34 points
2nd Alan Sullivan (15) 34 points
3rd Richard Baldotto (27) 29 points
Near pins Colin Greig, Les Cobban, Paul Smith, & Eddie Kost.
A quick short break from Pattaya with two games at the beautiful Royal Hills Course. As always the course was in very good condition and challenging as ever. Unfortunately the standard of play didn’t quite match the course with some very low numbers returned.
Less than a month after a shoulder dislocation and playing with some discomfort Colin Greig was still able to take first place on countback from Alan Sullivan, imagine what he would have done if fully fit. Richard Baldotto was a distant third on twenty-nine points. The lowest score of the day was a miserable twenty-one points, perhaps someone needs a visit to Soi 6. Rob Folland did not complete the round and returned early to Pattaya for some medical treatment on a back issue, some of the wags complained that it was due to lack of a spine.
All the near pins were taken going to Colin as usual, Les Cobban, Paul Smith, and Eddie Kost.
We are hoping for some better scores tomorrow when everyone should be well rested and refreshed, although that is not guaranteed.
Thursday, March 13th
Royal Hills Day 2.
1st Paul Smith (3) 35) points
2nd Les Cobban (11) 31 points
3rd Bil Richardson (17) 29 points
Near pins Colin Greig, & Paul Smith X 3.
Clearly a good night’s sleep was had by some as today’s scores were better all round than yesterdays, however one player did set a new low record of five points, one can only wonder what he was up to last night., or could it be that the early start put him off his game.
A very respectable effort from today’s winner, Paul Smith with thirty-five points. No doubt Khun Nanna had Les Cobban tucked up in bed early so as not to repeat his no return from yesterday, today thirty-one points was enough to take second place, with Bil Richardson taking third with twenty-nine points. Bil was keen to get away earlier than the appointed tee time of ten o’clock, something never seen before, Bil is usually a stickler for teeing off at the appointed hour.
A monopoly on the near pins with Paul Smith taking three, the remaining pin going to Colin Greig.
Friday, March 14th
Crystal Bay C & A.
1st Frazer Davy (12) Net 68
2nd Bil Richardson (18) Net 69
3rd Mike Lloyd (20) Net 71
4th Steve Downes (6) Net 72
Near pins Billy Shepley, Steve Downes, & Frazer Davy
For the last game of the week at Crystal Bay a number of good things happened for the Bunker Boys, (1) Following recent good rains we found a course in quite nice condition by its normal standard, (2) The course was practically empty so we enjoyed a nice quick round with no hold-ups or delays, (3) Scoring was markedly improved on the rest of the week and very close at the top, (4) Rain started falling as we got in cars to go home and conveniently stopped as we got to Pattaya, all in all a lucky day.
As always there were some issues with the course, the C nine greens were markedly slower than the A nine and also a bit bumpy, the bunkers were slightly improved on what we have come to expect..
Frazer Davy took the honours today with a stylish round of net sixty-eight as well as taking a near pin. To complete a good week for himself Bil Richardson took second place one stroke adrift. Someone who regularly struggles with his game Mike Lloyd found his true form today, whilst not perfect he still managed a very respectable net seventy-one to take third place with the ever present Steve Downes taking the final spot on the podium with a net seventy-two, also taking a near pin. The remaining near pin went to Billy Shepley.
A few people struggled with the greens today, most noticeably Keith Smithson who celebrated every time he didn’t three put, he was not alone in that regard
Day one winner at Royal Hills Colin Greig.
A set of rules from Springfield all courses should adopt.
Frazer Davy, winner at Crystal Bay.