Monday, August 10th
Burapha A & B
1st Les Cobban (11) 40 points
2nd Alan Sullivan (18) 40 points
3rd Anders Nielsen (26) 39 points
4th Bil Richardson (20) 38 points
Near pins Walter Baechli, Bil Richardson, and Sam Gershon X 2.
We arrived at Burapha early today with the expectation that we might get away quickly. As we drove into the course we could see groups in every direction, but when we got to the clubhouse we encountered a flood of the masked people ready to go so our hopes were dashed, nothing to do but sit and wait, or practice putting for about forty minutes. We also thought we might play C & D for a change, but we had to abandon that idea also.
The course was in beautiful condition as usual and drew praise from everyone.The greens were particularly nice, fast and true. As has been the case in recent weeks the wind was blowing, quite strongly at times. The one thing that did work for us was the weather, it didn’t start raining until we were back in the clubhouse.
With the course playing long off the white tees scoring was of a very high standard today with a brace of forty pointers at the top of the leaderboard, Les Cobban outpointed Alan Sullivan on the back nine to take first place. Once again Anders Nielsen was in fine touch, but for a double bogey on the last he would have won, still thirty-nine points was a good return to follow last Friday’s score of thirty-eight. All the near pins were taken as listed with regular visitor Sam Gershon taking two.
Wednesday, August 12th
Bangpra
1st Michael Brett (17) 40 points
2nd Uwe Jurgensen (28) 31 points
3rd Bil Richardson (20) 30 points
Near pins.Bil Richardson, Anders Nielsen, & Michael Brett
A poor start to our game at Bangpra. Belligerent and intransigent staff wouldn’t accept their own vouchers and insisted we pay cash with a three hundred and fifty baht uplift. Also for no obvious reason we couldn’t check in until eleven despite there being nobody on the first tee. When we finally got away we had a clear run all through the front nine. When we got to the tenth we found a sixball waiting to tee off. Fortunately on the twelfth the Gordon Melia hole they let us play through so clear sailing from there to the end.
The course was in the best condition we have seen for a long time, in particular the greens were very fast and smooth. With no wind conditions were perfect for golf so no excuses anywhere. Despite that only one player was able to take advantage and that was the winner on the day Michael Brett. In a rare display of good putting coupled with a sandy birdie on the fifth he managed to reach forty points. In his last game before his trip to Sri Lanka Uwe Jurgensen took second place on thirty-one points, one ahead of Bil Richardson on thirty. Three of the four near pins were taken as listed, the one to miss out surprisingly was hole two.
Friday, 14th
Plutaluang N & W.
1st Bil Richardson (20) 37 points
2nd Les Cobban (11) 35 points
3rd Michael Brett (16) 33 points
Near pins Bil Richardson, Les Cobban, & Michael Brett X 2.
We were scheduled to play South and East today but were directed to North & West instead, one of the other nines was closed.
When we got to the first tee we were out behind an old gentleman believed to be ninety-five so we anticipated a slow round, however after the first hole we didn’t see him again. Apparently he plays every Friday on his own, credit to him for being able to play at such an age.
Every year this course dries out and turns brown, no so this year, it was lush green and well grassed.
Some found the course tough today, with the wind blowing, Bil Richardson was unaffected with a winning score of thirty-seven two ahead of Les Cobban who had a poor nine but rallied very well on the back. The opposite was the case for third placed Michael Brett who had a very solid front nine only to throw in three wipes on the back. He still managed to take two near pins with one each to Les Cobban and Bil Richardson.
We lost two of our visitors this week with Sam Gershon and Andrea Denti departing to Hawaii and Italy respectively.
A very nice roster next week with games at Bangpakong, Greenwood, and Crystal Bay.
Winner at Burapha Les Cobban.
Winner at Bangpra Michael Brett
Winner at Navy Bil Richardson.